question

Define learning.

answer

An experience causes a notable change in an organism's behaviour or capabilities.

question

What are habituation and sensitization?

answer

A change in behaviour as a result of repeated exposure to a specific stimulus.

question

Define classical conditioning.

answer

Two stimuli become associated such that one stimulus comes to produce a response that originally was produced only by the other stimulus.

question

Define operant conditioning.

answer

Associate responses with specific consequences.

question

Historically, how have behaviourists define learning?

answer

Associative learning - one action leads to one consequence, either positive or negative and the positive consequence action is repeated.

question

What role does the environment play in personal and species adaptation?

answer

Adaptation is a means of survival - finding food, shelter, mates, etc.

question

What do behaviourists look at in terms of learning?

answer

They focus on 'how' organisms learn by examining which experiences lead to influencing behaviour.

question

What three psychological events have allowed us to further our understanding of learning?

answer

Cognitive perspective, biological factors, and cross-cultural psychology.

question

What is habituation, and what is its adaptive significance?

answer

The decreased response to a repeated stimulus and this is important for conserving energy and responding to important stimuli only (dangerous stimuli).

question

What would happen if an organism constantly responded to every stimulus in the environment?

answer

It would quickly become overwhelmed and exhausted.

question

Where does habituation occur?

answer

In the Central Nervous System.

question

What is sensitization, and why would you want to sensitive to the repeated presentation of a stimulus?

answer

The increase in strength of response to a repeated stimulus. This is important as it increases responses to a potentially dangerous stimulus.

question

Describe Pavlov's most famous experiment.

answer

He studied the salivary secretions in the process of digestion in dogs. He soon found that tones before food was given made an association response of salivating to the tone, not just the food.

question

Define acquisition.

answer

The period during which a response is being learned.

question

Define neutral stimulus.

answer

Does not have a response.

question

Define unconditioned stimulus.

answer

A stimulus that will produce an innate or natural response.

question

Define unconditioned response.

answer

A reflexive, unlearned response to an innately or naturally important stimulus.

question

Define learning trial.

answer

The pairing of two stimulants to facilitate association.

question

Define conditioned stimulus.

answer

A stimulus that gains value through learning.

question

Define conditioned response.

answer

A response elicited by a stimulus whose importance depends on past learning.

question

How do you create a conditioned salivation response in a dog?

answer

Pairing a conditioned stimulus with a unconditioned stimulus to establish a strong conditioned response through association (ie. tone, food, salivation, repeat until tone=salivation).

question

Under what circumstances are conditioned responses typically acquired most quickly?

answer

When the conditioned stimulus is intense and aversive (harsh) and appears first and continues on when unconditioned stimulus is presented.

question

Explain forward short-delay pairing.

answer

Presenting a conditioned stimulus first as well as with an unconditioned stimulus.

question

Explain forward trace pairing.

answer

Conditioned stimulus is presented and removed repeatedly before providing the conditioned response.

question

Explain simultaneous pairing.

answer

Presenting the conditioned stimulus at the same time as the unconditioned stimulus that results in slow or no learning.

question

Explain backward pairing.

answer

Conditioned stimulus is presented after the unconditioned stimulus that results in no learning.

question

Explain the key factor in producing an extinction of a conditioned response.

answer

Extinction of the conditioned stimulus through extinction trials in which the conditioned stimulus is shown without the unconditioned stimulus - this weakens it to the point of being nonexistent.

question

Define spontaneous recovery.

answer

The reappearance of a previously extinguished controlled response after a rest period and without new learning trials.

question

Explain the adaptive significance of stimulus generalization and discrimination.

answer

Generalization allows an organism to associate one stimulus with all those similar to it (rustling in a bush means run no matter how loud/quiet). Discrimination allows an organism to differentiate between irrelevant and important stimuli.

question

Define stimulus generalization.

answer

Stimuli similar to the original conditioned stimulus elicit a conditioned response - a conditioned reaction occurs to similar stimuli.

question

Define discrimination.

answer

An organisms ability to differentiate between irrelevant and important stimulants - a conditioned reaction occurs to one stimulus but not others.

question

Define higher-order conditioning.

answer

A neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus after being paired with an already established conditioned stimulus. This produces a weaker conditioned response.

question

How does classical conditioning explain fear acquisition?

answer

The object of fear has become a conditioned stimulus to an aversive unconditioned stimulus such as pain and stimulus generalization.

question

How is classical conditioning used in society to increase or decrease our arousal/attraction to stimuli?

answer

Increase arousal by pairing feared unconditioned stimuli with conditioned stimuli. Decrease arousal by pairing feared conditioned stimuli without unconditioned stimuli.

question

Explain exposure therapies.

answer

Expose the phobic patient to the feared conditioned stimuli without any unconditioned stimuli allowing an extinction to occur.

question

Explain aversion therapy.

answer

Attempts to condition an aversion or repulsion to a stimulus that triggers unwanted behaviour by pairing it with a noxious unconditioned stimulus.

question

What evidence led Thorndike to propose the "law of effect"?

answer

He placed hungry animals in boxes that could be opened from the inside via lever or button and a bowl of food outside the door. These animals slowly learned over time how to open the box and get the food.

