Unit 4: Learning

the subject learns to give a response it already knows to a new stimulus.

is a reaction to a stimulus.

initially does not elicit a response.

reflexively, or automatically, brings about the unconditioned response (UCR or UR).

is a NS at first, but when paired with the UCS, it elicits the conditioned response (CR).

Conditioning involving an unpleasant or harmful unconditioned stimulus or reinforcer, such as this conditioning of Baby Albert.

Although not fully understood by behaviorists, sometimes the extinguished response will show up again later without the re-pairing of the UCS and CS.

occurs when stimuli similar to the CS also elicit the CR without any training.

occurs when only the CS produces the CR.

is a change in the environment that elicits (brings about) a response.

Higher-order conditioning, also called second-order or secondary conditioning, occurs when a well-learned CS is paired with an NS to produce a CR to the NS.

In operant conditioning, an active subject voluntarily emits behaviors and can learn new behaviors.

is a type of learning that involves the acquisition and use of skills or strategies to achieve a specific goal. It can involve trial-and-error processes, imitation, reinforcement, modeling, memorization and more.

states that behaviors followed by satisfying or positive consequences are strengthened (more likely to occur), while behaviors followed by annoying or negative consequences are weakened (less likely to occur).

or reward training, emission of a behavior or response is followed by a reinforcer that increases the probability that the response will occur again.

a more probable behavior can be used as a reinforcer for a less probable one.

takes away an aversive or unpleasant consequence after a behavior has been given.

a learner’s response is followed by an aversive consequence.

In this training procedure, a response by the learner is followed by taking away something of value from the learner.

is a type of learning in which an organism learns to associate an unpleasant stimulus with a particular behavior.

takes away the aversive stimulus before it begins.

is something neutral that, when associated with a primary reinforcer, becomes rewarding.

is a secondary reinforcer that can be associated with a number of different primary reinforcers.

has been used extensively in institutions such as mental hospitals and jails.

is something that is biologically important and, thus, rewarding.

positively reinforcing closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior, is an effective way of teaching a new behavior.

is used to establish a specific sequence of behaviors by initially positively reinforcing each behavior in a desired sequence and then later rewarding only the completed sequence.

schedules based on the number of desired responses are ratio schedules.

Schedules based on time.

schedules reinforce the desired behavior after a specific number of responses have been made.

schedules reinforce the first desired response made after a specific length of time.

schedule, the number of responses needed before reinforcement occurs changes at random around an average.

schedule, the amount of time that elapses before reinforcement of the behavior changes.

is the schedule that provides reinforcement every time the behavior is exhibited by the organism.

suggesting a contingency model of classical conditioning that the CS tells the organism that the US will follow.

is the sudden appearance of an answer or solution to a problem.

is defined as learning in the absence of rewards.

which occurs by watching the behavior of a model.

an intense dislike and avoidance of a food because of its association with an unpleasant or painful stimulus through backward conditioning.

a conditioned response that drifts back toward the natural (instinctive) behavior of the organism

means that through evolution, animals are biologically predisposed to easily learn behaviors related to their survival as a species, and that behaviors contrary to an animal’s natural tendencies are learned slowly or not at all.