Gre Learning And Ethology

Front 1

Edward Thorndike

Back 1

1874-1949

Functionalist and early behaviorist who was one of the first psychologists to study learning and developed the law of effect.

Front 2

functionalist

Back 2

System of thought focusing on how the mind functions in adapting to the environment.

Front 3

What names are associated with classical conditioning?

Back 3

Pavlov and Watson

Front 4

John Watson

Back 4

Behaviorist who studied classical conditioning and performed the Little Albert experiment in which he taught Albert to be afraid of rats and other white fuzzy items.

Front 5

Clark Hull's theory of motivation

Back 5

Also known as a theory of drive-reduction.

States that reinforcement occurs whenever a biological drive is reduced.

Hint 5

Hull's theory is about null drives

Front 6

What names are associated with behaviorism?

Back 6

John Watson, Clark Hull, E.L. Thorndike, B.F. Skinner, and Edwin Guthrie

Front 7

Konrad Lorenz

Back 7

Believed that an understanding of animal behavior could be gained only through observing the animal in the field.

Studied imprinting.

Front 8

Ethology

Back 8

The study of animals in their natural environment.

Front 9

Ivan Pavlov

Back 9

The founder of the basic principles of classical conditioning.

Front 10

classical conditioning

Back 10

A result of learning connections between different events.

Front 11

reflex

Back 11

An unlearned response that is elicited by a specific stimulus.

Front 12

neutral stimulus

Back 12

A stimulus that does not elicit a response without training.

Front 13

unconditioned stimulus

Back 13

In a classical conditioning experiment, the stimulus that elicits a response without training.

Front 14

unconditioned response

Back 14

In a classical conditioning experiment, the response to a stimulus that occurs without training.

Front 15

conditioned stimulus

Back 15

In a classical conditioning experiment, the stimulus that elicits a response as a result of training.

Front 16

conditioned response

Back 16

In a classical conditioning experiment, the response that is elicited as a result of training.

Front 17

forward conditioning

Back 17

Presenting the conditioned stimulus before the unconditioned stimulus in classical conditioning.

Front 18

backward conditioning

Back 18

Presenting the unconditioned stimulus before the conditioned stimulus in classical conditioning, which is generally unsuccessful.

Front 19

acquisition

Back 19

The term used to describe the period during which an organism is learning the association of the stimuli in classical conditioning.

Front 20

extinction

Back 20

Repeatedly presenting the conditioned stimulus without the unconditioned stimulus to cause the organism to unlearn the conditioned response.

Front 21

spontaneous recovery

Back 21

After a period of rest, the elicitation of a formerly extinct, weak conditioned response after the presentation of the conditioned stimulus.

Front 22

generalization

Back 22

The tendency for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimuli to elicit a conditioned response.

Front 23

second-order conditioning

Back 23

Following a first stage of classical conditioning, then presenting a new unconditioned stimulus paired with the conditioned stimulus but without presenting the original unconditioned stimulus, which will eventually elicit a conditioned response.

Front 24

sensory preconditioning

Back 24

First pairing 2 neutral stimuli, then pairing one of the neutral stimuli with an unconditioned stimulus a conditioned response will be learned in relation to both neutral stimuli.

Front 25

Robert Rescorla

Back 25

Developed the contingency explanation of classical conditioning.

Front 26

contingency explanation of classical conditioning

Back 26

To the extent that the conditioned stimulus is a good signal and that it has informational value or that it is a good predictor of the unconditioned response, the conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus will become associated and classical conditioning will occur.

Front 27

blocking

Back 27

An extension of the contingency explanation for classical conditioned that proposes that classical conditioning occurs when the conditioned stimulus is a good signal for the unconditioned stimulus and provides nonredundant information about the occurrence of the unconditioned stimulus.

Front 28

operant conditioning

Back 28

Learning occurs when a relationship is established between one's actions and their consequences.

Front 29

E.L. Thorndike

Back 29

One of the pioneers of operant conditioning who proposed the law of effect and used puzzle boxes to study problem solving in cats.

Front 30

law of effect

Back 30

States that if a response is followed by an annoying consequence, then the animal will be less likely to emit the same response in the future.