question

Explain the law of effect.

answer

In a given situation, a response followed by a satisfying consequence will become more likely to occur, and a response followed by an unsatisfying outcome will become less likely to occur.

question

Explain the Skinner box.

answer

A box is made with a food lever and a food bowl. When the hungry animal pulls or pushes the lever, food pellets fall into the bowl. This reaction is studied on a cumulative recorder.

question

Differentiate between reinforcement and punishment.

answer

Reinforcement occurs when a stimulus is strengthened by a following outcome and a punishment occurs when a stimulus is weakened by a following outcome. Reinforcement makes a behaviour more likely and punishment makes a behaviour less likely.

question

What are the ABCs of operant conditioning according to Skinner?

answer

Antecedents or stimuli before behaviour occurs, Behaviours that the organism emits, and Consequences that follow the behaviours.

question

What are contingencies?

answer

The relations between the antecedent and behaviour and between behaviour and consequence.

question

Identify two key differences between operant conditioning and classical conditioning.

answer

Classical: association between two stimuli and elicited behaviours. Operant: association between behaviours and consequences and reflexive behaviours.

question

Why are antecedent stimuli important in operant conditioning?

answer

Sets the environment setting for the experiments following.

question

Define discriminative behaviour.

answer

A signal that a particular response will now produce certain consequences.

question

How does negative reinforcement differ from positive reinforcement and from punishment?

answer

Negative reinforcement takes away a stimulus and this results in strengthening a response, whereas positive reinforcement presents a stimulus to strengthen the response. Punishment weakens a response rather than strengthening it.

question

Explain how operant extinction, positive punishment, and negative punishment differ.

answer

Operant extinction weakens and eventually removes a response altogether, positive punishment presents a stimulus as a punishment, and negative punishment removes the stimulus as a punishment.

question

Define positive reinforcement.

answer

A response is strengthened by the subsequent presentation of a stimulus.

question

Define negative reinforcement.

answer

A response is strengthened by the subsequent removal or avoidance of a stimulus

question

Define operant extinction.

answer

The weakening and eventual disappearance of a response because it is no longer reinforced.

question

Define positive punishment.

answer

A response is weakened by the subsequent presentation of a stimulus.

question

Describe some disadvantages of using positive punishment to control behaviour.

answer

Aggressive behaviour could be learned instead or the behaviour is only stopped when the punisher is present, this causes resentment towards to the punisher to be felt.

question

Define negative punishment.

answer

A response is weakened by the subsequent removal of a stimulus.

question

Define natural reinforcers.

answer

Stimuli that an organism naturally finds reinforcing because they satisfy biological needs.

question

Define secondary or conditioned reinforcers.

answer

Stimuli that an organism finds reinforcing such as money that is usually paired with a primary reinforcer.

question

How do secondary reinforcers become 'reinforcers'?

answer

Through their association with primary reinforcers and other stimuli.

question

Why would a fine or a ticket, payable later, not be very effective for changing behaviour?

answer

Conditioned behaviour is best learned when there are immediate consequences.

question

Define delay of gratification.

answer

The ability to forego an immediate smaller reward for a delayed but more gratifying outcome.

question

Explain the process of shaping.

answer

Reinforcing successive approximations towards a final response. Also known as the method of successive approximations.

question

Explain the process of chaining.

answer

Used to develop a sequence chain of responses by reinforcing each response with the opportunity to perform the next response.

question

Explain operant generalization.

answer

An operant response occurs to a new antecedent stimulus or stimulation or situation that is similar to the original one.

question

Explain operant discrimination.

answer

An operant response will occur to one antecedent stimulus but not to another.

question

Define continuous reinforcement schedules.

answer

Every response of a particular type is reinforced.

question

Describe four major schedules of partial reinforcement and their effects on behaviour.

answer

Ratio in which a certain percentage of responses are reinforced. Interval in which a certain amount of time must pass before a behaviour is reinforced. Fixed in which reinforcements occur after specific fixed number of responses or time. Variable in which reinforcements occur randomly around an average.

question

Explain fixed-ratio (FR) schedules.

answer

Reinforcement is given after a fixed number of responses. This reward is followed by a pause or a break as a second characteristic effect.

question

Explain variable-ratio (VR) schedules.

answer

Reinforcement is given after a variable number of correct responses, based on an average. These are highly resistant to extinction and organisms may act until exhaustion.

question

Are variable or fixed schedules more resistant to extinction? Why?

answer

Variable schedules are more resistant to extinction because the organism knows the reinforcement will come at some point - they are hooked thinking the reinforcement will occur after the next attempt.

question

Explain fixed-interval (FI) schedules.

answer

The first correct response that occurs after a fixed time interval is reinforced.

question

Explain variable-interval (VI) schedules.

answer

Reinforcement is given for the first response that occurs after a variable time interval.

question

Explain escape conditioning.

answer

Organisms learn a response to terminate an aversive stimulus. They are acquired and maintained through negative reinforcement.

question

Explain avoidance conditioning.

answer

Organisms learns a response to completely avoid an aversive stimulus. They learn to respond before the aversive stimulus is even present.

