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56 terms

Unit 6 - AP Psychology

a relatively permanent change in an organism's behavior due to experience
an organism's decreasing response to a stimulus with repeated exposure to it
associative learning
classical conditioning
unconditioned response (UR)
unconditioned stimulus (US)
conditioned response (CR)
conditioned stimulus (CS)
in classical conditioned, an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned response
higher-order conditioning
a procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned stimulus. (For example, an animal that has learned that a tone predicts food might then learn that a light predicts the tone and begin responding to the light alone.) (Also called Second-Order Conditioning)
the diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning when a unconditioned stimulus (US) does not follow a conditioned stimulus (CS); occurs in operant condition when a response is no longer reinforced
spontaneous recovery
the reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response
learned helplessness
respondent behavior
behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus
operant conditioning
a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforce or diminished followed by a punisher
operant behavior
behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences
law of effect
Thorndike's principle that behaviors followed by faborable consequences become more like, that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely
operant chamber
in operant conditioning research, a chamber (also known as a Skinner box) containing a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain food or water reinforce; attached devices record the animal's rate of bar pressing or key pecking
discriminative stimulus
in operant conditioning, a stimulus that elicits a response after association with reinforcement (in contrast to related stimuli not associated with reinforcement)
in operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows
positive reinforcement
increasing behaviors by presenting positive stimuli, such as food. A positive reinforce in any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response
negative reinforcement
increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli, such as shock. A negative reinforce is any stimulus that, when removed after a response, strengthens the response (negative reinforcement is not punishment)
primary reinforce
conditioned reinforcer
a stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforce; also known as a secondary reinforce
continuous reinforcement
reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs
partial (intermittent) reinforcement
fixed-ratio schedule
variable-ratio schedule
fixed-interval schedule
variable-interval schedule
an event that decreases the behavior that it follows
cognitive map
a mental representation of the layout of one's environment. (For example, after exploring a maze, rats act as if they have learned a cognitive map of it)
latent learning
a sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem
intrinsic motivation
a desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake
extrinsic motivation
observational learning
learning by observing others (also social learning)
the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior
mirror neurons
frontal lobe neurons that fire when performing certain actions or when observing another doing so. The brain's mirroring of another's actions may enable imitation and empath
prosocial behavior
positive, constructive, helpful behavior. The opposite of antisocial behavior
little albert
subject in John Watson's experiment, proved classical conditioning principles, especially the generalization of fear
Albert Bandura
researcher famous for work in observational or social learning including the famous Bobo doll experiment
John Garcia
Researched taste aversion. Showed that when rats ate a novel substance before being nauseated by a drug or radiation, they developed a conditioned taste aversion for the substance.
Ivan Pavlov
Rosalie Rayner
graduate student of Watson and co-researcher for the famous Little Albert demonstration of classically conditioned emotion
Martin Seligman
researcher known for work on learned helplessness and learned optimism as well as positive psychology
B.F. Skinner
pioneer of operant conditioning who believed that everything we do is determined by our past history of rewards and punishments. he is famous for use of his operant conditioning aparatus which he used to study schedules of reinforcement on pidgeons and rats.
Edward Thorndike
Pioneer in operant conditioning who discovered concepts in intstrumental learning such as the law of effect. Known for his work with cats in puzzle boxes.
John Watson
behaviorism; emphasis on external behaviors of people and their reactions on a given situation; famous for Little Albert study in which baby was taught to fear a white rat
observational learning
learning by observing others
aversion theory