Front 31

puzzle box

Back 31

A cage that an animal can open by a simple action such as pressing a lever; Used by Thorndike in his studies of problem solving to support his theory that all problem solving is accomplished through trial-and-error.

Front 32

How did Thorndike and Skinner disagree on the concept of operant conditioning?

Back 32

Thorndike focused on a response being annoying to produce an effect while Skinner rejected all mentalistic terms such as "annoying" or "satisfying."

Front 33

B.F. Skinner

Back 33

Developed the principles of operant conditioning.

Front 34

positive reinforcement

Back 34

The probability that the desired response will be performed is increased by giving the organism a reward whenever it elicits the desired response.

Front 35

negative reinforcement

Back 35

The probability that the desired response will be performed is increased by taking away or preventing something undesirable whenever the desired response is elicited.

Front 36

escape response

Back 36

The behavior removes something aversive.

Front 37

avoidance response

Back 37

The organism gets a warning that an aversive stimulus will soon occur and the appropriate response allows the organism to miss the aversive stimulus.

Front 38

punishment

Back 38

The probability that a response will be elicited is decreased by the presentation of an aversive stimulus each time the response occurs.

Front 39

discriminative stimulus

Back 39

A stimulus condition that indicates that the organism's behavior will have consequences. Hint

Hint 39

The light in the condition of pigeon pecking key + light = food pellet

Front 40

partial reinforcement effect

Back 40

The fact that it takes longer to extinguish a behavior that has received intermittent reinforcement than it does to extinguish a behavior that has received constant reinforcement.

Front 41

What are the 4 basic schedules of reinforcement?

Back 41

1. fixed-ratio

2. variable-ratio

3. fixed-interval

4. variable-interval

Front 42

fixed-ratio reinforcement

Back 42

The organism receives reinforcement only after a fixed number of responses.

Front 43

variable-ratio reinforcement

Back 43

The organism receives reinforcement after a varying number of responses.

Front 44

fixed-interval reinforcement

Back 44

The organism receives reinforcement on the first response after a fixed period of time has elapsed since the last reinforcement.

Front 45

variable-interval reinforcement

Back 45

The organism receives reinforcement for the first response after a variable amount of time has elapsed since the last reinforcement.

Front 46

continuous reinforcement schedule

Back 46

The organism receives reinforcement after every response; A type of fixed-ratio reinforcement.

Front 47

Which reinforcement schedule produces the most rapid response rate?

Back 47

variable-rate reinforcement

Hint 47

VR= very rapid

Front 48

Which reinforcement schedule is the most resistant to extinction?

Back 48

variable-rate reinforcement

Hint 48

VR= very resistant

Front 49

shaping

Back 49

Reinforcing successive approximations to the desired behavior in preparation for conditioning a response with operant conditioning.

Also called differential reinforcement.

Front 50

Therapies based on classical conditioning are used primarily to treat ________ and ___________.

Back 50

phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder

Front 51

flooding

Back 51

The exposure of a phobic client to the conditioned stimulus (the fear-eliciting object) without the unconditioned stimulus that originally elicited the fear when the phobia was developed.

Front 52

implosion

Back 52

A behavior therapy in which a client is asked to imagine a fearful situation and learns to associate that situation with a lack of an unconditioned stimulus.

Front 53

Joseph Wolpe

Back 53

Developed the technique of systematic desensitization.

Front 54

systematic desensitization

Back 54

The process of using a hierarchy of anxiety-producing situations coupled with the use of relaxation techniques to treat phobias.

Front 55

counter-conditioning

Back 55

Proceeding through a hierarchy of anxiety-producing situations from the least stressful to the most stressful in order to condition relaxation responses in the place of fear responses.

Front 56

conditioned aversion

Back 56

A therapy used to treat an undesirable attraction to a behavior by pairing the undesirable behavior with an aversive unconditioned stimulus associated with a punishment.

Front 57

Therapies based on operant conditioning attempt to alter the _____________ of a client's behavior.

Back 57

consequences

Front 58

contingency management

Back 58

The use of different kinds of operant conditioning to modify client behavior.

Front 59

What are 4 examples of contingency management?

