Questions and Answers
What is learning?
The way in which we acquire new behaviors.
What is a stimulus?
Anything that causes a reaction or change in an organism.
What is habituation?
A type of learning in which increased exposure to the same stimulus can decrease the response to a stimulus.
What is dishabituation?
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What is the orienting reflex?
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What is the use of the orienting reflex?
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What happens to the orienting reflex as we become habituated to a stimulus?
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What is associative learning?
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What are the two types of associative learning?
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What is classical conditioning?
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What is an unconditioned stimulus?
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What is an unconditioned response?
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What is a conditioned stimulus?
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What is a conditioned response?
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What are signaling stimuli?
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What is acquisition?
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How can a conditioned stimulus be made neutral again?
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What is extinction?
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What is spontaneous recovery?
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What is generalization?
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What is discrimination in classical conditioning?
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What is operant conditioning?
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Who is B.F. Skinner?
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Who is Pavlov?
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What is behaviorism?
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What is reinforcement?
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What is positive reinforcement?
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What is negative reinforcement?
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Do positive and negative reinforcement increase or decrease the likelihood of a behavior?
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What are the two types of learning associated with negative reinforcement?
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What is escape learning?
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What is avoidance learning?
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What are primary reinforcers?
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What are secondary reinforcers?
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What is a discriminative stimulus?
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What is punishment?
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What is positive punishment?
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What is negative punishment?
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What is a fixed ratio schedule?
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What is a continuous reinforcement schedule?
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What is a fixed-interval schedule?
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What is a variable-interval schedule?
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What is a variable-ratio schedule?
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What reinforcement schedule is most resistant to extinction?
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What reinforcement schedule is least resistant to extinction?
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What reinforcement schedules have the fastest response rates?
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What reinforcement schedules have a brief moment of no response after a behavior is reinforced?
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What is shaping?
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What is latent learning?
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What is problem solving?
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What types of learning go against operant conditioning?
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When are animals most likely to learn new behaviors?
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What is preparedness?
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What is instinctive drift?
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What is observational learning?
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What is social learning?
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Who is Albert Bandura?
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What are mirror neurons?
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What is cognition?
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What is prolonged exposure therapy?
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What is contiguity?
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Should the unconditioned stimulus and neutral stimulus/conditioned stimulus be presented together or separately?
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What is forward (delayed) conditioning?
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What is forward (trace) conditioning?
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What is forward trace conditioning with longer delay?
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What is simultaneous conditioning?
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What is backward conditioning?
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What is contingency?
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What is taste aversion?
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What is aversion therapy?
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What is the law of effect?
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What is extinction burst?
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What is the Acquisition and Extinction Graph?
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In what two ways does observational learning deviate from behaviorism?
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Study Notes
Learning Fundamentals
- Learning is the acquisition of new behaviors and knowledge through various processes.
- A stimulus is anything that triggers a reaction or change within an organism.
Habituation and Dishabituation
- Habituation occurs when repeated exposure to a stimulus leads to a decrease in response.
- Dishabituation is the recovery from habituation, often triggered by exposure to a different stimulus.
- The orienting reflex involves the inclination to focus senses on unexpected stimuli, serving a protective function.
Associative Learning
- Associative learning entails forming connections between stimuli and responses.
- Types of associative learning include classical conditioning and operant conditioning.
Classical Conditioning
- Classical conditioning involves forming associations between two unrelated stimuli.
- The unconditioned stimulus elicits a natural response (unconditioned response) without prior learning.
- The conditioned stimulus, initially neutral, acquires the ability to evoke a conditioned response after association with the unconditioned stimulus.
Key Principles of Classical Conditioning
- Acquisition is the process of linking the unconditioned stimulus with the conditioned stimulus.
- Extinction occurs when the conditioned stimulus is presented without the unconditioned stimulus repeatedly, leading it to revert to a neutral state.
- Spontaneous recovery may happen when an extinguished conditioned stimulus is presented again, resulting in a weak conditioned response.
Generalization and Discrimination
- Generalization is the tendency for similar stimuli to evoke similar responses after conditioning.
- Discrimination is the learned ability to differentiate between a conditioned stimulus and other non-signaling stimuli.
Operant Conditioning
- Operant conditioning strengthens or weakens behavior based on consequences: reinforcers increase behavior, while punishers decrease it.
- B.F. Skinner is a prominent figure in behaviorism's development.
Reinforcement and Punishment
- Positive reinforcement adds a desirable stimulus to encourage behavior.
- Negative reinforcement removes an undesirable stimulus to promote behavior.
- Both forms of reinforcement increase the likelihood of a behavior.
Schedules of Reinforcement
- Continuous reinforcement is delivering reinforcement after every response.
- Fixed ratio schedules provide reinforcement after a specific number of responses.
- Interval schedules provide reinforcement based on the time elapsed, with fixed and variable distinctions.
Learning Dynamics
- Variable ratio schedules are most resistant to extinction, while continuous reinforcement is the least resistant.
- Shaping is a technique to guide behavior towards a desired outcome through reinforcers.
Latent Learning and Problem Solving
- Latent learning occurs without immediate rewards and can manifest when incentives are present.
- Problem-solving involves cognitive processes to achieve goals.
Observational Learning
- Observational learning takes place by watching others, known as social learning.
- Albert Bandura emphasized the importance of modeling behaviors and learning from the actions of others.
- Mirror neurons activate during both observation of actions and performance of similar actions.
Additional Concepts
- Prolonged exposure therapy is a form of habituation therapy used in treating PTSD.
- Preparedness refers to the predisposition to learn behaviors that align with natural instincts.
- Instinctive drift signifies the struggle to override instinctual behaviors.
Conditioning Techniques
- Forward (delayed and trace) conditioning involves the timing of the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli.
- Backward conditioning, where the unconditioned stimulus precedes the conditioned stimulus, is the least effective form.
- Contingency defines the reliability of one stimulus predicting the occurrence of another.
Taste Aversion and Therapy
- Taste aversion is a learned avoidance of specific foods.
- Aversion therapy employs classical conditioning to encourage avoidance of certain stimuli.
The Law of Effect
- Thorndike's law of effect states that behaviors followed by favorable outcomes are likely to be repeated, while those followed by unfavorable outcomes are less likely to recur.
Behavioral Response Trends
- An extinction burst is a temporary increase in response frequency as an organism experiences extinction.
- Acquisition and extinction patterns exhibit initial increases in behavior followed by declines and eventual cessation.
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Description
Explore key concepts such as habituation, operant conditioning, observational learning, and classical conditioning with these flashcards. Perfect for MCAT preparation, this quiz will help reinforce your understanding of fundamental learning theories in psychology.