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PSY 101 Chapter 7 (Weaver)

Terms in this set (26)

conditioning
the process of learning associations
neutral stimulus (ns)
a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning
unconditioned stimulus (US)
the stimulus that elicits an automatic/natural response (before conditioning)
example: meat powder (US) --> elicits salivation (UR)
unconditioned response (UR)
the automatic/natural response to a stimulus (before conditioning)
example: meat powder (US) --> elicits salivation (UR)
conditioned stimulus (CS)
the stimulus that is paired with the unconditioned stimulus (has to come before the US)
examples: the bell in Pavlov's studies
conditioned response (CR)
the response to the conditioned stimulus
example: the salivation by the dogs in Pavlov's studies
classical conditioning
a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events
acquisition
the initial stage of learning when a neutral stimulus is linked to an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response
extinction
the diminished responding that occurs when the conditioned stimulus no longer signals an upcoming unconditioned stimulus
john garcia
discovered that organisms are predisposed to learn associations that help them adopt and survive
thorndike's law of effect
behavior followed by a pleasant outcome (a reward) is likely to happen again
shaping
a prodecure in which reinforcers (such as food) guide an animal's actions toward desired behavior (also known as the method of successive approximations)
reinforcements
any response that STRENGTHENS (INCREASES) a behavior of happening again
positive reinforcements
adding a desirable/rewarding stimulus
example: rat receives pellet of food; person receives money
negative reinforcements
remove an averse stimulus
example: rat is able to escape water or dry spot; child has chores taken away
primary reinforcers
an innately reinforcing stimulus (food or water)
conditioned reinforcer
a stimulus that gains its power to reinforce through it association with a primary reinforcer (money or good grades)
continuous schedule of reinforcement
every target behavior results in reinforcement (once the response is firmly attached, reinforcement is usually switched to particle reinforcement schedule)

example: rat gets a food pellet for every lever push
fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement
reinforcement after an exact number of target behaviors

example: rat get food pellets for every 5 lever push
variable ratio schedule of reinforcement
reinforcement after variable number of target behaviors

example: rat gets food pellet every 1-10 lever pushes (randomly)
fixed interval schedule of reinforcement
reinforcement can be obtained after exact amount of time

example: paycheck every 2 weeks; new food pellet becomes available to rat after 2 minutes have passed
variable interval schedule of reinforcement
reinforcement can be obtained after variable (random) amount of time

example: new food pellet becomes available to ret every 2-5 minutes (randomly)
punishment
any event that WEAKENS (DECREASES) a behavior happening again
positive punishment
administration (addition) of an aversive stimulus

example: child is given extra chores; rat is given electric shock
negative punishment
removing (subtracting) a desirable stimulus

example: child is grounded (cannot go to mall); rat has food taken away
biological constraints
predispose organisms to learn associations that are natural adaptive. for example, its easy to train a pigeon to peck to obtain food, but not to flap its wings to obtain food
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