Psy 101 Ch 7 Learning

Front 1

Learning

Back 1

Experience that results in a relatively permanent change in the state of the learner

Front 2

Classical conditioning

Back 2

When a neutral stimulus produces a response after being paired with a stimulus that naturally produces a response; first studied by Ivan Pavlov

Front 3

Unconditioned stimulus (US)

Back 3

Something that reliably produces a naturally occurring reaction in an organism

Front 4

Unconditioned response (UR)

Back 4

A reflexive reaction that is reliably produced by an unconditioned stimulus

Front 5

Conditioned stimulus (CS)

Back 5

A stimulus that is initially neutral and produces no reliable response in an organism

Front 6

Conditioned response (CR)

Back 6

A reaction that resembles an unconditioned response but is produced by a conditioned stimulus

Front 7

Acquisition

Back 7

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

Front 8

Extinction

Back 8

The gradual elimination of a learned response that occurs when the US is no longer presented

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

A process by which the CR is observed even though the CS is slightly different from the original one used during acquisition

Front 11

Biological preparedness

Back 11

A propensity for learned particular kinds of associations over others

Front 12

Operant conditioning

Back 12

A type of learning in which the consequences of an organism's behavior determine whether it will be repeated in the future

Front 13

Law of effect

Back 13

The principle that 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

Front 14

Operant behavior

Back 14

Behavior that an organism produces that has some impact on the environment; coined by B.F. Skinner

Front 15

Reinforcer

Back 15

Any stimulus or event that functions to increase the likelihood of the behavior that led to it; more effective than punishment in promoting learning

Front 16

Punisher

Back 16

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

Front 17

Primary reinforcers

Back 17

Reinforcers that satisfy biological needs; not learned/innate

Front 18

Secondary reinforcers

Back 18

Reinforcers that are associated with primary reinforcers; learned by association

Front 19

Overjustification effect

Back 19

Circumstances when external rewards can undermine the intrinsic satisfaction of performing a behavior

Front 20

Fixed interval schedule

Back 20

Reinforcements are presented at fixed time periods, provided the appropriate response is made

Front 21

Variable interval schedule

Back 21

Behavior is reinforced based on an average time that has expired since the last reinforcement

Front 22

Fixed ratio schedule

Back 22

Reinforcement is delivered after a specific number of responses have been made

Front 23

Variable ratio schedule

Back 23

The delivery of reinforcement is based on a particular average number of responses

Front 24

Intermittent reinforcement

Back 24

When only some of the responses made are followed by reinforcement; produce slightly higher rates of responding and are more resistant to extinction

Front 25

Shaping

Back 25

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

Front 26

Superstitions

Back 26

Rare or odd behaviors may be repeated if they are accidentally reinforced, which may lead to mistaken beliefs regarding causal relationships

Front 27

Latent learning

Back 27

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

Front 28

Cognitive map

Back 28

A mental representation of the physical features of the environment

Front 29

Dopaminergic

Back 29

Neurons involved in the 'reward center'

Front 30

Observational learning

Back 30

A condition in which learning takes place by watching the actions of others

Front 31

Diffusion chain

Back 31

A process in which 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 32

Implicit learning

Back 32

Learning that takes place largely without awareness of the process or the products of information acquisition

Front 33

Habituation

Back 33

A general process in which repeated or prolonged exposure to a stimulus results in a gradual reduction in response

Front 34

Imprinting

Back 34

The rapid and innate learning of the characteristics of a caregiver soon after birth