Psychology Learning

Front 1

habituation

Back 1

the process of adapting to stimuli that do not change

Front 2

Dishabituation

Back 2

Reappearance of your original response when a stimulus changes (i.e., steady ticking of a clock stops and gets your attention)

Front 3

Sensitization

Back 3

appears as an increase in responsiveness to a stimuli

*occurs, for example, when people and animals show exaggerated responses to unexpected, potentially threatening sights or sounds, especially during emotional arousal

Front 4

Habituation and sensitization are referred to as ________ learning.

Back 4

Nonassociative

Front 5

Opponent process theory

Back 5

new stimulus events--especially those that arouse strong positive or negative emotions--disrupt the individual's physiological state of equilibrium, or homeostasis

*this disruption triggers an opposite, or opponent, process that counteracts the disruption & eventually restores equilibrium

*if the arousing event occurs repeatedly, this opponent gets stronger & occurs more rapidly. It eventually gets so quick & strong that it actually suppresses the initial response to the stimulus, creating habituation

Front 6

How could the opponent process theory help explain why people skydive, engage in other highly arousing activities, and become addicted to or tolerant of drugs?

Back 6

*Initially for the "high"
*But w/ drugs, the user eventually habituates & must take larger doses to get high

Front 7

Explain learned associations with drug users and their environment

Back 7

The unpleasant reaction that counteracts a drug's initial effects becomes associated w/ a particular room/person/other stimulus
*This stimulus may eventually come to trigger the counteracting process, allowing the user to tolerate larger drug doses

*now they take the larger dose w/o that familiar stimulus & the counteracting process may be weaker...could lead to an accidental overdose

Front 8

Classical conditioning

Back 8

A procedure in which a neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired w/ a stimulus that elicits a reflex or other response until the neutral stimulus alone comes to elicit a similar response

Front 9

Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
-Give example

Back 9

a stimulus that elicits a response w/o conditioning

ex. meat powder for dog

Front 10

Unconditioned response (UCR)
-Give example

Back 10

automatic or unlearned reaction to a stimulus

ex. Salivation

Front 11

Conditioned stimulus (CS)
-Give example

Back 11

originally neutral stimulus that, through pairing w/ the unconditioned stimulus, comes to elicit a conditioned response

ex. tone

Front 12

Conditioned response (CR)
give example
-give example

Back 12

response that the conditioned stimulus elicits
-Salivation after conditioning has occurred

Front 13

Explain Pavlov's experiment
(Phase 1, 2, 3)

Back 13

Phase 1: Before conditioning has occurred

Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) = meat powder
>>Unconditioned response (UCR)=salivation
&& Neutral stimulus (tone) --Orienting response

PHASE 2 Process of conditioning
Neutral stimulus (tone) followed by UCS (meat powder)
>>>UCR (salivation)

PHASE 3 After conditioning has occured
CS (tone) >>> CR (salivation)

Front 14

Extinction

Back 14

Gradual disappearance of a conditioned response when a conditioned stimulus is no longer followed by an unconditioned stimulus

ex. child visits the doctor's office several times for a checkup but does not receive an injection. Fear may eventually cease.

Front 15

Reconditioning

Back 15

The quick re-learning of a conditioned response following extinction
(Takes less time than original conditioning)

Front 16

Spontaneous recovery

Back 16

The reappearance of the conditioned response after extinction and without further pairings of the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli

Front 17

stimulus generalization
-Example

Back 17

After a conditioned response is learned, stimuli that are similar but not identical to the conditioned stimulus also elicit the response--but to a lesser degree

Ex. person bit by a dog will be afraid of dogs that closely resemble that dog

ex. child fears most doctors' offices & places that smell like them

Front 18

stimulus discrimination
-give an example

Back 18

a process through which individuals learn to differentiate among similar stimuli and respond appropriately to each one

ex. parent won't wake for a friend's baby
ex. child learns that his mother's doctor's office is not associated w/ the unconditioned stimulus

Front 19

Forward conditioning

Back 19

the conditioned stimulus signals that the unconditioned stimulus is coming

Front 20

Backward conditioning

Back 20

the conditioned stimulus follows the unconditional stimulus

Front 21

Equipotentiality

Back 21

any conditioned stimulus has equal potential for becoming associated w/ any unconditioned stimulus, as long as the two stimuli occur in the right time sequence

*later challenged by experiments showing that certain signals or events are especially likely to form associations with other events

Front 22

What supports the idea of "biopreparedness"?

Back 22

Certain signals or events are especially likely to form associations with other events

This apparent natural tendency for certain events to become linked suggests that humans & animals are "biologically prepared" or "genetically tuned" to develop certain conditioned associations

Front 23

Second order conditioning

Back 23

Phenomenon in which a conditioned stimulus acts like an unconditioned stimulus, creating condtiioned stimuli out of events associated with it

Conditioned stimulus (white coat) acts like an unconditioned stimulus, creating conditioned stimuli (the drugstore) out of events associated with it

Front 24

Describe acquisition

Back 24

A neutral stimulus & an unconditional stimulus are paired. THe neutral stimulus becomes a conditional stimulus (CS), eliciting a conditioned response

ex. Child learns to fear (conditioned response) the doctor's office (Conditioned stimulus) by associating it with the reflexive emotional reaction (unconditioned response) to a painful injection

Front 25

Fill in the blanks with one of the following
*Unconditioned response (UCR)
*Conditioned response (CR)
*Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
*Conditioned stimulus (CS)


A child learns to fear (________) the doctor's office (_________) by associating it with the reflexive emotional reaction (______) to a painful injection (____________).

