| Term | Definition |
|---|
| learning | a change in behavior or knowledge resulting from experience |
| habituation | the process of adapting to stimuli that do not change |
| Ivan Pavlov | Russian scientist credited with "discovering" classical conditioning |
| classical conditioning | procedure in which a neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with a stimulus that naturally elicits a reflexive response until the neutral stimulus alone elecits a similar response |
| unconditioned stimulus | a stimulus that elicits a response without learning (automatically) |
| unconditioned response | the automatic or unlearned reaction to a stimulus |
| conditioned stimulus | the originally neutral stimulus that, through pairing with the UCS, comes to elicit a conditioned response |
| conditioned response | the response that the conditioned stimulus elicits |
| extinction | gradual disappearance of a conditioned response when a conditioned stimulus no longer predicts the appearance of a UCS (or disappearance of operant behavior due to elimination of rewards) |
| reconditioning | the quick relearning of a conditioned response following extinction |
| spontaneous recovery | the reappearance of the conditioned response after extinction and without further pairings of the UCS and CS |
| stimulus generalization | when a conditioned response is elicited by stimuli that are similar, but not identical to the conditioned stimulus |
| stimulus discrimination | when individuals learn to differentiate among similar stimuli and respond appropriately to each one |
| second-order conditioning | when a conditioned stimulus acts like an unconditioned stimulus creating conditioned stimuli out of events associated with it |
| law of effect | Thorndike's law stating that if a response made to a stimulus has a desirable consequence, that response is more likely the next time the stimulus is encountered |
| operant conditioning | a process through which an organism learns to respond to the environment in a way that produces positive consequences and avoids negative ones |
| operant | a response that has some effect on the world |
| reinforcer | something that increases the probability that a response will occur again in a similar situation |
| positive reinforcers | stimuli that strengthen a response if they follow that response |
| negative reinforcers | the removal of unpleasant stimuli, which in turn strengthens a response |
| escape conditioning | learning where an organism learns to make a particular response in order to terminate an aversive stimulus |
| avoidance conditioning | learning where an organism responds to a signal in a way that prevents an aversive stimulus |
| discriminative stimuli | stimuli that signal whether reinforcement is available if a certain response is made |
| shaping | process of reinforcing responses that come successively closer to the desired response |
| primary reinforcers | reinforcers that meet an organism's basic needs such as food and water |
| secondary reinforcers | reinforcers that organism's must learn to like |
| continuous reinforcement | a schedule of reinforcement in which a reinforcer is given every time a particular response occurs |
| partial reinforcement | schedule of reinforcement in which a reinforcer is administered only some of the time after a particular response occurs |
| fixed-ratio | partial reinforcement schedule that provides reinforcement following a fixed number of responses |
| variable-ratio | partial reinforcement schedule that provides reinforcement after a varying number of responses |
| fixed-interval | partial reinforcement schedule that provides reinforcement for the first response that occurs after some fixed time has passed since the last reward |
| variable-interval | partial reinforcement schedule that provides reinforcement for the first response after varying periods of time |
| punishment (one) | presentation of an aversive stimulus following an operant |
| punishment (two) | the removal or prevention of a pleasant stimulus following an operant |
| learned helplessness | tendency to give up any effort to effect change in your environment when past attempts have failed to effect any change |
| latent learning | learning that is not demonstrated at the time it occurs |
| cognitive map | a mental representation of the environment |
| insight | a sudden understanding about what is required to solve a problem |
| observational learning | learning how to perform new behaviors by watching others |
| vicarious conditioning | learning conditioned responses by watching what happens to others |
Combine with other sets
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