Habitiation
refers to a decrease in response to a stimulus over time
e.g. repeatedly presenting a stimulus to an infant until they become bored, or drugs
Sensitization
refers to an increase in responding over time
e.g. Elephants in response to bee sounds over time, people with allergies, or drugs
Classical (Pavlovian) conditioning
a form of learning in which animals come to respond to a previously neutral stimulus which has been paired with another stimulus that elicits an automatic response
unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
stimulus that elicits an automatic response without prior conditioning
unconditioned response (UCR)
An automatic response to a non-neutral stimulus that does not need to be learned
conditioned response (CR)
response previously associated with a non-neutral stimulus that is elicited by a neutral stimulus through conditioning
conditioned stimulus (CS)
initially neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a response due to association with an unconditioned stimulus
Acquisition
is the phase during which a conditioned response is established
Extinction
is the reduction of the conditioned response after the CS is presented repeatedly without the unconditioned response
Spontaneous recovery
The C R returns after time has passed (no UCS-CS repairing required)
Evidence of spontaneous recovery shows that the stimulus is inhibited over time
Renewal
CR returns in a novel setting different from the one in which the response was acquired (or extinguished)
e.g. learning to smoke at a party -> attending a party and smoking again, but not smoking outside of parties
Stimulus generalization
process by which conditioned stimuli that are similar, but not identical, to the original conditioned stimulus elicit
a conditioned response
Stimulus discrimination
process by which organisms display a less pronounced conditioned response to conditioned stimuli that differ from the original conditioned stimulus
Higher Order Conditioning
The conditioned response becomes weaker the farther from the original CS
Operant Conditioning
Learning wherein the frequency of a behavior is controlled by its consequence
Positive Reinforcement
The presentation of a stimulus (what we would usually think of as a pleasant stimulus) following a behaviour that strengthens the probability of the behaviour
e.g. Giving a gold star on homework, resulting in a student studying more
Negative Reinforcement
the removal of a stimulus (what we would usually think of as an unpleasant stimulus) following a behaviour that strengthens the probability of the behaviour
e.g. Static on phone subsides when you stand in a specific spot in your room, causing you to stand there more often
Positive Punishment
adding an unpleasant stimulus immediately following that action
e.g.
Scolding by a pet owner reduces a dog’s habit of chewing on shoes
Negative Punishment
removing a desired stimulus or privilege immediately following the action
e.g. Confiscating a favourite toy, stopping a child from throwing future tantrums
Discriminative Stimulus
signals the presence of reinforcement
schedule of reinforcement
pattern of reinforcing a behaviour
continuous reinforcement
reinforcing a behaviour every time it occurs, resulting
in faster learning but
faster extinction than only occasional reinforcement
Partial reinforcement
only occasional reinforcement of a behaviour, resulting in slower extinction than if the behaviour had been reinforced continually
Fixed Ratio (FR)
fixed ratio (FR) schedule
A pattern in which we reinforce a regular number of responses
