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Chapter 6: Learning
Learning
29
Psychology
Undergraduate 1
04/01/2011

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Term
Learning
Definition
Relatively enduring change in behavior, one that results from experience. It occurs when animals benefit from experience so that their behavior is better adapted to the environment.
Term
Classical Conditioning
Definition
Pavlovian conditioning, occurs when we learn that two types of events go together-- for example, when we watch a scary movie and and our hearts beat faster.
Term
Operant Conditioning
Definition
instrumental conditioning, occurs when we learn that a behavior leads to a particular outcome, such as that studying leads to better grades.
Term
John Watson
Definition
Behaviorism:
- believed animals and people are born with the potential to learn anything.
- Newborns had a tabula rosa. (Blank slate)
Term
Unconditioned response (UR)
Definition
Unlearned, automatic behavior, such as any simple reflex
Term
Unconditioned stimulus (US)
Definition
In the case of dogs salivating, the food is the stimulus it causes the UR
Term
Conditioned response (CR)
Definition
an acquired, learned response
Term
Conditioned stimulus (CS)
Definition
Stimulates a response after learning takes place. Like the bell ringing leading to dogs salivating because they know/think food is coming.
Term
Spontaneous Recovery
Definition
- the extinguished CS again produces a CR, is temporary and will fade quickly unless the CS is again paired with the US. Even a single pairing of the CS with the US will reestablish the CR, which will then again diminish if CS-US pairings do not continue. (After a week of no testing, the dog will still salivate to the sound of the bell.)
Term
Stimulus generalization
Definition
occurs when stimuli similar, but not identical to the CS produce the CR. (adaptive in nature) Animals may learn to respond to variations in the CS.
Term
Stimulus discrimination
Definition
animals learn to differentiate between two similar stimuli if one is consistently associated with the unconditioned stimulus and the other is not.
Term
Differences between operant and classical conditioning**
Definition
- Whereas classical conditioning involves the learned association between two events, operant conditioning involves the learned association between a behavior and its consequences.
- Classical: a relatively passive process in which a person or animal associates events that occur together in time, regardless of what the person or animal does beyond that. This form of conditioning does not account for the many times that one of the events occurs because the person or animal has taken some action.
- Operant: is the use of a behavior's antecedent and/or its consequence to influence the occurrence and form of behavior. Operant conditioning is distinguished from classical conditioning (also called respondent conditioning) in that operant conditioning deals with the modification of "voluntary behavior" or operant behavior. Operant behavior "operates" on the environment and is maintained by its consequences, while classical conditioning deals with the conditioning of reflexive (reflex) behaviors which are elicited by antecedent conditions. Behaviors conditioned via a classical conditioning procedure are not maintained by consequences.
Term
B.F. Skinner
Definition
operant conditioning: the idea that animals operate on their environment to produce effects. Learning process in which an action's consequences determine the likelihood that the action will be performed in the future.
Term
Edward Thorndike
Definition
law of effect: states that any behavior leading to a "satisfying state of affairs" will less likely occur again

- Law of exercise:
Term
Reinforcer (according to skinner):
Definition
a stimulus that occurs after a response and increases the likelihood that the response will be repeated. (repetition)
Term
Shaping (behavior)
Definition
involves reinforcing behaviors that are increasingly similar to the desired behavior.
Term
Shaping through successive approximations
Definition
teaching a dog how to roll over, but by first rewarding them for being able to lie down, and then reward them each step along the way until they compete the task of rolling over.
Term
Positive Reinforcement
Definition
Increases the probability that a behavior will be repeated. sometimes involves a reward.
Term
Negative Reinforcement
Definition
- Increases behavior through the removal of a stimulus. For instance, a rat is negatively reinforced when required to press a lever to turn off an electric shock.
Term
Ratio schedule
Definition
based on the number of times the behavior occurs, as when behavior is reinforced on every third or tenth occurence. Leads to greater responding.
Term
Interval Schedule
Definition
based on a specific unit of time, as when a behavior is reinforced when it is is performed every minute or hour
Term
Fixed Schedule:
Definition
the reinforcer consistently is given after a specific number of occurrences or after a specific amount of time. For example, whether factory workers are paid by the piece or by the hour, they usually are paid according to a fixed rate, earning the same for each piece or for each hour.
Term
variable schedule
Definition
the reinforcer is given at different rates or at different times. The responder does not know how many behaviors need to be performed or how much time needs to pass before reinforcement will occur. Like when a salesperson receives commission only when a customer agrees to purchase a product.
Term
Tolman
Definition
early cognitive theorist, argued that reinforcement has more impact on performance than on learning.
Term
Cognitive maps
Definition
(Tolman): Believed rats could develop these to help them a maze to find food quickly. Reinforcement via a "goal box" caused rats to learn the maze quickly via spatial mapping.
Term
Latent learning
Definition
refers to learning that takes place without reinforcement. (Tolman)
Term
Peter Olds & Milner
Definition
Developed these:
- Pleasure centers in the brain: through shocking rats, they stimulated parts of the brain that increased their activity.

- areas of the brain: dopamine activity at the nucleus accumbens.
Term
Engram
Definition
(Carl Lashley): storage of learned material. memories stored through changes in the nervous system.
Term
Hebb's Rule
Definition
"cells that fire together, wire together"
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