Chapter 5 - Learning

A 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)

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.

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

Learning in which a voluntary response is strengthened or weakened, depending on its favorable or unfavorable consequences.

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

Any stimulus that increases the probability that a preceding 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 the2 probability that a preceding response will be repeated in the future.

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

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 schedule by which reinforcement occurs after a varying number of responses rather than after a fixed number.

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

A schedule by which the time between reinforcements varies around some average rather than being fixed.

The process of teaching a complex behavior by rewarding closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior.

A formalized technique for promoting the frequency of desirable behaviors and decreasing the incidence of unwanted ones.

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

Learning in which a new behavior is acquired but is not demonstrated until some incentive is provided for displaying it.

Learning by observing the behavior of another person, or model.