Psychology 7

Front 1

Classical Conditioning

Back 1

when a neutral stimulus produces a response after being paired with a stimulus that naturally produces a response; the study of behaviors that are reactive

Front 2

Unconditioned Stimulus

Back 2

something that reliably produces a naturally occurring reaction in an organism (the presentation of food)

Front 3

Unconditioned Response

Back 3

a reflexive reaction that is reliably produced by an unconditioned stimulus (the dogs' salivation)

Front 4

Conditioned Stimulus

Back 4

a previously neutral stimulus that produces a reliable response in an organism after being paired with a US (the sound of a bell)

Front 5

Conditioned Response

Back 5

a reaction that resembles an unconditioned response but is produced by a conditioned stimulus (the dogs' salivation); always the same as the unconditioned response

Front 6

acquisition

Back 6

the phase of classical conditioning when the CS and the US are presented together

Front 7

Second-order conditioning

Back 7

conditioning where a CS is paired with a stimulus that became associated with the US in an earlier procedure

Front 8

extinction

Back 8

the gradual elimination of a learned response that occurs when the CS is repeatedly presented without the US

Front 9

Spontaneous Recovery

Back 9

the tendency of a learned behavior to recover from extinction after a rest period

Front 10

Generalization

Back 10

the CR is observed even though the CS is slightly different from the CS used during acquisition

Front 11

Discrimination

Back 11

the capacity to distinguish between similar but distinct stimuli

Front 12

Biological Preparedness

Back 12

a propensity for learning particular kinds of associations over others

Front 13

Observational learning

Back 13

learning takes place by watching the actions of others

Front 14

Diffusion Chain

Back 14

individuals initially learn a behavior by observing another individual perform that behavior, and then serve as a model from which other individuals learn the behavior

Front 15

Implicit Learning

Back 15

learning that takes place largely independent of awareness of both the process and the products of information acquisition

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Operant Conditioning

Back 16

a type of learning in which the consequences of an organism's behavior determine whether it will be repeated in the future; the exploration of behaviors that are active

Front 17

law of effect

Back 17

Behaviors that are followed by a "satisfying state of affairs" tend to be repeated and those that produce an "unpleasant state of affairs" are less likely to be repeated; Thorndike developed this

Front 18

operant behavior

Back 18

behavior that an organism produces that has some impact on the environment; B.F. Skinner coined this term

Front 19

Skinner box

Back 19

allows a researcher to study the behavior of small organisms in a controlled environment

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reinforcer

Back 20

any stimulus or event that functions to increase the likelihood of the behavior that led to it

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punisher

Back 21

any stimulus or event that functions to decrease the likelihood of the behavior that led to it

Front 22

Positive reinforcement

Back 22

where a rewarding stimulus is presented (giving something to increase behavior)

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Negative reinforcement

Back 23

where an unpleasant stimulus is removed (taking something away to increase behavior)

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Positive Punishment

Back 24

where an unpleasant stimulus is administered (giving something to decrease a behavior)

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negative punishment

Back 25

where a rewarding stimulus is removed (taking something away to decrease a behavior)

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Primary Reinforcers

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they help satisfy biological needs (food, comfort, shelter, or warmth)

Front 27

Secondary reinforcers

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verbal approval, a trophy, or money

Front 28

interval schedules

Back 28

based on the time intervals between reinforcements

Front 29

ratio schedules

Back 29

based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements

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Fixed-interval schedules

Back 30

reinforcers are presented at fixed-time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made (undergraduates that do little work until just before the upcoming exam)

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variable-interval schedule

Back 31

a behavior is reinforced based on an average time that has expired since the last reinforcement (radio promotional giveaways)

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fixed-ratio schedule

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reinforcement is delivered after a specific number of responses have been made (punch cards at sandwich shops)

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variable-ratio schedule

Back 33

the delivery of reinforcement is based on a particular average number of responses (casino slot machines - you don't know when you're going to win)

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intermittent reinforcement

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when only some of the responses made are followed by reinforcement

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intermittent reinforcement effect

Back 35

the fact that operant behaviors that are maintained under intermittent reinforcement schedules resist extinction better than those maintained under continuous reinforcement

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shaping

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learning that results from the reinforcement of successive steps to a final desired behavior

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latent learning

Back 37

something is learned, but it is not manifested as a behavioral change until sometime in the future

Front 38

Cognitive Map

Back 38

a mental representation of the physical features of the environment

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medial forebrain bundle

Back 39

the most susceptible to stimulation that produces pleasure