Psychology: Classical Conditioning

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Questions and Answers

What psychological role does money primarily serve in the context of reinforcement?

It assists in physical bonding.

It serves as a secondary reinforcer. (correct)

It offers emotional support.

It promotes competitive behavior.

How does social media engagement exemplify the concept of reinforcement?

It provides monetary rewards.

It decreases social interactions.

It leads to isolation from peers.

It serves as a reinforcer by increasing posting behavior. (correct)

What area of the brain is implicated in drug-seeking behaviors and is also activated by heavily liked photos?

Nucleus accumbens (correct)

Prefrontal cortex

Amygdala

Cerebellum

Which of the following can be considered as primary reinforcers?

Food and water Signup and view all the answers

What encouragement does the term 'Successive Approximations' imply in behavior modification?

Gradual shaping towards a desired behavior. Signup and view all the answers

What type of learning is characterized by an organism showing a reduced response to a stimulus after repeated exposure?

Habituation Signup and view all the answers

In classical conditioning, which term describes a stimulus that elicits an involuntary response without any prior learning?

Unconditioned stimulus Signup and view all the answers

What is an example of the unconditioned response in Pavlov's dog experiment?

Response to food presented Signup and view all the answers

Which type of conditioning involves learning through associating a behavior with its consequences?

Operant conditioning Signup and view all the answers

What term describes a previously neutral stimulus that eventually elicits a conditioned response?

Conditioned stimulus Signup and view all the answers

How does observational learning differ from operant conditioning?

It occurs by watching and imitating others Signup and view all the answers

What describes the initial learning phase in classical and operant conditioning?

Acquisition phase Signup and view all the answers

What is the term for the process when a neutral stimulus becomes associated with an unconditioned stimulus?

Conditioning Signup and view all the answers

During hypnosis, what change occurs in pain perception?

Diminished pain perception Signup and view all the answers

Which behavior exemplifies operant conditioning?

A dog learns to sit for a treat Signup and view all the answers

What best describes a heightened imagination in a hypnotized person?

Enhanced creative thinking Signup and view all the answers

What results from suggestions made by a hypnotist during a state of altered consciousness?

Changes in perceptions and behaviors Signup and view all the answers

What is shaping in the context of behavior conditioning?

A gradual process that uses reinforcers to approach a target behavior. Signup and view all the answers

Which scenario best describes continuous reinforcement?

Providing a reinforcer every time a target behavior is performed. Signup and view all the answers

In which phase is continuous reinforcement most effective?

In the acquisition phase for establishing new behaviors. Signup and view all the answers

What distinguishes partial reinforcement from continuous reinforcement?

Reinforcement occurs only intermittently rather than continuously. Signup and view all the answers

What is an outcome of instinctive drift in behavior conditioning?

A tendency for an animal to revert to instinctive behaviors despite conditioning. Signup and view all the answers

Which method is typically used to observe and reinforce behavior in another organism?

Shaping through observation. Signup and view all the answers

What is an ideal scenario for using partial reinforcement?

Maintaining already established target behaviors. Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following statements about behavioral reinforcement is true?

Partial reinforcement can help sustain the frequency of a behavior over time. Signup and view all the answers

What describes the Partial Reinforcement Effect?

Behaviors acquired through intermittent reinforcement are more resistant to extinction. Signup and view all the answers

Which schedule of reinforcement requires the subject to exhibit a set number of desired responses before a reinforcer is given?

Fixed-ratio schedule Signup and view all the answers

What is characteristic of the Fixed-Interval Schedule?

It leads to a high rate of response with a dip right after reinforcement. Signup and view all the answers

Which schedule of reinforcement yields a high response rate but the timing of reinforcement varies from trial to trial?

Variable-interval schedule Signup and view all the answers

The goal of punishment in behavioral psychology is to:

Decrease or stop a behavior. Signup and view all the answers

What distinguishes positive punishment from negative punishment?

Positive punishment involves applying something aversive. Signup and view all the answers

In the context of learning, prosocial behaviors are defined as:

Actions that are kind, generous, and beneficial to others. Signup and view all the answers

What is an example of latent learning?

A student remembers where the library is without being taught. Signup and view all the answers

What tends to happen immediately after reinforcement in a Variable Interval Schedule?

There is a characteristic dip in response rate. Signup and view all the answers

What is a misconception about continuous reinforcement?

It always leads to rapid extinction. Signup and view all the answers

What happens to response rates under a fixed-ratio schedule as the number of required responses increases?

Response rates tend to increase. Signup and view all the answers

What is an example of negative punishment?

Being grounded for misbehavior. Signup and view all the answers

Which reinforcement schedule offers a consistent and predictable reinforcement after a specific time period?

Fix-interval schedule Signup and view all the answers

What is an unconditioned stimulus in Pavlov's paradigm?

Meat Signup and view all the answers

What does stimulus generalization refer to in classical conditioning?

Responding to similar stimuli as if they were the original conditioned stimulus Signup and view all the answers

What is stimulus discrimination?

The ability to differentiate between similar stimuli Signup and view all the answers

What does extinction mean in classical conditioning?

The decrease of the conditioned response after repeated non-pairing Signup and view all the answers

What is spontaneous recovery in classical conditioning?

Reappearance of a conditioned response after extinction Signup and view all the answers

What does high order conditioning refer to?

Pairing a second neutral stimulus with a conditioned stimulus Signup and view all the answers

What is conditioned taste aversion?

The association of a taste with a bad experience like illness Signup and view all the answers

What concept did Garcia's Rats demonstrate?

