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Learning
a relatively permanent change in an organism's behavior due to experience.
Classical Conditioning
a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events.
Ivan Pavlov
Salivating dog experiment. Known for Classical Conditioning.
Unconditioned Stimulus
in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally—naturally and automatically—triggers a response.
Unconditioned Response
in classical conditioning, the unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus (US), such as salivation when food is in the mouth.
Conditioned Stimulus
in classical conditioning, a previously neutral stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned response.
Conditioned Response
in classical conditioning, the learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS).
John B. Watson
"Little Albert" and conditioned emotion
Acquisition
in classical conditioning, the initial stage, when one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response. In operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response.
Extinction
the diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning when an unconditioned stimulus (US) does not follow a conditioned stimulus (CS); occurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced.
Spontaneous Recovery
the reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response.
Generalization
the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses
Discrimination
in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus.
Predisposition
any set of factors which while not be a direct cause make it more likely that a subject will display a personality trait or characteristic, or develop a particular disorder or behavior
Cognition
the psychological result of perception and learning and reasoning
Observational Learning
learning by observing others.
Bandura's "Bobo doll" experiment
the name of two experiments conducted by Albert Bandura in 1961 and 1963 studying patterns of behavior associated with aggression.
mirror neurons
frontal lobe neurons that fire when performing certain actions or when observing another doing so. The brain's mirroring of another's action may enable imitation and empathy.
Prosocial
ositive, constructive, helpful behavior. The opposite of antisocial behavior
Negative Observational Learning
Antisocial effects. The reason why battered wives have sons who beat their wives as well. That is what they have observed.
Encoding Failure
The inability to recall specific information because of insufficient encoding of the information for storage in long-term memory
Storage Decay
even after encoding something well, we sometimes later forget it
"The Forgetting Curve"
A graph showing a characteristic pattern of forgetting over time for a wide variety of materials under different conditions. It was developed by Hermann Ebbinghaus in the late 1800's. More than HALF the memory loss occurs in the first hour, and about 65% is lost in the first 8 hours.
Retrieval Failure
the inability to recall long-term memories because of inadequate or missing retrieval cues
Proactive Interference
ruptive effect of PRIOR learning on the recall of NEW information
Retroactive Interference
the disruptive effect of NEW learning on the recall of OLD information
Motivated Forgetting
occurs when frightening, traumatic events are forgotten because people want to forget them
Memory Construction
we filter information and fill in missing pieces with plausible guesses and assumptions
The Misinformation Effect
Occurs when participants' recall of an event they witnessed is altered by introducing misleading postevent information (Hit car vs. Smashed Car)
Elizabeth Loftus experiment
memory for an event that has been witnessed is highly flexible. If someone is exposed to new information during the interval between witnessing the event and recalling it, this new information may have marked effects on what they recall. The original memory can be modified, changed or sup…
Source Amnesia
attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined. (Also called source misattribution.) Source amnesia, along with the misinformation effect, is at the heart of many false memories. (Debra Poole and Stephen Lindsay)
Repression
in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness.
Five Steps for Improving Memory
1. Study Repeatedly 2. Make material meaningful 3. Activate Retrieval Cues 4. Use mneumonic Devices 5. Rehearse It
Operant Conditioning
onditioning in which an operant response is brought under stimulus control by virtue of presenting reinforcement contingent upon the occurrence of the operant response
Thorndike's Law of Effect
that a response followed by a pleasant consequence will probably be repeated and a response followed by an unpleasant consequence will probably be diminished.
Reinforcement
(psychology) a stimulus that strengthens or weakens the behavior that produced it
Positive Reinforcement
increasing behaviors by presenting positive stimuli, such as food. A positive reinforcer is any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response.
Negative Reinforcement
increasing the strength of a given response by removing or preventing a painful stimulus when the response occurs
Punishment
an event that decreases the behavior that it follows
Negative Punishment
following an undesired response by removing a pleasant stimulus this is also called a time out and reduces the likelihood of the behavior reoccuring
Positive Punishment
following an undesired response by adding an unpleasant stimulus to decrease the likelihood of the behavior reoccuring
Schedules of Reinforcement
The rule for determining when and how often reinforcers will continue; Four types of schedules: fixed ratio, variable ratio, fixed interval, and variable interval; interval means over a time and ratio means an act; partial reinforcement is on a variable schedule whereas continuous reinfor…
Continuous reinforcement
reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs
Partial Reinforcement
reinforcing a response only part of the time; results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance to extinction than does continuous reinforcement
Fixed Ratio
a schedule where reinforcement happens after a correct number of responses
Variable ratio
a schedule where reinforcement happens after a changing number of responses. Example gambling or sales
Fixed interval
reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed
Variable interval
a schedule where reinforcement happens after a varied length of time
BF 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
Skinner Box
Named for its developer, B.F. Skinner, a box that contains a responding mechanism and a device capable of delivering a consequence to an animal in the box whenever it makes the desired response
Shaping
an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior
Extinction
a conditioning process in which the reinforcer is removed and a conditioned response becomes independent of the conditioned stimulus
Drawbacks of Punishment
Punishment does not "erase" an undesirable habit; it merely suppresses it. Sometimes punishment produces unwanted side effects. Punishment is often ineffective unless the punishment is given immediately after the response and each time the response was made. Children are more likely to be…
Memory
the persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information.
Encoding
the processing of information into the memory system—for example, by extracting meaning.
Storage
the retention of encoded information over time.
Retrieval
the process of getting information out of memory storage.
Sensory Memory
the immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system
Short Term Memory
activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing, before the information is stored or forgotten.
Long Term Memory
the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences.
Automatic Processing
unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings.
Effortful Processing
encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.
Rehearsal
the conscious repetition of information, either to maintain it in consciousness or to encode it for storage.
Spacing Effect
the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice.
Serial Position Effect
our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list.
Herman Ebbinhaus
pioneered the experimental study of memory, and is known for his discovery of the forgetting curve and the spacing effect. He was also the first person to describe the learning curve.
Next in line effect
when people go around in a circle saying words or their names, their poorest memories are for what was said by the person just before them
Iconic Memory
a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second.
Echoic Memory
a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds.
Flashbulb Memories
a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event.
Implicit Memory
retention independent of conscious recollection. (Also called nondeclarative memory.)
retention independent of conscious recollection. (Also called nondeclarative memory.)
memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and "declare." (Also called declarative memory.)
Hippocampus
a neural center that is located in the limbic system; helps process explicit memories for storage
Cerebellum
the brain region extending out from the rear of the brainstem (Figure 20.15), plays a key role in forming and storing the implicit memories created by classical conditioning.
amygdala
two almond-shaped neural clusters that are components of the limbic system and are linked to emotion

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