Psych Test

A change in behaviour which occurs as the result of experience

The founder of behaviourism

In the philosophy of science the principle that one should always seek the simplest possible explanation for any event.

• parsimony - the principle that states one should always seek the simplest possible explanaton for any event
• associationism - the doctrine that mental processes, particularly learning, are based on forming connections between ideas and/or events
• pragmatism - the idea that action should be assessed in terms of its consequences

A principle of learning developed by Edwin Thorndike, stating that any response which leads to satisfying outcome for the organism is likely to be repeated, and any response which leads to an unpleasant outcome is not likely to be repeated

known for his research problem solving in animals, using a series of puzzle-like tasks (e.g. confining a cat in a box, from which it could release itself by pressing against a lever), best known today for his "law of effect", which foreshadowed Skinner's concept of reinforcement as a description of the role of consequences in learning.

share an interest in how behaviour is learned, and an emphasis on explanations based on observable events

any event, situation object or factor that may affect behavior, for the behaviourists, a measurable change in the environment.

any reaction to a stimulus, whether overt or mental, for the behaviourists, a measurable change in behaviour.

an unlearned response that can be triggered by specific environmental stimuli, such as a baby's sucking on an object placed in the mouth.

A response which is controlled by the individual (emitted) rather than being triggered (elicited) by specific stimuli with reflexes are.

The study of learning which involves reflex responses in which a neutral stimulus comes to elicit an existing reflex response.

- by studying digestion in dogs, he noticed what he called 'psychic salivation' - a dog would salivate beore it was actually given food (believing that digestion involved a series of reflexes).

• Studies of digestion showed, salivating at the presence of food is a basic neural reflex that requires no learning.
• For example, if you put a piece of chocolate in your mouth, you will salivate. A light shone in the eye will cause the
• pupil to contract. Reflex responses like these are referred to in Classical Conditioning a reflexive response produced by a specific stimulus is called UNCONDITIONED RESPONSES.
• For any reflex, there is some stimulus which will trigger (elicit) the response. For example, food for salivating, light for
• pupil contraction), the stimulus which elicits a reflexive (unconditioned) response is called an UNCONDITIONED STIMULUS.

• Pavlov noted that the learning is based on forming a connection between stimuli - in the dog's case, between the bell and the food. Ringing the bell initially had no effect on salivation - that is, with respect to the response of salivation, it was a NEUTRAL STIMULUS. (To be a stimlus, an environmental element must be something which the organism is aware of; normally this is demonstrated by the stimlus arousing attention, called an orienting response.)
• After repeated pairings with the food placed in the dog's mouth the sound of the bell came to elicit drooling (salivation). At this point, the sound has become a CONDITIONED STIMULUS, and the salivating which results is called a CONDITIONED RESPONSE (to distinguish it from the response to food alone). Essentially, the conditioned stimulus has become associated with the occurrence of food.

The response involved is essentially a pre-existing reflex, the learning which occurs does NOT involve a new response; instead it consists of forming a connection (association) between two stimuli (the CS and UCS). In order for optimal conditioning to occur the conditioned stimulus (CS) must occur a second or so before the unconditioned stimulus (UCS). If the two occur simultaneously, conditioning may occur, but is typically weaker. If the CS is presented AFTER the UCS, then NO learning occurs. What this tells me is that conditioning is closely linked to the ability of the CS to serve as a signal that the UCS is going to occur.

The tendency to produce a CR to both the original CS and to stimuli which are similar to it in some way.

selective responding to the CS, but not to stimuli in some way as a result of training (The organism is conditoned to distinguish between two stimuli which always requires training)

The cessation of responding when the CS is presented repeatedly without being paired with the UCS

is the restoration of the response when the CS is presented after some time has elapsed since extinction training.