Back 25

*Conditioned response (CR)
*Conditioned stimulus (CS)
*Unconditioned response (UCR)
*Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

Front 26

systematic desensitization

Back 26

procedure that associates a new response w/ a feared stimulus (i.e., relaxation)

Front 27

Law of effect

Back 27

a law stating that if a response made in the presence of a particular stimulus is followed by satisfaction, that response is more likely the next time the stimulus is encountered

Front 28

Instrumental conditioning

Back 28

Responses are strengthened when they are instrumental in producing rewards
*Behaviors that do not produce a satisfying effect gradually become weaker

Front 29

operant conditioning

*Who?
*What early school of psychological thought?

Back 29

Skinner, behaviorist

*Process through which an organism learns to respond to the EV in a way that produces positive consequences & avoids negative ones

Front 30

What does a skinner box do?

Back 30

*Skinner box measures learning in terms of how often an animal responds during a specified period of time

Front 31

Operant

Back 31

A response that has some effect on the world, operates on the EV

ex. child says I'm hungry & is fed, the child has made an operant response that influences when food will appear

Front 32

Reinforcer

Back 32

Increase the probability that an operant behavior will occur again

Front 33

What is the difference between positive & negative reinforcement?

Back 33

Positive reinforcers strengthen a response if they are experienced after that response occurs (rewards)

Negative reinforcers are the removal of unpleasant stimuli such as pain, noise, threats, or a disapproving frown

*Reinforcement can be presenting something pleasant or removing something unpleasant

In either case>>INCREASE the strength of behavior that precedes it

Front 34

Avoidance conditioning

Back 34

a type of learning in which an organism responds to a signal in a way that prevents exposure to an aversive stimulus

*Requires a marriage of classical & operant conditioning

Two steps:
1) classical conditioning--signal repeatedly paired w/ shock
2) operant conditioning-learning to make a response that reduces fear

Front 35

Escape conditioning

Back 35

a type of learning in which an organism learns to make a particular response in order to terminate an aversive stimulus

Front 36

Discriminative stimuli

Back 36

stimuli that signal whether a reinforcer is available if a certain response is made
Ex. even if you've been rewarded for making jokes you won't make them at a funeral

Front 37

Stimulus discrimination/Stimulus control

Back 37

*When an organism learns to make a particular response in the presence of one stimulus but not another

*allows people & animals to learn what is appropriate & inappropriate

Front 38

Stimulus generalization

Back 38

We discriminate one stimulus from another & then, through generalization, respond similarly to all stimuli we perceive to be in a particular category

*this ability to respnd in a similar way to all members of a category can save us considerable time & effort, but it can also lead to the development of unwarranted prejudice against certain groups of people

Front 39

Shaping

Back 39

The process of reinforcing responses that come successively closer to the desired response

Front 40

Secondary reinforcement/conditioned reinforcers

Back 40

Previously neutral stimulus that, when paired w/ a stimulus that is already reinforcing, will take on reinforcing properties

ex. Good by! with food reward

Front 41

Primary reinforcers

Back 41

events or stimuli--such as food or water--that are innately rewarding

Front 42

Continuous reinforcement schedule

Back 42

When a reinforcer is delivered every time a particular response occurs

Front 43

partial reinforcement schedule

Back 43

reinforcement is administered only some of the time after a particular response occurred

*Also called an intermittent reinforcement schedule

Front 44

Fixed-ratio (FR) schedules

Back 44

provide a reinforcer following a fixed # of responses

ex. every 10th time

Front 45

Variable-ration (VR) schedules

Back 45

provide a reinforcer after a given # of responses, but that # can vary

Front 46

Fixed-interval (FI) schedules

Back 46

provide a reinforcer for the first response that occurs after some fixed time has passed since the last reward

Front 47

Variable-interval (VI) schedules

Back 47

reinforce the first response after some period of time, but the amount of time varies

Front 48

Which 2 schedules (FR, VR, FI, VI) produce the highest rates of behavior overall?

Back 48

Fixed-ratio and variable-ratio

Front 49

Why are there curves in the fixed interval schedule?

Back 49

Under this schedule it does not matter how many responses are made during the time between rewards. As a result, the rate of responding typically drops dramatically immediately after a reinforcer occurs & then increases as the time for another reward approaches.

Front 50

Partial reinforcement extinction effect

Back 50

In general, behaviors learned under a partial reinforcement schedule are far more difficult to extinguish than those learned on a continuous reinforcement schedule

Front 51

Premack principle

Back 51

Behaviors are rated as desirable to not desirable
*Higher on the lsit an activity is, the greater its power as a reinforcer
*This means that a preferred activity can serve as a reinforcer for any other activity that is less preferred at the moment
*parents can use something high on her preference list (driving) to reinforce an activity that is lower on the list (lawn mowing)

Front 52

response deprivation

Back 52

virtually any activity can become a reinforcer if a person or animal has not been allowed to perform that activity for a while

Front 53

Learned helplessness

Back 53

If effectiveness is prolonged (Trying to get something but not getting it) a tendency to give up any effort to control the EV

Front 54

Latent learning

Back 54

Learning that is not evident when it first occurs

Front 55

The biological basis for observational learning may lie partly in the operation of ______ ______ in the brain.

Back 55

mirror neurons

Front 56

Vicarious conditioning

Back 56

a kind of observational learning in which a person is influenced by seeing or hearing about the consequences of other people's behavior