Learning and Memory

decrease in response to the same stimulus (re: cadaver in an anatomy lab)

recovery of a response to a stimulus after habituation has occured

creation of a pairing, or an association, either between two stimuli or between a behavior and a response

type of associative learning that takes advantage of biological, instinctual response to create associations between two unrelated stimuli. for ex. Pavlov’s dogs

a stimulus that brings about a reflexive response

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stimuli that do not produce a reflexive response

a normally neutral stimulus that through association now causes a reflexive response called a conditioned stimulus

conditioned response

process of taking advantage of a reflexive, unconditioned stimulus to turn a neutral stimulus into a conditioned stimulus

if the conditioned stimulus is presented without the unconditioned stimulus enough times, the organism can become habituated to the conditioned stimulus and extinction occurs

if an extinct conditioned stimulus is presented again, a weak conditioned response can sometimes be exhibited, a phenomenon called spontaneous recovery

a broadening effect by which a stimulus similar enough to a conditioned stimulus can also produce the conditioned response (ex. Little Albert is afraid of white rats, also a white stuffed rabbit)

an organism learns to distinguish between two similar stimuli

links voluntary behaviors with consequences in an effort to alter the frequency of those behaviors

theory that all behaviors are conditioned, associated with BF Skinner/operant conditioning

process of increasing the likelihood that an individual will perform a behavior

increase a behavior by adding a positive consequence or incentive following the desired behavior (ex. money)

increase the frequency of a behavior by removing something unpleasant (like aspirin to remove a headache)

the role of the behavior is to reduce the unpleasantness of something that already exists, like a headache

meant to prevent the unpleasantness of something that has yet to happen (ex. study for the MCAT to avoid a bad score)

uses conditioning to reduce the occurrence of a behavior

adds an unpleasant consequence in response to a behavior to reduce that behavior (flogged for stealing)

reduction of a behavior by taking away a stimulus (ex. no TV as a consequence for bad behavior)