Back 59

1. behavioral contracts

2. time-out procedures

3. token economies

4. Premack principle

Front 60

behavioral contract

Back 60

A negotiated agreement between two parties that explicitly states the behavioral change that is desired and indicates consequences of certain actions.

Front 61

time-out

Back 61

Removing a client from the reinforcing situation in which an undesirable behavior occurs before a reinforcement can be received for the behavior.

Front 62

token economies

Back 62

Tokens are given for desirable behaviors and taken away for undesirable behaviors and can be later exchanged by the client for a wide array of rewards and privileges.

Front 63

Premack principle

Back 63

Using a more preferred activity to reinforce a less preferred activity.

Hint 63

A child is told he can play outside after completing his homework.

Front 64

Wolfgang Köhler

Back 64

Cofounder of Gestalt psychology that disagreed with Thorndike's assertion that all problem solving is trial-and-error and argued that an animal can learn through insight when given the opportunity.

Front 65

insight

Back 65

The perception of the inner relationships between factors that are essential to solving a problem.

Front 66

Edward Tolman

Back 66

Conducted studies of rats in mazes and proposed the idea of cognitive maps.

Hint 66

Rats in wheelbarrows

Front 67

cognitive map

Back 67

A mental representation of a physical space.

Front 68

biological constraints

Back 68

Inborn predispositions to learn different things in different ways that are different from one species to the next.

Front 69

John Garcia

Back 69

Studied taste-aversion learning and proposed biological preparedness.

Hint 69

bright noisy water

Front 70

biological preparedness

Back 70

An inborn tendency to associate certain stimuli with certain consequences.

Front 71

instinctual drift

Back 71

The tendency for an animal to engage in species-specific behavior.

Front 72

Keller and Marion Breland

Back 72

Discovered the phenomenon of instinctual drift.

Front 73

Albert Bandura

Back 73

Developed the classic "Bobo doll" experiment that lead to his social learning theory and termed the word vicarious reinforcement.

Front 74

vicarious reinforcement

Back 74

Learning by observation.

Front 75

What names are associated with ethology?

Back 75

Konrad Lorenz, Niko Tinbergen, Karl von Frisch, Charles Darwin, and E.O. Wilson

Front 76

Niko Tinbergen

Back 76

Introduced experimental methods into field situations.

Front 77

fixed-action patterns (FAP)

Back 77

Certain action patterns that are relatively stereotyped and appear to be species-typical and are triggered by sign stimuli or releasers and will continue once triggered even if the stimulus is removed in the middle of the behavioral sequence.

Front 78

sign stimuli

Back 78

Elicit fixed-action patterns.

Front 79

releasers

Back 79

Sign stimuli that function as signals from one animal to another.

Front 80

supernormal stimulus

Back 80

A stimulus that is more effective at triggering the fixed-action pattern than the actual stimulus found in nature.

Front 81

Innate releasing mechanism (IRM)

Back 81

A mechanism in an animal's nervous system that serves to connect a stimulus with the right response.

This explains why FAPs cannot be interrupted once they have been triggered.

Front 82

reproductive isolating mechanisms

Back 82

Behaviors that prevent animals of one species from attempting to mate with animals or a closely related species in locations where these species share a common environment.

Front 83

Karl von Frisch

Back 83

Studied honeybees and found that they communicate with each other using complex dances.

Front 84

Charles Darwin

Back 84

Proposed the theory of evolution with natural selection as its centerpiece.

Front 85

natural selection

Back 85

To the extent that a genetic variation increases the chances of reproduction, it will tend to be passed down to the next generation.

Front 86

reproductive fitness

Back 86

The number of offspring that live to be old enough to reproduce.

Front 87

altruism

Back 87

In Darwinian terms, animal behavior that decreases the individual's reproductive fitness.

Front 88

theory of kin selection

Back 88

Theory that posits that animals act to increase their inclusive fitness rather than their reproductive fitness.

Front 89

inclusive fitness

Back 89

Takes into account the number of offspring as well as other relatives who survive to reproductive age.

Front 90

E.O. Wilson

Back 90

Developed sociobiology.

Front 91

sociobiology

Back 91

The study of the interplay between genetics and the environment.