Psych Prep Key Terms- Learning

Front 1

Skinner, Pavlov, Watson, Thorndike

Back 1

Pavlov: stimulus-response conditioning, reflexes, US/CS/UR/CR

Watson: Little Albert, stimulus generalization

Thorndike: Law of Effect, bxs are emitted randomly and then are rewarded or punished, later deleted punishment

Skinner: operant or instrumental conditioning, shaping bx with reward and punishment

Front 2

classical v. operant conditioning

Back 2

classical conditioning: associative learning

operant conditioning: shaping bx with rewards and punishment

Front 3

unconditioned v. conditioned stimulus/response

Back 3

unconditioned stim/resp: inborn, automatic, require no learning, and are generally the same for all members of a species

conditioned stim/resp: results from experience and learning and generally varies significantly among members of a species

Front 4

backward v. standard conditioning

Back 4

backward conditioning: the US precedes the NS (neutral stimulus)- no learning or conditioning occurs

standard conditioning: CS precedes the US by a short interval and overlaps into the presentation of the US as if it is signaling the onset of the US

Front 5

stimulus (mediated) generalization v. response generalization

Back 5

stimulus (mediated) generalization: subject automatically generalizes from a CS to other similar neutral stimuli (classical) or subject emits target bx in presence of stimuli similar to discriminative stimulus (operant)

response generalization: subject performs a behavior that is similar to the one previously reinforced (operant only)

Front 6

classical v. operant extinction

Back 6

classical extinction: repeatedly presentation of the CS without the US

operant extinction: reinforcement for a previously reinforced bx is stopped

Front 7

spontaneous recovery v. response burst

Back 7

spontaneous recovery: during classical extinction trials, following a rest period, the CR to the CS briefly reappears

response burst: during operant extinction trials, the bx increases before decreasing

Front 8

habituation v. satiation

Back 8

habituation: the subject becomes accustomed to and less responsive to a US after repeated exposure and therefore no longer elicits the UR (classical)

satiation: when a reinforcer loses its value through overuse (operant)

Front 9

stimulus discrimination and experimental neurosis

Back 9

stimulus discrimination: subject learns to discriminate between two similar neutral stimuli b/c one has been paired w/ the US while the other is not

experimental neurosis: if the stimulus discriminations are made too difficult, the subject (animal) will experience experimental neurosis (e.g. agitation, barking, howling)

Front 10

higher order conditioning

Back 10

CS is paired with a NS that is unrelated to the CS and the NS becomes a new CS. It is impossible to condition beyond 3 levels. Each new CS will elicit a weaker response.

Front 11

reinforcement v. punishment

Back 11

reinforcement: increases a bx by bringing the subject into a more desirable state

punishment: decreases a behavior by bringing the subject into a less desirable state

Front 12

positive and negative reinforcement v. positive and negative punishment

Back 12

positive: something is added

negative: something is taken away

reinforcement: bx increases

punishment: bx decreases

Front 13

continuous v. intermittent reinforcement

Back 13

continuous reinforcement: reinforcing every occurence of a bx, best schedule for acquisition of new bx's

intermittent reinforcement: only reinforcing some but not all occurences of a bx

Front 14

schedules of reinforcement: VR/FR/VI/FI- operant strength during acquisition, extinction, scalloping

Back 14

VR: reinforcement after an unpredictable # of responses
FR: reinforcement after a fixed # of responses
VI: reinforcement after an unpredictable interval of time
FI: reinforcement after a fixed interval of time

operant strength during acquisition: VR, FR, VI, FI
resistence to extinction: VR, FR, VI, FI
scalloping: the fixed schedules result in pauses after reinforcement

Front 15

superstitious behavior v. pseudoconditioning

Back 15

superstitious behavior: results from accidental reinforcement (operant)

pseudoconditioning: results from accidental pairing of an NS with a US (classical)

Front 16

chaining v. shaping

Back 16

chaining: each bx in a complex sequence of bx's is mildly reinforced and serves as a cue to perform the next bx in the chain with major reinforcement at the end of the chain

shaping: teaching a subject to emit a desired behavior by providing reinforcement on an ongoing basis as the subject gets closer and closer to the desired bx

Front 17

thinning v. fading

Back 17

thinning: changing from a continuous schedule of reinforcement to an intermittent schedule

fading: a gradual reduction in prompting (cueing a subject about what bx to perform)

Front 18

behavioral contrast

Back 18

two bx's are reinforced and then only one of the bx's is reinforced- the one being reinforced increases and the other decreases

Front 19

Premack principle

Back 19

a high frequency bx is used to reinforce a low frequency bx

Front 20

reciprocal determinism

Back 20

an interactive triad of the person, his/her bx, and the environment regulate the individual's bx