Ap Psychology Unit 6

Front 1

Learning

Back 1

a relatively permanent change in an organism's behavior due to experience

Front 2

Habituation

Back 2

an organism's decreasing response to a stimulus with repeated exposure to it

Front 3

Associative Learning

Back 3

learning that certain events occur together

Front 4

Classical Conditioning

Back 4

a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events

Front 5

behaviorism

Back 5

the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes

Front 6

Unconditioned response

Back 6

in classical conditioning, the unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus

Front 7

unconditioned stimulus

Back 7

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally- naturally and automatically- triggers a response

Front 8

conditioned response

Back 8

in classical conditioning, the learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus

Front 9

conditioned stimulus

Back 9

in classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response

Front 10

acquisition

Back 10

in classical conditioning, the initial stage, when no one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so the the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response

Front 11

higher order conditioning

Back 11

a procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned stimulus

Front 12

extinction

Back 12

the diminishing of a conditioned response

Front 13

spontaneous recovery

Back 13

the reappearance, after a pause, of extinguished conditioned response

Front 14

generalization

Back 14

the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elict similar responses

Front 15

discrimination

Back 15

in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and stimuli that do not signal anunconditioned stimulus

Front 16

learned helplessness

Back 16

the helplessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events

Front 17

respondent behavior

Back 17

behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus

Front 18

operant conditioning

Back 18

a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher

Front 19

law of effect

Back 19

Thorndike's principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely

Front 20

operant chamber

Back 20

in operant conditioning research, a chamber containing a bar o key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer; attached devices record the animal's rate of bar pressing or key pecking

Front 21

shaping

Back 21

an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior

Front 22

discriminative stimulus

Back 22

in operant conditioning, a stimulus that elicits a response after association with reinforcement (in contrast to related stimuli not associated with reinforcement)

Front 23

reinforcer

Back 23

in operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows

Front 24

positive reinforcement

Back 24

increasing behaviors by presenting positive stimuli, such as food. A positive reinforcer is any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response

Front 25

negative reinforcement

Back 25

increases behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli, such as a shock. A negative reinforcer is any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response (Note: negative reinforcement is NOT a punishment)

Front 26

primary reinforcer

Back 26

an innately reinforcer stimulus

Front 27

conditioned reinforcer

Back 27

a stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer; also known as a secondary reinforcer

Front 28

continuous reinforcement

Back 28

reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs

Front 29

partial (intermittent) reinforcement

Back 29

reinforcing a response only part of the time; results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance to extinction than does continuous reinforcement

Front 30

fixed-ratio schedule

Back 30

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specific number of responses

Front 31

variable-ratio schedule

Back 31

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after a unpredictable number of responses

Front 32

fixed-interval schedule

Back 32

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specific time has elapsed

Front 33

variable-interval schedule

Back 33

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals

Front 34

punishment

Back 34

an event that decreases the behavior that it follows

Front 35

cognitive map

Back 35

a mental representation of the layout of one's environment

Front 36

latent learning

Back 36

learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it

Front 37

insight

Back 37

a sudden and ofter novel realization of the solution to a problem

Front 38

intrinsic motivation

Back 38

a desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake

Front 39

extrinsic motivation

Back 39

a desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishment

Front 40

observational learning

Back 40

learning by observing others

Front 41

modeling

Back 41

the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior

Front 42

mirror neurons

Back 42

frontal lobe neurons that fire when performing certain actions or when observing another doing so

Front 43

prosocial behavior

Back 43

positive, constructive,helpful behavior