Learning Test 1

Front 1

intervening variables

Back 1

purely theoretical concepts that cannot be directly observed whose effect provide a causal link between the observable ind. and dependent. vars and thus allow the theory to predict what relationshiop will exist between them, if any.

Front 2

syntax

Back 2

aspect of a theory that comprises the rules and definitions that state how the ind. and dep. vars are to be measured and that specify the relationships among the ind, intervening, and dep. vars.

Front 3

testability(falsifiability), simplicity, generality, fruitfulness, agreement with the data.

Back 3

5 criteria for judging sci theories.

Front 4

behavioral approach

Back 4

approach to learning characterized by heavy reliance on animal subjects, and emphasis on external events (reluctance to speculate about processes within the organism.

Front 5

placebo effect minimized, animals are convenient, easier to control the environment, simpler behavior easier to isolate

Back 5

advantages of animal subjects.

Front 6

complex skills of humans cannot be studied with animals, humans may be so different results are not generalizable, objections on ethical grounds

Back 6

disadvantages of animal subjects

Front 7

B.F. skinner

Back 7

early behaviorist - argued that unobservable events should be excluded from psych theories

Front 8

N.E. Miller

Back 8

early behaviorist suggested that such intervening variables can provde a simpler explanation for the relationships observed among mult. variables. iee. thirst.

Front 9

free will

Back 9

theory that asserts we all have the ability to think and act independently of physical influences of our own volition

Front 10

determinism

Back 10

theory that asserts that everything we think or do happens because of physical causes acting on and through our physical bodies and brains.

Front 11

Experimental Analysis of Behavior (EAB)

Back 11

Skinner's methodology which used an operant chamber and is based on individual subjects not group avgs.

Front 12

contiguity

Back 12

aristotle theory that the more closely together in space or time 2 items occur, the more likely will the thought of one item lead to the thought of the other.

Front 13

similarity

Back 13

aristotle theory that the thought of one concept often leads to the thought of the other

Front 14

contrast

Back 14

aristotle theory that the thought of one concept often leads to the thought of its opposite

Front 15

empiricism

Back 15

associationist stance that infants are born into a state of ignorance and that all knowledge must come from experience

Front 16

ideas

Back 16

associationist view that simple sensations became these in the mind.

Front 17

complex idea's

Back 17

associationist view that when ideas appeared together in the mind (contiguity), they gradually became linked to form these.

Front 18

duplex ideas

Back 18

associationist view of the linking together of complex ideas

Front 19

Hermann Ebbinghaus

Back 19

german professor who pioneered the experimental study of human memory, put the associationists principles to experimental test using nonsense syllables and himself as the subject. produced the first forgetting curve, sharp dropoff followed by plateau.

Front 20

sensory receptors

Back 20

specialized neurons that detect fairly basic characteristics of incoming stimuli

Front 21

single neuron doctrine of perception

Back 21

theory that we have at the highest levels single cells tuned to respond to very specific feartures such as faces of a relatives. more likely a assemblage of neurons rather than one, however.

Front 22

chemical changes in indiv neurons, new synapses may form/ be removed between neurons, new neurons may grow

Back 22

physiological neuronal changes through learning (3).

Front 23

long-term potentiation

Back 23

long lasting changes in brain as a result of electrical stimulation

Front 24

control systems

Back 24

systems that actively work to keep variables they monitor close to internally specified values

Front 25

goal directed

Back 25

actions that systems take tend to move the variables toward a given goal (reference value) and resist any contrary effects.

Front 26

tropisms

Back 26

movements or changes in orientation of an entire animal. investigated by Jacques Loeb (viewd as automatic adjustments of bodily posture or orientation.

Front 27

kineses

Back 27

type of tropism that is an undirected movement or orientation.

Front 28

taxis

Back 28

type of tropism that is a directed movement or orientation.

Front 29

fixed action pattern

Back 29

a characteristic pattern of behavior that tends to occur when an appropriate stimulus appears and the physiological conditions are right. part of the repertoire of all members of species, sutable experiments have confirmed that it is not a result of prior learning experiences, the behaviors occur in rigid order.

Front 30

sign stimulus

Back 30

a specific stimulus that initiates a fixed action pattern.

Front 31

reaction chains

Back 31

sequences of behaviors in which each member of the sequence depends on the appearance of the appropriate stimulus as a result of the previous behavior.

Front 32

reduced flow of calcium ion into presynaptic terminals resulting in the release of neurotransmitter substance.

Back 32

physiological reaction to habituation found using a simple systems approach (organism w/ a simple nervous system) in Aplysia.

Front 33

phototropism

Back 33

plant stem grows toward light

Front 34

geotropism

Back 34

plant root grows downward toward gravitational pull of light. fish also orient right side up w/ gravity.

Front 35

anthropomorphism

Back 35

the tendency to explain animal behavior in terms of human perceptions and motivations