Flashcards
Learning and conditioning: key terms and concepts
Cards in this deck (84)
- 1Lucretius"Change is the only constant"
- 2Darwin's Theory of AdaptationOrganisms adapt to environmental changes
* Variation among individuals of same species
*This leads to natural selection
* Traits (with survival value) are "selected" by environment
* Variation + natural selection = evolution - 3On the Origin of SpeciesPublished in 1985
- 4DawkinsPebbly beach analogy
- 5MutationsAbrupt changes in genes (often result of environmental exposure to radiation, chemicals, or viruses)
- Significant to evolution if occurring in germ cells
- responsible for some variability in a species - 6ReflexA relationship between a specific event and a simple response to this event
- Generally shared, stereotypic, present at birth (or predictable) and adaptive - 7Reflex failureWhen reflexes do not function as they normally do
- 8SensitizationProcess whereby eliciting a reflex increases the likelihood or intensity of a response to other stimuli
- 9HabituationDecrease in intensity/probability of having a reflex response after being repeatedly exposed to a stimulus that normally causes the response
- 10Fixed Action PatternMostly innate/inherited series of interrelated actions that have a strong genetic basis and are brought about by a specific event/stimulus (releaser)
aka "Modal action pattern" - 11ReleaserA stimulus that reliably elicits a FAP
- pheromones (sexual behaviour in male rat)
- colour red (aggression in male stickleback fish) - 12BiophiliaThe innately emotional affiliation of human beings to other living organisms
- 13General Behaviour Traits (GBT)Behavioural tendencies strongly influenced by genetics
- 14AversiveA stimulus or event that an organism seeks to avoid
- 15LearningA change in behaviour due to experience
(Evolved modifiability) - 16Nature-nurture debateAn argument of whether behaviour is inherited or learned
- 17Scientific methodKnowledge acquisition that a) emphasizes physical events, b) explanations of a phenomena emphasize physical events that reliably produce it
- 18Circular explanationsOccur when the evidence for an explanation is the thing that is being explained
- 19ConstructivismAttributed to Khan
- A school of thought that says the scientific method is outdated
- humans simply construct their own knowledge of the world and the scientific method is one way to do this - 20Operational definitionA definition that specifies the procedure by which a term may be measured. Makes abstract concepts measurable
- 21Protocol analysisA way to make thoughts measurable: Get someone to "think out loud" while they work
- 22StimulusAny event that affects, or is capable of affecting/having a measurable effect on, behaviour
- 23ExperienceAn exposure to a stimulus
- 24Ways of measuring learning- reduction in error
- change in topography
- change in intensity
- change in speed
- change in latency
- change in rate or frequency - 25cumulative recorderAn apparatus that records every occurrence of a behaviour to produce a cumulative record
- measures the frequency of behaviour - 26Cumulative recordA graphic record of behaviour
- 27FluencyA combination of errors and rate
- also known as automaticity - 28Anecdotal evidenceFirst or secondhand reports of personal experiences often used to support a claim
- 29ObservationsCausal, subjective, and not based on biased data collection
- 30Case studyExamining a particular individual in considerable detail
- 31Descriptive studiesResearcher attempts to describe a group by obtaining data rom its members (e.g., interviews, questionnaires)
- 32Experimental studyResearcher manipulates one or more variables (independent variables) to measure the effects on one or more variables (dependent variables)
- 33Between-subjects experimental designResearchers identify two or more groups of participants, and the IV is made to differ across the groups
- relies on statistical analysis
- relies on matched sampling and random assignment - 34Experimental groupGroup exposed to the experience in question
- 35Control groupGroup not exposed to experience in question
- 36Matched samplingParticipants of identical features are identified, then one member from each group is RANDOMLY ASSIGNED to experimental or control group
- 37Within-subjects designaka single-case or single-subject
- participants' behaviour is observed before experiential treatment, the during or after, and compared - 38Baseline periodIn a within-subjects design, the initial period during which a participant's behaviour is measured
- aka "Period A" - 39Treatment periodWhen the subject is exposed to the experimental condition
- aka "Period B" - 40ABA reversal designTo rule out possibility of extraneous variable, experimenters test subjects, then return back to baseline condition and compare
- 41Field experimentsExperiments done in the natural environment (so lab-derived theories can be tested)
- 42Reasons to use animals in research- control over heredity
- control for learning history
- ethics - 43Psychic secretionsWhat Pavlov described as salivation caused by thoughts, memories, or wishes of the animal before research (the tendency to salivate at sight of food)
- 44Pavlovian conditioningaka respondent conditioning or classical conditioning
- the procedure of pairing a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus so the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus and the response to the conditioned stimulus becomes the conditioned response - 45Unconditional reflexA synonym for reflex. An unconditional reflex consists of an unconditional stimulus and an unconditional response.
