Classical Conditioning
Learning that certain events occur together.
Associative Learning
In operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows.
Reinforcement
The learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus.
Discrimination
The process of observing and imitating a specific behavior.
Modeling
A desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake.
Intrinsic Motivation
The view that psychology should be an objective science, without reference to mental processes.
Behaviorism
Reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior.
Shaping
A learned response to avoid foods or drinks that are associated with illness.
Taste Aversion
Positive, constructive, helpful behavior. The opposite of antisocial behavior.
Prosocial Behavior
The hopeless and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events.
Learned Helplessness
The diminishing of a conditioned response that occurs when an unconditioned stimulus does not follow a conditioned stimulus.
Extinction
A stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer.
Secondary/Conditioned Reinforcer
Learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it.
Latent Learning
Heavy exposure to media and video game violence can lead to this.
Desensitization to Violence in Real Life
The perception that chance or outside forces beyond our personal control determine our fate.
External Locus of Control
The tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses.
Generalization
A reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses.
Fixed-Ratio Schedule
A sudden realization of a problem's solution.
Insight
The psychologist that conducted the Bobo Doll experiment.
Albert Bandura
This psychologist became famous for his discoveries in operant conditioning. He experimented with rats and pigeons. He designed operant chambers where rats pressed a bar for a food reward.
B.F. Skinner
The reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response.
Spontaneous Recovery
A reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals.
Variable-Ratio Schedule
Attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to one's stress reaction.
Emotion-Focused Coping
Frontal lobe neurons that scientists believe fire when performing certain actions or when observing another doing so -- may enable imitation and empathy.
Mirror Neurons
A procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second conditioned stimulus.
Higher-Order Conditioning