Introductory to Psychology: Chapter 5

Russian physiologist (person who studies the workings of the body) who discovered classical conditioning through his work on digestion in dogs

learning to make a reflex response to a stimulus other than the original, natural stimulus that normally produces the reflex

a naturally occurring stimulus that leads to an involuntary response unconditioned means "unlearned" or "naturally occurring.

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an involuntary response to a naturally occurring or unconditioned stimulus

stimulus that becomes able to produce a learned reflex response by being paired with the original unconditioned stimulus conditioned means "learned" CS is usually some stimulus that is distinctive or stands out from other competing stimuli

can become a conditioned stimulus when paired with an unconditioned stimulus

learned reflex response to a conditioned stimulus sometimes called a conditioned reflex CS: ice cream truck CR: salivation when one hears ice cream truck bell

repeated pairing of the NS and the UCS; the organism is in the process of acquiring learning although classical conditioning happens quite easily, there are a few basic principles that researchers have discovered: CS must come before UCS CS and UCS must come very close together in time—ideally, only several seconds apart neutral stimulus must be paired with the UCS several times, often many times, before conditioning can take place

tendency to respond to a stimulus that is only similar to the original conditioned stimulus with the conditioned response

tendency to stop making a generalized response to a stimulus that is similar to the original conditioned stimulus because the similar stimulus is never paired with the unconditioned stimulus

disappearance or weakening of a learned response following the removal or absence of the unconditioned stimulus (in classical conditioning) or the removal of a reinforcer (in operant conditioning)

reappearance of a learned response after extinction has occurred learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior

strong conditioned stimulus is paired with a neutral stimulus neutral stimulus becomes a second conditioned stimulus

emotional response that has become classically conditioned to occur to learned stimuli examples: fear of dogs; the emotional reaction that occurs when seeing an attractive person CERs may lead to phobias—irrational fear responses.

Stimulus substitution: original theory in which Pavlov stated that classical conditioning occurred because the conditioned stimulus became a substitute for the unconditioned stimulus by being paired closely together Cognitive perspective: modern theory in which classical conditioning is seen to occur because the conditioned stimulus provides information or an expectancy about the coming of the unconditioned stimulus

the learning of voluntary behavior through the effects of pleasant and unpleasant consequences to responses

if a response is followed by a pleasurable consequence, it will tend to be repeated if a response is followed by an unpleasant consequence, it will tend not to be repeated

any event or stimulus, that when following a response, increases the probability that the response will occur again primary reinforcer: any reinforcer that is naturally reinforcing by meeting a basic biological need, such as hunger, thirst, or touch secondary reinforcer: any reinforcer that becomes reinforcing after being paired with a primary reinforcer, such as praise, tokens, or gold stars

the reinforcement of a response by the addition or experience of a pleasurable stimulus

the reinforcement of a response by the removal, escape from, or avoidance of an unpleasant stimulus example: taking aspirin for a headache is negatively reinforced: removal of headache!

a response that is reinforced after some—but not all—correct responses tends to be very resistant to extinction.

reinforcement of each and every correct response

interval of time that must pass before reinforcement becomes possible is always the same

the interval of time that must pass before reinforcement becomes possible is different for each trial or event

number of responses required for reinforcement is always the same

schedule of reinforcement in which the number of responses required for reinforcement is different for each trial or event

any event or object that, when following a response, makes that response less likely to happen again

the punishment of a response by the addition or experiencing of an unpleasant stimulus

the punishment of a response by the removal of a pleasurable stimulus

Severe punishment may cause avoidance of the punisher instead of the behavior being punished may encourage lying to avoid punishment creates fear and anxiety

use of operant conditioning techniques to bring about desired changes in behavior

type of behavior modification in which desired behavior is rewarded with tokens

form of mild punishment by removal in which a misbehaving animal, child, or adult is placed in a special area away from the attention of others essentially, the organism is being "removed" from any possibility of positive reinforcement in the form of attention

modern term for a form of behavior modification that uses shaping techniques to mold a desired behavior or response

learning that remains hidden until its application becomes useful

early cognitive scientist best-known experiments in learning involved teaching three groups of rats the same maze, one at a time (Tolman & Honzik, 1930b) Edward Tolman's Maze Experiment Group 1 rewarded each time at end of maze learned maze quickly Group 2 in maze every day; only rewarded on 10th day demonstrated learning of maze almost immediately after receiving reward Group 3 never rewarded did not learn maze well

tendency to fail to act to escape from a situation because of a history of repeated failures in the past

learning new behavior by watching a model perform that behavior Learning/performance distinction: learning can take place without actual performance of the learned behavior

Attention To learn anything through observation, the learner must first pay attention to the model. Memory The learner must also be able to retain the memory of what was done, such as remembering the steps in preparing a dish that were first seen on a cooking show. Imitation The learner must be capable of reproducing, or imitating, the actions of the model.

Motivation The learner must have the desire to perform the action