- 46Conditional reflexA reflex acquired through Pavlovian conditioning and consisting of a conditional stimulus and a conditional response
- 47Neutral stimulusA stimulus that does not elicit a particular conditioned or unconditioned response
- 48Reflexive behaviourLargely unconscious, simple behavioural responses
- 49Higher-order conditioningA variation of Pavlovian conditioning where a stimulus is paired, not with a US, but with a well-established CS
- 50Second-order conditioningThe CS (CS-0) predicts another previously established CS (CS-1). The CS-1 obtained its ability to elicit a CR because it was paired with a US for a UR.
- 51Third-order conditioningA CS-0 is paired with a CS-1 that gained its ability to elicit a response by being paired with a preciously established CS (CS-2), which gained its function by being paired with a US for a UR.
- 52Latency of responseThe interval between the onset of the CS and the first appearance of the US
- 53Test trialsThe process of presenting the CS alone every now and then (learning is represented as an increase in frequency of responding to test trials)
- 54PseudoconditioningThe tendency for a neutral stimulus to elicit a CR when presented after a US has elicited a reflex response (apparently due to sensitization)
- 55TraceA Pavlovian conditioning procedure in which the CS begins and ends before the US is presented
- 56DelayedThe CS starts before, and then overlaps with, the US
- 57SimultaneousThe CS and US are presented at the same time.
- 58Backwardthe US precedes the CS
- 59ContingencyAn "if-then" statement. Influences the effectiveness of both Pavlovian and operant conditioning.
- 60The contingency factorConsists of two probabilities: 1) The US will be presented after the CS, 2) the US will be presented in the absence of the CS.
- 61ContiguityThe closeness in space or time between two events (trace versus delayed)
- 62Compound stimulusTwo or more stimuli presented simultaneously, often as a CS
- 63OvershadowingFailure of a stimulus that is part of a compound stimulus to become a CS
- 64Latent inhibitionThe failure of the CR to appear as a result of prior presentation of the CS in the absence of the US
- 65BlockingFailure of a stimulus to become a CS when it is part of a compound stimulus that includes an effective CS.
- 66Sensory preconditioningA procedure in which two neutral stimuli are paired, after which one is repeatedly paired with a US. (In general,a stimulus will become a CS more rapidly if it has been paired with another stimulus that has become a CS).
- 67ForgettingDeterioration of performance following a period without practice
- 68Extinction procedureThe process of repeatedly presenting the CS without the US
- 69ExtinctionWhen the CR no longer occurs as the result of an extinction procedure
- 70Spontaneous recoverySudden reappearance of a CR after extinction
- 71Stimulus substitution theoryPavlov
- The theory that, in Pavlovian conditioning, the CS substitutes for the CS. - 72Preparatory response theoryTheory of Pavlovian conditioning that proposes that the CR prepares the organism for the occurrence of the US
- 73Conditioned emotional response (CER)An emotional response to a stimulus that is acquired through Pavlovian conditioning
- 74CounterconditioningThe use of Pavlovian conditioning to reverse the unwanted effects of prior conditioning
- 75Systemic desensitizationPhobic person imagines a very weak form of frightening CS when relaxed (more recent forms involve virtual reality)
- Therapist ranks fears from most anxiety-provoking to least - 76In vivo systematic desensitizationReal feared stimuli are presented in the process of systematic desensitization
- 77Conditioned suppressionReduction in the rate of responding due to the non-contingent presentation of an aversive CS (objective measurement of fear)
- 78ParaphiliasItems that society disproves of people using to get sexual pleasure
- 79Aversion therapyA CS that elicits inappropriate behaviour is paired with a US that elicits an unpleasant response (often nausea)
- 80Conditioned allergic reactionA person who is allergic to a substance may become allergic to things frequently associated with it
- 81Thorndike's puzzle box apparatusLoop on string that, when pulled, releases a bolt so door falls open and cat can escape box
- 82Law and effectThorndike: Relationship between behaviour and its consequence. Strength of a behaviour depends on the consequences the behaviour had in the past.
- 83ConnectionismThe theory that reinforcement strengthens the bonds or connections between neurons
- 84Skinner boxSkinner called an "operant chamber": Box designed so food drops into tray when rat presses a lever (Hull gave it its more commonly used name)
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- Flashcards on Untitled, created by Jamie Bentz on 16/10/2018.
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