psychology chapter 6

  1. learning
    a process based on experience that results in a relatively permanent change in behavior or behavioral potential
  2. learning-performance distinction
    the difference between what has been learned and what is expressed in overt behavior
  3. habituation
    a decrease in behavioral response when a stimulus is being presented repeatedly
  4. sensitization
    an increase in behavioral response when a stimulus is presented repeatedly
  5. behavior analysis
    the area of psychology that focuses on the environmental determinants of learning and behavior
  6. classical conditioning
    a type of learning in which a behavior (conditioned response) comes to be elicited by a stimulus (conditioned stimulus) that has acquired its power through an association with a biologically significant stimulus (unconditional stimulus)
  7. reflex
    an unlearned response elicited by specific stimuli that have biological relevance for an organism
  8. unconditional stimulus (UCS)
    In classical conditioning, the stimulus that elicits an unconditioned response
  9. unconditioned response (UCR)
    In classical conditioning, , the response elicited by an unconditioned stimulus without prior training or learning
  10. conditioned stimulus (CS)
    In classical conditioning, a previously neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a conditioned response
  11. conditioned response (CR)
    In classical conditioning, a response elicited by some previously neutral stimulus that occurs as a result of pairing neutral stimulus with an unconditional stimulus
  12. acquisition
    the stage in classical conditioning experiment during which the conditioned response is first elicited by the conditioned stimulus
  13. extinction
    `in conditioning, the weakening of a conditioned association in the absence of a reinforcer or unconditioned stimulus
  14. spontaneous recovery`
    the reappearance of an extinguished conditioned response after a rest period
  15. stimulus generalization
    the automatic extension of conditioned responding to similar stimuli that have never been paired with the unconditioned stimulus
  16. stimulus discrimination
    a conditioning process in which an organism learns to respond differently to stimuli that differ from the conditioned stimulus on some dimension
  17. law of effect
    a basic law of learning that states that the power of a stimulus to evoke a response is strengthened when the response is followed by a reward and weakened when it is not followed by a reward
  18. operant conditioning
    learning in which the probability of a response is changed by a change in its consequences`
  19. operant
    behavior emitted by an organism that can be characterized to terms of the observable effects it has on the environment
  20. reinforcement contigency
    a consistent relationship between a response and the changes in the environment it produces
  21. reinforces
    any stimulus that, when made contingent on a response, increases the probability of that response
  22. positive reinforcement
    a behavior is followed by the presentation of an appetitive stimulus, increasing the probability of behavior
  23. negative reinforcement
    a behavior is followed by the removal of an aversive stimulus, increasing the probability of that behavior
  24. escape conditioning
    a form of learning in which animals acquire a response that will allow them to escape from an aversive stimulus
  25. avoidance conditioning
    `a form of learning in which animals require responses that allow them to avoid aversive stimuli before they begin
  26. operant extinction
    when a behavior no longer produces predictable consequences, its return to the level of occurrence it had before operant conditioning
  27. punisher
    any stimulus that, when made contingent on a response, decreases the probability of that response
  28. positive punishment
    a behavior is followed by the presentation of an aversive stimulus, decreasing the probability of that behavior
  29. negative punishment
    a behavior is followed by the removal of an appetitive stimulus, decreasing the probability of that behavior
  30. discriminative stimulus
    stimulus that acts as a predictor of reinforcement, signalling when particular behavior will result in positive reinforcement
  31. three-term contigency
    the means by which an organism learns that, in the presence of some stimuli but not others, their behavior is likely to have a particular effect on the environment
  32. primary reinforcer
    biologically determined reinforcer, such as food and water
  33. conditioned reinforcer
    in classical conditioning, a formerly neutral stimulus that has become a reinforcer
  34. schedule of reinforcement
    in operant conditioning, a pattern of delivering and withholding reinforcement
  35. partial reinforcement effect
    the behavioral principle that states the responses acquired under intermittent reinforcement are more difficult to extinguish than those acquired with continuous reinforcement
  36. fixed-ratio (FR) schedule
    a schedule of reinforcement in which a reinforcer is delivered for the first response made after a fixed number of responses
  37. variable-ratio (VR) schedule
    A schedule of reinforcement in which a reinforcer is delivered for the first response made after a variable number of response whose average is predetermined
  38. fixed interval (FI) schedule
    a schedule of reinforcement in which a reinforcer is delivered for the first response made after a fixed period of time
  39. variable-interval (VI) schedule
    a schedule of reinforcement in which the reinforcer is delivered for the first response made after a variable period of time whose average is predetermined
  40. shaping by successive approximations
    a behavioral method that reinforces responses that successfully approximate and ultimately matched the desired response
  41. biological constraint on learning
    any limitation on an organisms capacity to learn that is caused by the inherited sensory, response, or cognitive capabilities of members of a given species
  42. instinctual drift
    the tendency for learned behavior to drift toward instinctual behavior over time
  43. taste-aversion learning
    a biological constraint on learning in which an organism learns in one trial to avoid food whose ingestion is followed by illness
  44. comparative cognition
    the study of development of cognitive abilities across species and the continuity of abilities from nonhuman to human animals
  45. cognitive map
    a mental representation of physical space
  46. observational learning
    the process of learning new responses by watching the behavior of another
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psychology chapter 6
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psychology vocabulary chapter 6
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