Chapter 7: Learning And Conditioning

Front 1

Learning

Back 1

A relatively permanent change in behavior (or behavioral potential) due to experience.

Front 2

Behaviorism

Back 2

An approach to psychology that emphasizes the study of observable behavior and the role of the environment and or prior experience as determinants of behavior.

Front 3

Conditioning

Back 3

A basic kind of learning that involves

associations among environmental stimuli and an organism's behavior.

Front 4

Unconditioned stimulus (US)

Back 4

The classical-conditioning term for a stimulus that already elicits a certain response without additional learning.

Front 5

Unconditioned response (UR)

Back 5

The classical-conditioning term for a response elicited by an unconditioned stimulus.

Front 6

Conditioned stimulus (CS)

Back 6

The classical-conditioning term for an initially neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a

conditioned response after being associated with an unconditioned stimulus.

Front 7

Conditioned response (CR)

Back 7

The classical-conditioning term for a response that is elicited by a condition stimulus; it occurs after the condition stimulus is associated with an unconditioned stimulus.

Front 8

Classical conditioning

Back 8

The process by which a previously neutral stimulus becomes associated with a stimulus that already elicit a response and, in turn, acquires the capacity to elicit a similar or related response. Also called Pavlovian conditioning.

Front 9

Extinction (in classical conditioning)

Back 9

The weakening and eventual disappearance of a learned response; in classical conditioning, it occurs when the condition stimulus is no longer paired with the unconditioned stimulus.

Front 10

Spontaneous recovery

Back 10

The reappearance of a learned response after it's apparent extinction.

Front 11

Higher-order conditioning

Back 11

In classical conditioning, a procedure in which a neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus through association with an already established conditioned stimulus.

Front 12

Stimulus generalization (in classical conditioning)

Back 12

After conditioning, the tendency to respond to a stimulus that resembles one involved in the original conditioning; in classical conditioning, it occurs when a stimulus that resembles the CS elicits the CR.

Front 13

Stimulus discrimination (in classical conditioning)

Back 13

The tendency to respond differently to two or more similar stimuli; in classical conditioning, it occurs when a stimulus similar to the CS fails to evoke the CR.

Front 14

Phobia

Back 14

When fear of an object or situation becomes irrational and interferes with normal activities.

Front 15

Counterconditioning

Back 15

In classical conditioning, the process of pairing a conditioned stimulus with a stimulus that elicits a response that is incompatible with an unwanted conditioned response.

Front 16

Placebos

Back 16

Pills or injections that have no active ingredients or treatment that have no direct physical effect on the problem.

Front 17

Operant conditioning

Back 17

The process by which a response becomes more likely to occur or less so, depending on its consequences.

Front 18

Reinforcement/reinforcers

Back 18

The process by which a stimulus or event strengthens or increases the probability of the response that it follows.

Front 19

Punishment/punishers

Back 19

The process by which a stimulus or event weakens or reduces the probability of the response that it follows.

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Primary reinforcers

Back 20

A stimulus that is inherently reinforcing, typically satisfying a psychological need; an example is food.

Front 21

Primary punisher

Back 21

A stimulus that is inherently punishing; an example is electric shock.

Front 22

Secondary reinforcers

Back 22

A stimulus that has acquired reinforcing properties through association with other reinforcers.

Front 23

Secondary punisher

Back 23

A stimulus that has acquired punishing properties through association with other punishers.

Front 24

Positive reinforcement

Back 24

A reinforcement procedure in which a response is followed by the presentation of, or increase in intensity of, a reinforcing stimulus; as a result, the response becomes stronger or more likely to occur.

Front 25

Negative reinforcement

Back 25

A reinforcement procedure in which a response is followed by the removal, delay, or decrease in intensity of an unpleasant stimulus; as a result, the response become stronger or more likely to occur.

Front 26

Positive punishment

Back 26

Something unpleasant occurs following a behavior.

Front 27

Negative punishment

Back 27

Something pleasant is removed following some behavior.

Front 28

Skinner box

Back 28

A chamber equipped with a device that delivers a reinforcer, usually food, when an animal makes a desired response, or a punisher, such as a brief shock, when the animal makes an undesired response.

Front 29

Extinction (in operant conditioning)

Back 29

The weakening and the eventual disappearance of a learned response; in operant conditioning, it occurs when a response is no longer followed by a reinforcer.

Front 30

Stimulus generalization (in operant conditioning)

Back 30

In operant conditioning, the tendency for a response that has been reinforced (or punished) in the presence of one stimulus to occur (or be suppressed) in the presence of other similar stimuli.

Front 31

Stimulus discrimination (in operant conditioning)

Back 31

In operant conditioning, the tendency of a response to occur in the presence of one stimulus but not in the presence of other similar stimuli that differs from it on some dimension.

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Discriminative stimulus

Back 32

A stimulus that signals when a particular response is likely to be followed by a certain type of consequence.

Front 33

Continuous reinforcement

Back 33

A reinforcement schedule in which a particular response is always reinforced.

Front 34

Intermittent (partial) reinforcement

Back 34

A reinforcement schedule in which a particular response is sometimes but not always reinforced.

Front 35

Shaping

Back 35

In the operant-conditioning procedure in which successive approximations of a desired response are reinforced.

Front 36

Successive approximations

Back 36

In the operant-conditioning procedure of shaping, behaviors that are ordered in terms of increasing similarity or closeness to the desired response.

Front 37

Instinctive drift

Back 37

During operant learning, the tendency for an organism to revert to instinctive behavior.

Front 38

Determinist view

Back 38

The philosophy that our actions are determined by our environment and our genetic heritage.

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Behavior modification (applied behavior analysis)

Back 39

The application of operant-conditioning techniques to teach new responses or to reduce or eliminate maladaptive or problematic behavior; also called applied behavior analysis.

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Extrinsic reinforcers

Back 40

Reinforcers that are not inherently related to the activity being reinforced.

Front 41

Intrinsic reinforcers

Back 41

Reinforcers that are inherently related to the activity being reinforced.

Front 42

Latent learning

Back 42

A form of learning that is not immediately expressed in an overt response; it occurs without obvious reinforcement.

Front 43

Social-cognitive theories

Back 43

Theories that emphasizes how behavior is learned and maintained through observation and imitation of others, positive consequences, and cognitive processes such as plans, expectations, and beliefs.

Front 44

Observational (vicarious) learning

Back 44

A process in which an individual learned new responses by observing the behavior of another (a model) rather than through direct experience; sometimes called vicarious conditioning.