General Psychology

Relatively permanent change in behavior brought about by experience

A type of learning in which a neutral stimulus comes to bring about a response after it is paired with a stimulus that naturally brings about that response

A stimulus that, before conditioning, does not naturally bring about the response of interest

A stimulus that naturally brings about a particular response without having been learned

A response that is natural and needs no training (e.g. salivation at the smell of food)

A once-neutral stimulus that has been paired with an unconditioned stimulus to bring about a response formerly caused only by the unconditioned stimulus

A response that, after conditioning, follows a previously neutral stimulus (e.g. salivation at the ringing of a bell)

The decrease in response to a stimulus that occurs after repeated presentations of the same stimulus. (Newlyweds stop noticing that they are wearing a wedding ring) Allows us to ignore the things that have stopped providing us with new information

A basic phenomenon of learning that occurs when a previously conditioned response decreases in frequency and eventually disappears

The reemergence of an extinguished conditioned response after a period of rest and with no further conditioning 

A process in which, after a stimulus has been conditioned to produce a particular response, stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus produce the same response (dogs salivated not only at the ringing of the bell that was used during their original conditioning but at the sound of a buzzer as well)

The process that occurs if two stimuli are sufficiently distinct form one another that one evokes a conditioned response but the other does not; the ability to differentiate between stimuli

John Garcia found that some organisms - including humans- were biologically prepared to quickly learn to avoid foods that smelled or tasted like something that made them sick

Learning in which a voluntary response is strengthened or weakened(more or less likely to recur regularly), depending on its favorable or unfavorable consequences

The organism operates on its environment to produce a desirable result (studying --> good grades)

responses that lead to satisfying consequences are more likely to be repeated (cat in the box with a paddle to open it)

The process by which a stimulus increases the probability that a preceding behavior will be repeated

Any stimulus that increases the probability that a preceding behavior will occur again

satisfies some biological need and works naturally, regardless of a person's previous experience. (food for a hungry person, warmth for a cold person, and relief for a person in pain all would be classified as primary reinforcers)

A stimulus that becomes reinforcing because of its association with a primary reinforcer. (Money is valuable, because we have learned that it allows us to obtain other desirable objects, including primary reinforcers such as food and shelter)

A stimulus that decreases the probability that a previous behavior will occur again

A stimulus added to the environment that brings about an increase in a preceding response

An unpleasant stimulus whose removal leads to an increase in the probability that a preceding response will be repeated in the future

weakens a response through the application of an unpleasant stimulus (spanking)

consists of the removal of something pleasant

Different patterns of frequency and timing of reinforcement following desired behavior

Reinforcing of a behavior every time it occurs

Reinforcing of a behavior some but not all of the time

A schedule by which reinforcement is given only after a specific number of responses are made (a rat being given a pellet every tenth time it pressed a lever - ratio 1:10)

A schedule by which reinforcement occurs after a varying number of responses rather than after a fixed number (the number of responses usually hovers around a specific average)

A schedule that provides reinforcement for a response only if a fixed time period has elapsed, making overall rates of response relatively low (weekly paycheck)

A schedule by which the time between reinforcements varies around some average rather than being fixed. (professor who gives surprise quizzes that vary from one every three days to one every three weeks, averaging one every two weeks)

A behavior is reinforced in the presence of a specific stimulus, but not in its absence. (ONe of the more difficult discriminations many people face is determining when someone's friendliness is not mere friendliness but a signal of romantic interest. People learn to make the discrimination by observing the presence of certain nonverbal cues - such as increased eye contact and touching to indicate romantic interest)

Signals the likelihood that a reinforcement will follow a response. (Cop driving behind you - you slow down. The different ways you open doors depending on what kind of handle it has. If you wait to ask your roommate to borrow something until they are in a good mood)

The process of teaching a complex behavior by rewarding closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior. In shaping, you start by reinforcing any behavior that is at all similar to the behavior you want the person to learn. Later, you reinforce only responses that are closer to the behavior you ultimately want to teach. Finally, you reinforce only the desired response. (Lions jumping through hoops)

• Basic Principles:
• Classical Conditioning - Building associations between a conditioned stimulus and conditioned response
• Operant Conditioning - Reinforcement increases the frequency of the behavior preceding it; punishment decreases the frequency of the behavior preceding it

• Nature of Behavior:
• Classical Conditioning - Based on involuntary, natural, innate behavior. Behavior is elicited by the unconditioned or conditioned stimulus
• Operant Conditioning - Organism voluntarily operates on its environment to produce a desirable result. After behavior occurs, the likelihood of the behavior occurring again is increased or decreased by the behavior's consequences

• Order of Events:
• Classical Conditioning - Before conditioning, an unconditioned stimulus leads to an unconditioned response. After conditioning, a conditioned stimulus leads to a conditioned response
• Operant Conditioning: Reinforcement leads to an increase in behavior; punishment leads to a decrease in behavior

Compare: Extinction, Stimulus generalization, and stimulus discrimination occur in both Operant and Classical Conditioning

Technique for promoting frequency of desirable behaviors and decreasing unwanted ones

• - Identify Goals and Target Behaviors
• - Design a data-recording system and record preliminary data
• - Select a behavior-change strategy
• - Implement the program
• - Keep careful records after the program is implemented
• - Evaluate and alter the ongoing program

Approach that states learning is best understood in terms of thought processes or cognitions

Approach to the study of learning that focuses on the thought processes that underlie learning.

Focus on the unseen mental processes that occur during learning, rather than concentrating solely on external stimuli, responses, and reinforcements. Instead, according to this point of view, people, and even lower animals, develop an expectation that they will receive a reinforcer after making a response. 

Learning in which a new behavior is acquired but is not demonstrated until some incentive is provided for displaying it (maze and rats)

a mental representation of spatial locations and directions

Learning by observing the behavior of another person, or model (Albert Bandura)

Observational Learning: Study w/ Bobo dolls and children. Children watched a film where an adult was violent with the Bobo dolls and then the children were also displaying the behavior when given a bobo doll. 

Fire when one observes another carrying out a behavior

People master material best through exposure to a full unit or phenomenon. Parts of the unit are comprehended only when their relationship to the whole is understood.

People master material best when they can carry out an initial analysis of the principles and components underlying a phenomenon or situation. By developing an understanding of the fundamental principles and components, they are best able to understand the full picture.

• 1. Lowers Inhibitions against carrying out aggression
• 2. watching tv violence or using violent video games makes aggression seem a legitimate response to particular situations
• 3. Exposure to media violence may distort out understanding of the meaning of others' behavior, predisposing us to view even nonaggressive acts by others as aggressive. 
• 4. Continuos violence makes us desensitized to violence, and what previously would have repelled us now produces little emotional response