Term |
Definition |
Habituation |
A decreased response to a repeated stimulus judged to be of no consequence. |
Sensitization |
A change in a response to a weak stimulus, caused by the readiness of an organism for a stronger stimulus. |
Learning |
A change in behavior as a result of an experience. |
Stimulus |
Anything in an environment that causes an organism to respond. |
Response |
An observable behavior. |
Classical Conditioning |
Learning in which a stimulus that does not elicit a given response is repeatably linked with one that does until the neutral stimulus elicits the response itself. |
Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) |
Agent that leads to a response without training. |
Unconditioned Response (UCR) |
Automatic response to a UCS. |
Neutral Stimulus (NS) |
Agent that initially has not effect. (Look for first when solving problem) |
Conditioned Stimulus (CS) |
A former NS that comes to elicit a given response after paring with a UCS. |
Conditioned Response (CR) |
A learned response to a CS. |
Generalized Stimulus |
Production of a similar response to a similar stimulus. |
Extinction |
Gradual disappearance of a CR because the CS is repetitively presented without the UCS. |
Operant Conditioning |
Learning that takes place when a spontaneous behavior is referred as punishment. |
Spontaneous Behavior |
Any voluntary or non reflexive action. |
Stimulus |
Something in the environment that caused a response. |
Response |
Unit of behavior. |
Consequences |
The positive or negative responses for a behavior. |
Spontaneous Behavior |
Action that is voluntary control. |
Reinforcement |
Strengthening of a response by a consequence that follows immediately. (Good) |
Extinction |
The gradual disappearance of a response because it lacks reinforcement. |
Aversive Control |
Influencing behavior by use of unpleasant stimulus. |
Negative Reinforcement |
Increasing the likelihood of a response by removing or preventing an unpleasant stimulus. |
Avoidance |
Frequently responding to prevent the onset of an unpleasant stimulus. |
Escape |
Increasing a response in frequency to stop an unpleasant response. |
Punishment |
Unpleasant consequence that decreases the frequencies of a behavior. |
Practice |
The repetition of a task to aid in learning. |
Attention |
Detecting the appropriate stimulus. |
Feedback |
Discovering the consequences of a behavior or the results of a performance. |