SLS-20 Chapter 6
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40 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Learning | involves some experience that results in a relatively permanent change in the state of the learner |
| Habituation | a general process in which repeated or prolonged exposure to a stimulus results in a gradual reduction in responding, usually isn't permanent |
| Classical Conditioning | when a neutral stimulus evokes a response after being paired with a stimulus that naturally evokes a response |
| Unconditioned Stimulus (US) | something that reliably produces a naturally occurring reaction in an organism |
| Unconditioned Response (UR) | a reflexive reaction that is reliably elicited by an unconditioned stimulus |
| Conditioned Stimulus (CS) | a stimulus that is initially neutral and produces no reliable response in an organism |
| Conditioned Response | a reaction that resembles an unconditioned response but is produced by a conditioned stimulus |
| Acquisition | the phase of classical conditioning when the CS and US are presented together |
| Second-Order Conditioning | conditioning where the US is a stimulus that acquired its ability to produce learning from an earlier procedure in which it was used as a CS |
| Extinction | the gradual elimination of a learned response that occurs when the US is no longer presented |
| Spontaneous Recovery | the tendency of a learned behavior to recover from extinction after a rest period |
| Generalization | a process in which the CR is observed even though the CS is slightly different from the original one used during acquisition |
| Discrimination | the capacity to distinguish between similar but distinct stimuli |
| Savings | an effect suggesting that some underlying neural changes that occurred during initial learning are "saved" no matter how many extinction trials are conducted |
| Biological Preparedness | a propensity for learning particular kinds of associations over others |
| Operant Conditioning | a type of learning in which the consequences of an organism's behavior determine whether it will be repeated in the future |
| Law of Effect | 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 |
| Operant Behavior | behavior that an organism produces that has some impact on the environment |
| Reinforcer | any stimulus or event that functions to increase the likelihood of the behavior that led to it |
| Punisher | any stimulus or event that functions to decrease the likelihood of the behavior that led to it |
| Primary Reinforcers | help satisfy biological needs (food, comfort, shelter, warmth) |
| Secondary Reinforcers | have little or nothing to do with biological satisfaction |
| Premack Principle | states that discerning which of two activities someone would rather engage in means that the preferred activity can be used to reinforce a nonpreferred one- (you can establish a hierarchy of behaviors for an individual in order to determine which kinds of events might be maximally reinforcing) |
| Stimulus Control | governs most behavior, develops when a particular response only occurs when the appropriate stimulus is present |
| Overjustification Effect | circumstances when external rewards can undermine the intrinsic satisfaction of performing a behavior |
| Fixed Interval Schedule (FI) | an operant conditioning principle in which reinforcements are presented at fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made |
| Variable Interval Schedule (VI) | an operant conditioning principle in which behavior is reinforced based on an average time that has expired since the last reinforcement |
| Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR) | an operant conditioning principle in which reinforcement is delivered after a specific number of responses have been made |
| Variable Ratio Schedule (VR) | an operant conditioning principle in which the delivery of reinforcement is based on a particular average number of responses |
| Intermittent Reinforcement | an operant conditioning principle in which only some of the responses made are followed by reinforcement |
| Intermittent-Reinforcement Effect | the fact that operant behaviors that are maintained under intermittent reinforcement schedules resist extinction better than those maintained under continuous reinforcement |
| Shaping | learning that results from the reinforcement of successive approximations to a final desired behavior |
| Pleasure Centers | some brain areas, especially those in the limbic system, that produce intensely positive experiences- deliver rewards through simulation, often by the release of dopamine |
| Medial forebrain bundle | a pathway that extends from the midbrain through the hypothalamus into the nucleus accumbens, with neurons that are extremely susceptible to stimulation that produces pleasure |
| Means-end relationship | Tolman proposed a situation in which a specific reward (the end state) will appear if a specific response (the means to that end) is made |
| Latent learning | a condition in which something is learned but it is not manifested as a behavioral change until sometime in the future |
| Cognitive map | a mental representation of the physical features of the environment |
| Observational Learning | a condition in which learning takes place by watching the actions of others |
| Mirror Neurons | types of cells found in the brains of primates/humans- fire when an animal performs a function, also fire when an animal watches someone else perform the same task- may play a critical role in the imitation of behavior as well as the prediction of future behavior |
| Implicit Learning | learning that takes place largely independent of awareness of both the process and the products of information acquisition |
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