Behaviorism
An event or situation that evokes a response
Stimulus
Describe the key difference between classical and operant conditioning.
Classical: a stimulus provokes an involuntary response
Operant: a voluntary behavior provokes a consequence (reinforcement or punishment)
Give an example of a primary reinforcer.
Any example that is "inherently"/biologically valuable, e.g. food or water.
This researcher's famous dogs got un-BELL-ievably hungry in his conditioning experiments!
Ivan Pavlov
The process of observing and imitating a specific behavior
Modeling
Behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus
Respondent behavior
A child learns to fear dogs after being bitten by a neighbor’s dog. Later, the child also shows fear when seeing cats, even though no cat has ever harmed them. Which concept best explains the child’s fear of cats?
Generalization
Helga got violently ill after eating contaminated shrimp she bought at a gas station. Now, the smell of shrimp makes her nauseous. Identify the US, UR, NS/CS, and CR.
US: bacteria/contaminated shrimp
UR: nausea/throwing up
NS/CS: smell of shrimp
CR: nausea
This "father of behaviorism" believed that our actions are shaped by our environments, not our own free will.
B.F. Skinner
These frontal lobe neurons are associated with performing certain actions and observing others doing certain actions.
Mirror neurons
This device, often called a "Skinner box," allows researchers to measure how frequently an animal pushes a button or lever to get a reward.
Operant chamber
When Matilda wakes up, she gets a headache. When she drinks coffee, her headache goes away and she gets a burst of energy. What TWO operant conditioning consequences are happening? Identify each one.
Bonus: What neurotransmitter is the caffeine in coffee increasing to give the burst of energy?
Headache goes away = negative reinforcement
Burst of energy = positive reinforcement
Bonus: norepinephrine (noradrenaline)
Give two examples of discrimination: one in classical conditioning AND one in operant conditioning.
Classical: any example showing a learned ability to distinguish between a CS and similar stimuli that don't signal a UCS -- e.g. a dog gets excited hearing the word "squirrel" but not the word "squiggle."
Operant: any example showing the ability to distinguish responses that are reinforced vs. ones that are not reinforced -- e.g. a K-9 dog chases after the scent of drugs but not other chemicals.
This child was the subject of John B. Watson and Rosalie Raynor's famous classical conditioning experiment about the development of fear.
Little Albert
The hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or person learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events
Learned helplessness
Bartholomew moves to a new house by the train tracks. The next morning, the train's horn jolts him awake at 6am. The train's horn blares every morning at the same time, but eventually Bartholomew is able to go back to sleep after hearing it, and after even more time passes the sound no longer wakes him up. What process is he experiencing?
Habituation
Name the FIVE different reinforcement schedules.
Continuous, variable ratio, variable interval, fixed ratio, fixed interval
Name the two "phases"/phenomena that occur after classical conditioning has taken place -- what happens when the conditioning pairing stops and if the pairing is given again? Give the correct terms, when they happen, and their definitions.
When the pairing of US & CS stops: extinction (diminishing of CR in the absence of US)
If pairing is given again: spontaneous recovery (reappearance of extinguished CR)
Describe the findings of the famous "bobo doll" study using a specific AP Psych term AND name the researcher who led the study.
Children who observed violent behavior toward the dolls were more likely to behave violently toward the dolls themselves than children who did not observe violence. Shows observational learning or modeling. Researcher: Albert Bandura.
A dog can be trained to hop on two legs across a room, but once that behavior stops being reinforced, the dog will go back to its natural behavior of walking across the room on four legs. This is an example of...
Instinctive drift
The principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely to recur, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely to recur.
The law of effect
Give an example of higher-order conditioning.
Any example in which the CS in one experience is paired with a new NS, creating a second (usually weaker) CS.
E.g. A rat gets shocked following the sound of a tone, but this only happens when a red light is on. The rat starts responding fearfully to just the red light, although the main CS is the tone.
Define acquisition for classical conditioning AND for operant conditioning.
Classical: the initial stage when one links the NS & US so that the NS becomes the CS
Operant: the strengthening of a reinforced response
Edward C. Tolman observed that rats in a maze learned to solve it without a reward. He realized that the rats developed a mental representation of the maze, called a ____, and that once rats were offered a reward, they could solve the maze super quickly. This demonstrated that the rats had done ____ during their earlier walks through the maze.
Cognitive map; latent learning
What is the difference between problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping, and when do people tend to use each method of coping?
Problem-focused: attempt to alleviate stress directly by changing the stressor or the way we interact with it; used when we have an internal locus of control
Emotion-focused: attempt to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring the stressor and attending to emotional needs related to our stress reaction; used when we have an external locus of control