Learning Test 2

Front 1

operant (emitted) behavior

Back 1

any procedure in which a behavior becomes stronger or weaker, depending on its consequences

Front 2

positive reinforcement

Back 2

a reinforcement procedure in which a behavior is followed by the presentation of, or an increase in the intensity of, a stimulus (food, money, praise)

Front 3

reflexive (elicited) behavior

Back 3

behaviors triggered by a reflex

Front 4

law of effect

Back 4

the statement that behavior is a function of its consequences

Front 5

negative reinforcement

Back 5

a reinforcement procedure in which a behavior is followed by the removal of, or a decrease in the intensity of, a stimulus (remove hand from hot stove, improve grades to lift restriction, work hard not to get fired)

Front 6

primary reinforcer

Back 6

any reinforcer that is not dependent on another reinforcer for its reinforcing properties (food, water, sex)

Front 7

secondary (conditioned) reinforcer

Back 7

any reinforcer that has acquired its reinforcing properties through its association with other reinforcers (praise, recognition, money)

Front 8

generalized reinforcer

Back 8

any secondary reinforcer that has been paired with several different reinforcers

Front 9

superstitious conditioning

Back 9

any increase in the strength of behavior that is due to coincidental reinforcement

Front 10

successive approximation (shaping)

Back 10

an operant learning technique in which a new behavior is gradually produced by reinforcing responses that are similar to the desired response (rat pressing lever)

Front 11

chaining

Back 11

performing behaviors in a sequence (ordering take-out)

Front 12

acquisition

Back 12

gradual increase in responding when reinforcing stimulus follows the behavior

Front 13

extinction

Back 13

in operant training, the procedure of withholding the reinforcers that maintain a behavior (ignore bed-time tantrums)

Front 14

spontaneous recovery

Back 14

the sudden reappearance of a behavior following its extinction (child stays with grandma)

Front 15

resurgence

Back 15

the reappearance during extinction of a previously reinforced behavior

Front 16

primary drives

Back 16

drives that are not learned

Front 17

secondary drives

Back 17

drives that are learned

Front 18

escape and avoidance conditioning

Back 18

we try to escape from or avoid aversive stimuli

Front 19

positive punishment

Back 19

the presence of a stimulus decreases the likelihood of a preceding response (slap, scolding, dirty look)

Front 20

negative punishment

Back 20

the removal of a stimulus decreases the likelihood of a preceding response (removal of TV privileges or a desirable object)

Front 21

displaced aggression

Back 21

attacking an innocent target rather than the original source of anger (sabotage, vandalism)

Front 22

elicited aggression

Back 22

aggression aimed at the source

Front 23

learned helplessness

Back 23

the failure to escape an aversive following exposure to an incapable aversive

Front 24

differential reinforcement of zero responding (DRO)

Back 24

reinforce not responding for a period of time (remain motionless for 5 minutes)

Front 25

differential reinforcement of low rates of behavior (DRL)

Back 25

a behavior is reinforced only if it occurs no more than a specified number of times in a given period (reinforce lower levels of aggression, lower levels of activity)

Front 26

differential reinforcement of incompatible behaviors (DRI)

Back 26

a behavior that is incompatible with an unwanted behavior is systematically reinforced (reinforce sitting at your desk, getting to meeting, or class, on time; don't reinforce moving around)

Front 27

differential reinforcement of alternative behaviors (DRA)

Back 27

a behavior that is different from an undesired behavior is systematically reinforced (reinforce saying nice t hings to classmates)

Front 28

punishment as retribution

Back 28

punishment that is deserved (prison)

Front 29

punishment as deterrence

Back 29

preventing or controlling behavior through fear of punishment

Front 30

continuous reinforcement

Back 30

a reinforcement schedule in which a behavior is reinforced each time it occurs

Front 31

intermittent (partial) reinforcement

Back 31

any of several reinforcement schedules in which a behavior is sometimes reinforced

Front 32

ratio schedule

Back 32

reinforcement is based on the number of responses

Front 33

interval schedule

Back 33

reinforcement is based on the time since the last reinforced response

Front 34

fixed ratio (FR)

Back 34

the number of reinforced responses is a fixed number (FR-2 means every other response is reinforced, FR-10 means every 10th response is reinforced

Front 35

variable ratio (VR)

Back 35

the number of reinforced responses varies (VR-10 means that, on average, every 10th response is reinforced, but the number can vary)

