psych - learning and memory

• learning


  a relatively permanent change in an organism's behavior due to experience.

  
• habituation


  decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a visual stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner.

  
• associative learning


  learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequences (as in operant conditioning).

  
• classical conditioning


  a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events.

  
• behaviorism


  the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2).

  
• unconditioned response (UR)


  in classical conditioning, the unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus (US), such as salivation when food is in the mouth.

  
• unconditioned stimulus (US)


  in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally—naturally and automatically—triggers a response.

  
• conditioned response (CR)


  in classical conditioning, the learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS).

  
• conditioned stimulus (CS)


  in classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned response.

  
• acquisition


  in classical conditioning, the initial stage, when one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response. In operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response.

  
• higher-order conditioning


  a procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned stimulus. For example, an animal that has learned that a tone predicts food might then learn that a light predicts the tone and begin responding to the light alone. (Also called second-order conditioning.)

  
• extinction


  the diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning when an unconditioned stimulus (US) does not follow a conditioned stimulus (CS); occurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced.

  
• spontaneous recovery


  the reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response.

  
• generalization


  the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses.

  
• discrimination


  in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus.

  
• learned helplessness


  the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events.

  
• operant conditioning


  a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher.

  
• law of effect


  The principle that behaviors are selected by their consequences

  
• operant chamber


  in operant conditioning research, a chamber (also known as a Skinner box) containing a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer; attached devices record the animal's rate of bar pressing or key pecking.

  
• shaping


  an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior.

  
• reinforcer


  in operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows.

  
• positive reinforcement


  increasing behaviors by presenting positive stimuli, such as food. Any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response.

  
• negative reinforcement


  increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli, such as shock. Any stimulus that, when removed after a response, strengthens the response.

  
• primary reinforcer


  an innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological need.

  
• conditioned reinforcer


  a stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer; also known as a secondary reinforcer.

  
• continuous reinforcement


  reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs.

  
• partial reinforcement


  reinforcing a response only part of the time; results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance to extinction than does continuous reinforcement.

  
• fixed-ratio schedule


  in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses.

  
• variable-ratio schedule


  in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses.

  
• fixed- interval schedule


  in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed.

  
• variable-interval schedule


  in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time.

  
• punishment


  an event that decreases the behavior that it follows.

  
• cognitive map


  a mental representation of the layout of one's environment.

  
• latent learning


  learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it.

  
• observational learning


  learning by observing others (also called social learning).

  
• modeling


  the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior

  
• mirror neurons


  frontal lobe neurons that fire when performing certain actions or when observing another doing so. The brain's mirroring of another's action may enable imitation and empathy.

  
• flashbulb memory


  a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event
• encoding


  the processing of information into the memory system
• storage


  the retention of encoded information over time