Download Study Guide for Learning Evaluation #4

Study Guide for Learning Evaluation #3
Modules 18, 19, 20 , 23, 24, 25
Dr. Michael Green - General Psychology 2301
Module 18 – Classical Conditioning
Learning
 relatively permanent change in an organism’s behavior due to experience
Associative Learning
 learning that two events occur together
 two stimuli
 a response and its consequences
Pavlov’s Experiment – Classical Conditioning
UCS --- elicits UR
During association (conditioning)
Neutral associated with UCS - Neutral becomes CS
After association (conditioning)
CS -- elicits CR (the same as UR but as a result of CS now)
Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)
 stimulus that unconditionally--automatically and naturally--triggers a
response
Unconditioned Response (UCR)
 unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus
 salivation when food is in the mouth
Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
Page 1 of 8
originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned
stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response
Conditioned Response (CR)
 learned response to a previously neutral conditioned stimulus

Acquisition
 the initial stage in classical conditioning
 the phase associating a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus so
that the neutral stimulus comes to elicit a conditioned response
 in operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response
Generalization
 tendency for stimuli similar to CS to elicit similar responses
Extinction
 diminishing of a CR
 in classical conditioning, when a UCS does not follow a CS
Strength
of CR
Acquisition
(CS+UCS)
Extinction
(CS
alone)
Spontaneous
recovery of
CR
Extinction
(CS
alone)
Pause
Spontaneous Recovery
 reappearance, after a rest period, of an extinguished CR
Discrimination
 in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a CS and
other stimuli that do not signal a UCS
Behaviorism
Page 2 of 8
John B. Watson
 viewed psychology as objective science
 generally agreed-upon consensus today
 recommended study of behavior without reference to unobservable mental
processes
Module 19 – Operant Learning
Operant Conditioning
 type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by
reinforcement or diminished if followed by punishment
 operates (acts) on environment
 produces consequences
Law of Effect
 Thorndike’s principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences
become more likely, and behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences
become less likely
Skinner Box
 chamber with a bar or key that an animal manipulates to obtain a food or
water reinforcer
 contains devices to record responses
Learning
Page 3 of 8
 a relatively permanent change in an organism’s behavior due to experience
Shaping
 operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward
closer approximations of a desired goal
Reinforcer
 any event that strengthens the behavior it follows
Shaping
 operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward
closer approximations of a desired goal
Primary Reinforcer
 innately reinforcing stimulus
 i.e., satisfies a biological need
Conditioned Reinforcer
 stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with
primary reinforcer
 secondary reinforcer
Chaining behavior
Example was Einstein the bird
Multiple behaviors follow each other, with reinforcement at the end of the
sequence
Schedules of reinforcement
Page 4 of 8




Fixed Ratio (FR) Schedule
 reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses
 faster you respond the more rewards you get
 different ratios
 very high rate of responding
 like piecework pay
Variable Ratio (VR)
 reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses
 average ratios
 like gambling, fishing
 very hard to extinguish because of unpredictability
Fixed Interval (FI)
 reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed
 response occurs more frequently as the anticipated time for reward
draws near
Variable Interval (VI)
 reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals
 produces slow steady responding
 like pop quiz
Punishment
 aversive event that decreases the behavior that it follows
 powerful controller of unwanted behavior
Cognitive Map
 mental representation of the layout of one’s environment
 Example: after exploring a maze, rats act as if they have learned a
cognitive map of it
Page 5 of 8
Module 20 – Learning by Observation
Observational Learning
 learning by observing others
Modeling
 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
 may enable imitation, language learning, and empathy
Alfred Bandura’s Experiments
 Bobo doll
 we look and we learn
Module 23 – Thinking
Cognition
 mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and
communicating
Algorithm
 methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular
problem
Heuristic
 simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and
solve problems efficiently
 usually speedier than algorithms
Insight
 sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem
 contrasts with strategy-based solutions
Confirmation Bias
 tendency to search for information that confirms one’s preconceptions
Fixation
 inability to see a problem from a new perspective
 impediment to problem solving
Functional Fixedness
 tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions
 impediment to problem solving
Page 6 of 8
Module 24 – Language and Thought


Language
 our spoken, written, or gestured works and the way we combine them
to communicate meaning
Phoneme
 in a spoken language, the smallest distinctive sound unit
Linguistic Determinism
o Whorf (1956) suggested that language determines the way we think.
Chomsky
o Inborn universal grammar
Critical period for learning language
o childhood
Module 25 – Intelligence
Intelligence
 ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to
adapt to new situations
Intelligence Test
 a method of assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing
them to those of others, using numerical scores
Mental Age
 a measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet
 chronological age that most typically corresponds to a given level of
performance
Page 7 of 8
Stanford-Binet
 the widely used American revision of Binet’s original intelligence test
 revised by Terman at Stanford University
Social Intelligence
 the know-how involved in comprehending social situations and managing
oneself successfully
Emotional Intelligence (EQ)
 ability to perceive, express, understand, and regulate emotions
Creativity
 the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
 most widely used intelligence test
 subtests
Aptitude Test
 a test designed to predict a person’s future performance
 aptitude is the capacity to learn
Achievement Test
 a test designed to assess what a person has learned
Standardization
 defining meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a
pretested “standardization group”
Normal Curve
 the symmetrical bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many
physical and psychological attributes
 most scores fall near the average, and fewer and fewer scores lie near the
extremes
Page 8 of 8