General Psychology

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Learning

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a relatively permanent change in behavior, knowledge, capability, or attitude that is acquired through experience and cannot be attributed to illness, injury or maturation

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Classical conditioning

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a type of learning through which an organism learns to associate one stimulus with another.

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Stimulus

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Any event or object in the environment to which an organism responds; plural for stimuli

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Reflex

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an involuntary response to a particular stimulus, such as the eye blink response to a puff of air or salivation when food is placed in the mouth

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Two types of reflexes

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conditioned, and unconditioned

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Conditioned reflexes

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learned involuntary responses

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Unconditioned response

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a response that is elicited by an unconditioned stimulus without prior learning

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Unconditioned stimulus

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a stimulus that is elicits a specific unconditioned response without learning.

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Conditioned stimulus

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a neutral stimulus that, after repeated pairing with an unconditioned stimulus, becomes associated with it and elicits a conditioned response

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Conditioned response

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the learned response that comes to be elicited by a conditioned stimulus as a results of its repeated pairing with an unconditioned stimulus

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Higher- order conditioning

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conditioning that occurs when conditioned stimuli are linked together to form a series of signals

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Extinction

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in classical conditioning, the weakening and eventual disappearance of the conditioned response as a result of repeated presentation of the conditioned stimulus without the unconditioned stimuli

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Spontaneous recovery

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the reappearance of the extinguished response when an organism is exposed to the original conditioned stimulus following a rest period

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Generalization

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in classical conditioning, the tendency to make a conditioned response to a stimulus that is similar to the original conditioned stimulus

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Discrimination

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the learned ability to distinguish between similar stimuli so that the conditioned response occurs only to the original conditioned stimulus but not to similar stimuli

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Taste Aversions

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the intense dislike and/ or avoidance of particular food that have been associated with nausea and discomfort.

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Trial and Error learning

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learning that occurs when a response is associated with a successful solutions to a problem after a number of unsuccessful responses

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Law of Effect

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one of Thorndike laws of learning, which states that the consequence, or effect, of a response will determine whether the tendency to respond in the same way in the future will be strengthened

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Operant conditioning

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a type of learning in which the frequency of a voluntary behavior changes because of the consequences that the behavior process

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Reinforcer

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anything that follows a response and strengthens it or increases the probability that it will occur

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Skinner box

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a soundproof chamber with a device for delivering food to an animal subject; used in operant conditioning experiments

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Successive approximations

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a series of gradual steps, each of which is more similar to the final desired response

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Extinction

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in operant conditioning, the weakening and eventual disappearance of the conditioned response as a result of the withholding of reinforcement

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Generalization

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in operant conditioning, the tendency to make the learned response to a stimulus similar to that for which the response was originally reinforced.

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Discriminative stimulus

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a stimulus that signals whether a certain response or behavior is likely to be rewarded, ignored, or punished.

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Reinforcement

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an increase in the frequency of a behavior that occurs as the result of the consequence that the behavior produces

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Positive Reinforcement

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an increase in a behavior that occurs as the result of an added consequence

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Negative Reinforcement

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an increase in a behavior that occurs because increasing the behavior results in the termination of an unpleasant condition or stimulus

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Primary Reinforcer

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a reinforce that fulfills a basic physical need for survival and does not depend on learning

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Secondary reinforcer

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a reinforcer that is acquired or learned through association with other reinforcers.

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Continuous reinforcer

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Reinforcement that is administer after every desired or correct response; the most effective method of conditioning a new response

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Partial Reinforcement

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a pattern of reinforcement in which some but not all correct responses are reinforced

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Schedules of reinforcement

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Systematic processes for administering partial reinforcement that produce distinct rates and patterns of responses and degrees of resistance of extinction

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Fixed-ratio schedule

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a schedule in which a reinforcer is given after a fixed number of correct, non reinforced responses.

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Variable-ratio schedule

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a schedule in which a reinforcer is given after a varying number of non-reinforced responses, based on a average ratio

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Fixed-interval schedule

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a schedule in which a reinforcer is given following the first correct response after a specific period of time has elapsed

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Variable- Interval schedule

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a schedule in which a reinforcer is given after the first correct response that follows a varying time of non-reinforcement, based on an average time.

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Partial-reinforcement effect

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the greater resistance to extinction that occurs when a portion, rather than all, of the correct responses are reinforced.

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Punishment

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a decrease in the frequency of a behavior caused by some kind of consequence

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Positive punishment

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a decrease in behavior that results from an added consequnce

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Negative punishment

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a decrease in behavior that results from a removed consequence

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Avoidance learning

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learning to avoid events of conditions associated with aversive consequences or phobias

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Learned helplessness

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a passive resignation to aversive conditions that is learned through repeated exposure to inescapable or unavoidable aversive events

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Biofeedback

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the use of sensitive equipment to give people precise feedback about internal physiological processes so that they can learn with practice, to exersice control over them

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Behavior modification

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a method of changing behavior through a systematic program based on the learning principles of classical conditioning, operant conditioning, or observational learning

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Token economy

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a program that motivated socially desirable behavior by reinforcing it with tokens that can be exchanged for desires items or privileges

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Cognitive process

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Mental processes such as thinking, knowing, problem solving, remembering, and forming mental representations

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Insight

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the sudden realization of the relationship between elements in a problem situation, which makes the solution apparent

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Latent learning

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learning that occurs without apparent reinforcement ans is not demonstrated until the organism is motivated to do so.

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Cognitive map

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a mental representation of a spatial arrangement such as a maze

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Observational learning (modeling)

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learning by observing the behavior of others and the consequences of that behavior; learning by imitation.

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Model

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the individual who demonstrated a behavior or whose behavior is imitated.

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Modeling effect

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learning a new behavior from a model through the acquisition of new responses

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Elicitation effect

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exhibiting a behavior similar to that shown by model in the unfamiliar situation

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Disinhibitory effect

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displaying a previously suppressed behavior because a model does so without receiving punishment.

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Inhibitory effect

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suppressing a behavior because a model is punished for displaying the behavior