question

Describe the role of negative reinforcement in escape and avoidance conditioning.

answer

In escape conditioning, negative reinforcement is the removal of the stimulus after it has occurred - escaping a situation after it has become reality. In avoidance conditioning, negative reinforcement is the removal of the stimulus before it has occurred - escaping a situation before it has become reality.

question

Explain what two-factor theory of avoidance learning means.

answer

Classical and operant conditioning are involved in avoidance learning.

question

What area of the brain plays a role in fear conditioning?

answer

Amygdala.

question

What are the main affects of PTSD?

answer

Re-experiencing the traumatic event, avoiding situations or cues that remind the individual of the traumatic event, and chronically heightened physiological arousal.

question

True or false: The extent of amygdala activation corresponds positively with symptom severity among PTSD patients.

answer

True.

question

How has operant animal training helped humans?

answer

Performers, disability-aide workers, police and search dogs, and protection.

question

In what broad ways has operant conditioning directly enhanced human welfare?

answer

Improved safety of individuals, academic performance, social skills, elite athletic performance, and reduced unsportsmanlike behaviour.

question

Explain token economies.

answer

Desired behaviours are rewarded immediately with a token that is later traded in for a bigger and better reward.

question

Explain the field of applied behaviour analysis.

answer

Combines a bheavioural approach with the scientific method to solve individual and societal problems. A program designed and implemented to change behavior and its effectiveness is objectively measured by gathering data before and after the program is in place.

question

Why is the behavioural view wrong?

answer

An organism's behaviour is influenced by an organism's evolutionary history.

question

Define preparedness.

answer

Through evolution, animals are biologically pre-wired to easily learn behaviours related to their survival as a species.

question

Explain conditioned taste aversion.

answer

The taste and smell of the food now disgusts and repulses us. Pairing food with nausea creates an aversion involuntarily.

question

How do learned taste aversions illustrate the concept of preparedness?

answer

If something made you sick, it's not good for you and should't be ingested again. This nauseous feeling is quickly avoided to ensure survival of the specie.

question

How has knowledge of learned taste aversions been applied to help animals?

answer

They have used it to save the lives of animals, predator and prey alike. They save farmer's animals as well as the lives of natural wildlife.

question

Are we biologically prepared to fear certain things?

answer

Yes, we fear things that have evolutionary significance - that is, they are dangerous.

question

What evidence led the Brelands to propose the concept of instinctive drift?

answer

A conditioned response drifts back towards instinctive behaviour.

question

How do biology and learning influence each other?

answer

Biology controls how well conditioned responses are learned - if it isn't a natural occurrence, the organism resorts to their instinctual response. Learning also increases the intelligence of the organism.

question

What area of the brain is primed for classically conditioned fears?

answer

Amygdala.

question

What area of the brain is primed for classically conditioned movements?

answer

Cerebellum.

question

How do the concepts of 'insight' and 'cognitive maps' challenge the behaviourist view of learning?

answer

Insight and cognitive maps shows the organism is thinking and solving problems without conditioning occurring. It is natural learning.

question

Describe the cognitive model of learning.

answer

Stimulus, Organism's mental representation of the world, and Response. S-O-R.

question

Define insight.

answer

The sudden perception of a useful relationship that helps to solve a problem.

question

Define cognitive map.

answer

A mental representation of an area.

question

Provide evidence that supports the 'expectancy model' of classical conditioning.

answer

A conditioned stimulus followed by an unconditioned stimulus results in fast learning because it signals the results arrival, simultaneous stimuli results in slower learning because they arrive at the same time, and backward pairing results in no learning because the result has already been produced.

question

What role does awareness play in operant conditioning?

answer

Emphasizes the relation between responses and probable consequences of behaviour.

question

What is the best predictor of behaviour?

answer

The perceived contingency.

question

What are some problems with animals are used in numerosity studies?

answer

Difficulty comparing two close numbers and accuracy decreases as the number of items increase.

question

How does latent learning challenge the behaviourist view of learning?

answer

Behaviourists study the behaviours of animals but latent learning doesn't show behaviour until there is incentive to perform.

question

Define latent learning.

answer

Learning occurs but is not demonstrated until there is incentive to perform.

question

Define observational learning.

answer

The learning that occurs by observing the behaviour of a model.

question

Define social-cognitive theory or the social learning theory.

answer

People learn by observing the behaviour of models and acquiring the belief that they can produce behaviours to influence events in their lives.

question

What is the adaptive significance of observational learning?

answer

You can learn from other's mistakes, meaning you don't have to risk your safety to learn the same lesson.

question

Describe the four-step process of Bandura's modelling?

answer

Attention (watch), retention (remember), reproduction (repeat and copy), and motivation (given a reason to repeat the action/behaviour).

question

Define self-efficacy.

answer

People's belief that they have the capability to perform behaviours that will produce a desired outcome.

question

Explain how Bandura's experiment illustrates the distinction between learning and performance.

answer

Children who were exposed to a violent model attacking a Bobo doll that was punished afterwards acted less violent toward the doll later but when requested, they could easily mimic the model's violent behaviour.

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