Clearly Cool Classical Conditioning
In Pavlov’s original experiment, this was the role of the bell before any conditioning took place.
What is a Neutral Stimulus (NS)?
This behavioral consequence involves removing an unpleasant stimulus to increase the likelihood of a behavior recurring.
What is negative reinforcement?
This schedule provides reinforcement after every single correct response and is best for initial learning.
What is continuous reinforcement?
These are the two primary ways developmental psychologists study the influence of heredity versus environment, often involving siblings with the same genotype.
What are twin and adoption studies?
This is the term for a mental framework or "filing cabinet" that helps us organize and interpret information.
What is a schema?
Harry Harlow’s research with rhesus monkeys proved that this factor was more important for attachment than providing food.
What is contact comfort?
This process occurs when a Conditioned Response (CR) stops appearing because the Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) is no longer paired with the Conditioned Stimulus (CS).
What is extinction?
He is the behaviorist who developed the "Operant Chamber" to study how rewards and punishments influence behavior.
Who is B.F. Skinner?
A student receives a sticker for every 5 math problems they complete correctly, representing this schedule.
What is a Fixed-Ratio (FR) schedule?
This automatic reflex occurs when an infant’s cheek is touched, causing them to turn their head and open their mouth in search of food.
What is the rooting reflex?
A child in the sensorimotor stage lacks this understanding that things continue to exist even when they are out of sight.
What is object permanence?
This parenting style is characterized by high demands and low responsiveness ("Because I said so").
What is Authoritarian?
A child who was bitten by a Golden Retriever now shows fear when seeing a Poodle or a Beagle, demonstrating this principle.
What is stimulus generalization?
This process involves reinforcing successive approximations of a target behavior until the desired complex behavior is achieved.
What is shaping?
A person checking their email throughout the day is on this schedule, as the "reward" (a message) arrives at unpredictable time intervals.
What is a Variable-Interval (VI) schedule?
This term refers to the biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience (such as a child crawling before walking).
What is maturation?
In this Piagetian stage (approx. ages 2-7), children are often egocentric and struggle with the concept of conservation.
What is the Preoperational stage?
According to Erikson, an infant’s first psychosocial challenge is to resolve the conflict between these two opposing feelings.
What is Trust vs. Mistrust?
Unlike most classical conditioning which requires multiple pairings, this specific type of learning can occur after only one instance and involves a long delay between the CS and UCS.
What is Conditioned Taste Aversion (or the Garcia Effect)?
Giving a "Time Out" or taking away a teenager's phone to stop them from breaking curfew are examples of this specific type of consequence.
What is negative punishment?
Known for producing the highest and most consistent rates of responding, this schedule is exemplified by slot machine gambling.
What is a Variable-Ratio (VR) schedule?
Research on these specific individuals helps clarify "nature" because they share 100% of their genetic makeup but may be raised in different environments.
Who are identical (monozygotic) twins?
If a child sees a zebra for the first time and calls it a "horse," they are using this process to fit new info into existing schemas.
What is assimilation?
Research suggests that children raised with this parenting style tend to have the highest self-esteem, self-reliance, and social competence because it balances high responsiveness with clear rules and open discussion.
What is the Authoritative parenting style?
This phenomenon occurs when a new neutral stimulus is paired with an already established conditioned stimulus, eventually eliciting the same conditioned response.
What is higher-order conditioning (or second-order conditioning)?
Thorndike’s principle stating that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, while those followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely.
What is the Law of Effect?
This specific schedule often results in a "scalloped" response pattern, where activity increases sharply as the anticipated time for the reward draws near.
What is a Fixed-Interval (FI) schedule?
This is the limited time shortly after birth when an organism's exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development; Lorenz famously studied this with geese.
What is a critical period?
During this final stage of development, adolescents gain the ability to think about hypothetical scenarios and use abstract logic.
What is the Formal Operational stage?
This term refers to any agent, such as alcohol or viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm.
What is a teratogen?