Front 36

post-reinforcement pause

Back 36

a pause in responding following reinforcement, associated primarily with FI and FR schedules

Front 37

run rate

Back 37

the rate at which a behavior occurs once it has resumed following reinforcement

Front 38

fixed interval (FI)

Back 38

the amount of time the animal must wait until the next response is reinforced is fixed (FI-10 means the animal must wait 10 seconds after the last reinforced response before the next response will be reinforced)

Front 39

variable interval (VI)

Back 39

the amount of time the animal must wait until the next response is reinforced is variable (VI-10 means the animal must wait, on average, 10 seconds after the last reinforced response before the next response is reinforced, but this time can vary)

Front 40

fixed time (FT)

Back 40

reinforcer is delivered after a period of time without regard to behavior (FT-10 means the animal gets a reinforcer after 10 seconds no matter what it happens to be doing)

Front 41

variable time (VT)

Back 41

reinforcers delivered at irregular intervals, regardless of behavior (VT-10 means the reinforcer is delivered every 10 seconds, on average, sometimes more, sometimes less)

Front 42

fixed duration (FD)

Back 42

reinforcer is delivered if a behavior occurs continuously over a period of time (practice violin for 30 consecutive minutes to get an ice cream cone)

Front 43

variable duration (VD)

Back 43

required period of performance varies around some average

Front 44

differential reinforcement of low rate (DRL)

Back 44

reinforce animal for responding at a slow rate (press the bar every 5 seconds); used to help people slow down (hyperactivity)

Front 45

differential reinforcement of high rate (DRH)

Back 45

reinforce animal for responding at a fast rate (press bar 5 times during every 10 second interval); used to help people speed up (dawdlers)

Front 46

ratio strain

Back 46

disruption of the pattern of responding due to stretching the ratio of reinforcement to abruptly or too far

Front 47

partial reinforcement effect

Back 47

the tendency of a behavior to be more resistant to extinction following partial reinforcement than following continuous reinforcement

Front 48

resistance to extinction

Back 48

intermittent (partial) reinforcement schedules, compared to continuous reinforcement schedules, make animals reluctant to give up responding when the reinforcers stop

Front 49

stimulus generalization

Back 49

the tendency for a response learned to specific stimulus (flirt with people with red hair) to also occur for other similar stimuli (flirt with people with auburn hair)

Front 50

response generalization

Back 50

if a response of one type (punch a classmate, typing on a keyboard) is blocked, then there is a tendency to make a similiar response to the same stimulus (kick the classmate, bang on the keyboard

Front 51

stimulus discrimination

Back 51

when a response learned to one specific stimulus does not occur to other stimuli (go at a green light, stop at a red light)

Front 52

response discrimination

Back 52

learning not to make similar responses to the same stimulus (shifting gears, discriminating between a bad golf swing and a good one)

Front 53

stimulus control

Back 53

the tendency for a behavior to occur in the presence of an S+, but not in the presence of an S-

Front 54

discriminative stimuli (S+/-)

Back 54

any stimulus that signals either that a behavior will be reinforced (S+) or will not be reinforced (S-)

Front 55

successive discrimination

Back 55

a discrimination training procedure in which the S+ and S- are presented one after the other in random sequence

Front 56

simultaneous discrimination

Back 56

a discrimination training procedure in which the S+ and S- are presented at the same time

Front 57

matching to sample

Back 57

a discrimination training procedure in which the task is to select from two or more comparison stimuli the one that matches a sample

Front 58

errorless discrimination

Back 58

a form of discrimination training in which the S- is introduced in very weak form and gradually strengthened; the usual result is that discrimination is achieved with few or no errors

Front 59

excitatory gradient

Back 59

in Spence's theory of generalization and discrimination, a generalization gradient showing an increased tendency to respond to the S+ or CS+ and stimuli resembling them

Front 60

inhibitory gradient

Back 60

in Spence's theory of generalization and discrimination, a gradient showing a decreased tendency to respond to the S- or CS- and stimuli resembling them

Front 61

peak shift

Back 61

the tendency following discrimination training for the peak of responding in a generalization gradient to shift away from the CS- or S-

Front 62

positive transfer

Back 62

experimental group performs better on task 2 than control groups

Front 63

negative transfer

Back 63

experimental group performs worse on task 2 than control groups