Is my brother dumber than a hamster?
In classical conditioning, this stimulus naturally and automatically triggers an unlearned response.
What is an unconditioned stimulus (UCS)?
Any consequence that strengthens the behavior it follows is called this.
What is reinforcement?
This schedule provides reinforcement after a specific number of responses.
What is a fixed-ratio schedule?
The process of acquiring through experience new and relatively enduring information or behaviors.
What is learning?
This fast, automatic, relatively effortless form of thinking often relies on learned associations and previous experience.
What is Type 1 thinking?
This is an unlearned, naturally occurring response to an unconditioned stimulus.
What is an unconditioned response (UCR)?
A student completes all of his homework, so his parents give him $10. He begins completing his homework more often.
What is positive reinforcement?
A slot machine pays out after an unpredictable number of plays.
What is a variable-ratio schedule?
Learning that certain events occur together, whether two stimuli or a response and its consequence.
What is associative learning?
This is the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior.
What is modeling?
After conditioning, a previously neutral stimulus becomes this when it begins triggering a learned response.
What is a conditioned stimulus (CS)?
A driver buckles her seat belt to stop the car's annoying warning sound. She becomes quicker to buckle her seat belt in the future.
What is negative reinforcement?
A teacher gives a quiz every Friday. Students tend to study more as Friday approaches.
What is a fixed-interval schedule?
In operant conditioning, reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of a desired behavior.
What is shaping?
Learning that occurs but isn't demonstrated until there is an incentive to show it.
What is latent learning?
A dog has learned to come running when it hears the electric can opener because it predicts food. Eventually, the dog also comes running when it hears a blender. This learning principle explains the dog's response to the blender.
What is generalization?
After a student repeatedly uses his phone during class, the teacher takes the phone away. The student's phone use during class decreases.
What is negative punishment?
A student checks his phone throughout the day because he never knows when a friend will send him a message.
What is a variable-interval schedule?
A rat accidentally presses a lever and receives food. Over time, the rat presses the lever more frequently. This principle proposed by Thorndike explains why the behavior increased.
What is the Law of Effect?
A rat explores a maze for several days without receiving a reward. When food is finally placed at the end, the rat quickly finds the most efficient route, suggesting it had developed this.
What is a cognitive map?
A student once became anxious whenever she heard the fire alarm at school. After many harmless fire drills, the alarm stopped producing anxiety. Months later, she hears the alarm again and suddenly feels anxious.
What is spontaneous recovery?
A student keeps interrupting class. Each time he interrupts, the teacher assigns him an additional cleanup task. His interruptions become less frequent.
What is positive punishment?
A rat in a controlled chamber presses a lever for food. A researcher changes whether food appears after a set number of presses, an unpredictable number of presses, or after periods of time. This apparatus allowed researchers to study how different reinforcement schedules affect behavior.
What is a skinner box?
A student enjoys reading and regularly reads during free time. Her parents begin paying her for every book she finishes. Eventually, she becomes less interested in reading unless she is being rewarded. This effect demonstrates how external rewards can sometimes reduce intrinsic motivation.
What is the over-justification.
After repeatedly failing to escape an unpleasant situation, an animal eventually stops trying to escape even when escape becomes possible.
What is learned helplessness?