The principle of biological preparedness in learning Signup and view all the answers

What was the main outcome of the 'Little Albert' conditioning experiment?

Fear responses can be conditioned in children Signup and view all the answers

What would be an example of an unconditioned response?

Salivating at the smell of food Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Learning

Learning is defined as a lasting change in behavior or thinking as a result of experience.
Habituation is a basic form of learning that involves a decrease in response strength to an event after repeated exposure.

Classical Conditioning

In classical conditioning, two stimuli are associated to elicit an involuntary response.
Unconditioned Stimulus (US): A stimulus that automatically triggers an involuntary, reflexive response without any learning.
Unconditioned Response (UR): An involuntary, reflexive response to an unconditioned stimulus that occurs naturally without prior learning.
Conditioned Stimulus (CS): A previously neutral stimulus that is linked to an unconditioned stimulus (US).
Conditioned Response (CR): The learned response to a previously neutral stimulus, which has now become a conditioned stimulus.

Pavlov's Dog Experiment

Pavlov trained dogs to salivate in response to auditory stimuli, like bells.
He noticed that the dogs had been conditioned to link sounds with eating.

Acquisition

The initial phase of learning in both classical and operant conditioning.
In the Pavlov paradigm, meat is always an unconditioned stimulus (the dog doesn't have to learn to respond to it).
The dog's salivating is initially an unconditioned response to meat, but eventually becomes a conditioned response to the bell.

Stimulus Generalization

After an association between the CS and CR is formed, learners often respond to similar stimuli as if they were the original CS.

Stimulus Discrimination

The ability to differentiate between a particular CS and other, significantly different stimuli.

Extinction

The process where the conditioned response decreases after repeated exposure to the conditioned stimulus in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus.

Spontaneous Recovery

The reappearance of a conditioned response after it had been extinct.

Higher-Order Conditioning

With repeated pairings of a conditioned stimulus and a second neutral stimulus, the second neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus as well.

Conditioned Taste Aversions

A form of classical conditioning where an organism learns to associate the taste of a particular food or drink with illness.
It has adaptive value.
Garcia's Rats experiment demonstrated this, highlighting the importance of biological preparedness in conditioning.

'Little Albert' Conditioning

Conducted by John B. Watson, 'Little Albert' was conditioned to fear a white rat.
This demonstrated how fear could be conditioned.

Operant Conditioning

In operant conditioning, connections between behavior and consequences are made.

Types of Learning

Operant Conditioning
Classical Conditioning
Observational Conditioning

Observational Conditioning

Learning occurs by watching and imitating others.

Reinforcers

Primary Reinforcers: Satisfy basic, biological needs (ex: food, water, physical contact).
Secondary Reinforcers: Derive their power through their association with primary reinforcers (ex: money, good grades).

Dopamine

Social media engagements, such as likes and retweets, serve as reinforcers, making people more likely to post more.
Heavily-liked photos posted by individuals showed heightened activity in the nucleus accumbens, a brain region implicated in drug-seeking behaviors and over-eating.

Successive Approximations

A method that uses reinforcers to condition a series of small steps that gradually approach the target behavior.

Shaping

A process where a person observes the behaviors of another organism, providing reinforcers if the organism performs at a required level.

Instinctive Drift

Where learned behaviors eventually revert back to an animal's natural patterns.

Continuous Reinforcement

Every target behavior is reinforced.
Ideal during the acquisition phase of establishing new behaviors.

Partial Reinforcement

Target behaviors are reinforced intermittently.
Works better than continuous reinforcement for maintaining behaviors.

Hypnosis

Hypnosis is a state of altered consciousness that can induce changes in the brain, diminishing pain perception.
Hypnosis is often used therapeutically.
Hypnotized people have the ability to intensely focus, ignoring extraneous stimuli, have heightened imagination, a receptive attitude, decreased pain perception, and high responsivity to suggestions.

Role-Playing

Role-playing is an exercise that can induce changes in the brain and diminish pain through awareness.
Both hypnosis and role-playing can be used as interventions to change perceptions and behaviors.### Partial Reinforcement
Behaviors learned through intermittent reinforcement are more resistant to extinction than those learned through continuous reinforcement.

Reinforcement Schedules

Fixed-ratio schedule: the subject must exhibit a preset number of desired responses or behaviors before a reinforcer is given.
Variable-ratio schedule: the number of responses required for reinforcement varies across trials, but is based on a precalculated average.
Fixed-interval schedule: reinforcement is given for the target behavior occurring after a specific time interval. This results in a high response rate immediately before the interval ends and a dip in response rate after the reinforcer is delivered.
Variable-interval schedule: the time interval between reinforcement changes from trial to trial, but is based on a precalculated average. This produces a high, steady response rate that is difficult to extinguish.

Punishment

Positive punishment: something aversive or disagreeable is applied following a target behavior (e.g., incurring a fine for returning a library book late).
Negative punishment: something valuable is taken away following a target behavior (e.g., being grounded after driving misbehaving).

Prosocial Behaviors

Prosocial actions, such as acts of kindness, generosity, and benefitting others, can be learned through observation and modelling.

Latent Learning

Learning that occurs without awareness and regardless of reinforcement.
The learning is not evident until there is a need to use it.
Example: Learning the route to work, but not realizing you know it until you have to take a detour.

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Description

This quiz explores fundamental concepts of learning, including habituation and classical conditioning. It focuses on key terms such as unconditioned stimuli, conditioned responses, and the famous Pavlov's dog experiment. Test your knowledge on how these principles explain behavioral changes.