Learning
acquiring new information / behaviors
learning
the ability to distinguish between two similar signals or stimuli and produce different responses.
discrimination
stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning
Neutral Stimulus (NS)
any event that strengthens the behavior it follows
reinforcement
Won a Nobel Prize in 1904 for his work with the digestive system and went on to study the reasoning behind dog salivation
Ivan Pavlov
learning that certain events occur together
associative learning
learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events
classical conditioning
stimulus that unconditionally, naturally, and automatically triggers a response
Unconditioned Stimulus (US)
natural reinforcing stimulus that satisfies a biological need
primary reinforcer
Believed that psychology should be an objective science based on observable behavior
John B. Watson
the learning of mental information through observation or language
cognitive learning
behavior is strengthened by a reinforcer or diminished by a punisher
operant conditioning
an originally irrelevant stimulus that is then associated with an unconditioned stimulus (US) which comes to trigger a conditioned response (CR)
Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
increasing behaviors by presenting positive reinforcers
positive reinforcement
created the Operant Chamber or the Skinner Box to study operant conditioning
B.F. Skinner
learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it
latent learning
the operant conditioning technique that uses a reinforcement of behaviors that are increasingly similar to the desired behavior.
Shaping
naturally occurring response to an unconditioned stimulus (US)
Unconditioned Response (UR)
increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli
negative reinforcement
Conducted the Bobo Doll Experiment and believed that observational learning occurs in four stages (see observational learning slides)
Albert Bandura
learning by observing others
observational learning
the partial reinforcement schedule that rewards an unpredictable number of correct responses. It is sometimes called the "gambler' schedule".
variable-ratio schedule
a learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus
Conditioned Response (CR)
a schedule that rewards a response only after some defined number of correct responses.
fixed-ratio schedule
Law of Effect : Responses that produce desirable results will be learned or “stamped” into the organism
E.L. Thorndike