Psychology Midterm 2: Chapter 6

Front 1

learning

Back 1

change in behavior that results from experience and occurs when organisms benefit from experience so their future behavior is better adapted to the environment

Front 2

conditioning

Back 2

environmental stimuli and some sort of behavioral response become connected

Front 3

classical conditioning

Back 3

two types of events go together
occurs when a neutral object comes to elicit a reflexive response when it is associated with a stimulus that already produces that response
i.e. raining and getting wet

Front 4

operant conditioning

Back 4

when we learn that behavior leads to a particular outcome
i.e. studying leads to better grades

Front 5

behaviorism

Back 5

closely followed by Watson
the environment and its associated effects on organisms were the sole determinants of learning

Front 6

neutral stimulus

Back 6

something unrelated to the reflex
i.e. the bell

Front 7

conditioning trial

Back 7

when two things are paired together and repeated a number of times

Front 8

critical trial

Back 8

when the one thing is presented alone and the reflex is measured

Front 9

unconditioned response

Back 9

occurs without any prior training; unlearned, automatic behaviors; a reflex
i.e. salivating because of the food

Front 10

unconditioned stimulus

Back 10

this leads to the unconditioned response
i.e. the food

Front 11

conditioned stimulus

Back 11

creates a reaction only after training;
the conditioned stimulus
ringing the bell

Front 12

conditioned response

Back 12

an acquired reflex or response that is learned; i.e. the salivary reflex

Front 13

acquisition

Back 13

the initial learning of a behavior--the gradual formation of an association between conditioned and unconditioned stimuli

Front 14

contiguity

Back 14

learned association that stimuli occur together in time

Front 15

extinction

Back 15

a process in which the conditioned response is weakened when the conditioned stimulus is repeated without the unconditional stimulus

Front 16

spontaneous recovery

Back 16

previously etinguished response reemerges following presentation of the conditioned stimulus

Front 17

stimulus generalization

Back 17

occurs when stimuli that are similar but not identical to the conditioned stimulus produce the conditioned response

Front 18

stimulus discrimination

Back 18

animals learn to differentiate between two similar stimuli if one is consistently associated with teh unconditioned stimulus and the other is not

Front 19

second-order conditioning

Back 19

helps to account for the complexity of learned associations, especially among people

Front 20

phobia

Back 20

an acquired fear that is out of proportion to the real threat

Front 21

fear conditioning

Back 21

conditioned to fear neutral objects; most important structure is the amygdala

Front 22

conterconditioning

Back 22

helping people overcome their fears by exposing people to small doses of the feared stimulus while having them engage in pleasurable tasks

Front 23

systematic desensitization

Back 23

patients are taught how to relax and imagine a feared object or situation while continuing relaxation exercises ; the relaxation overrides the fear

Front 24

withdrawal

Back 24

anxiety that occurs when one stops using some substance

Front 25

tolerance

Back 25

process by which addicts need more and more of a drug to experience the same effects

Front 26

equipotentiality

Back 26

the idea that stimuli are equally capable of producing conditioning