Term
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Definition
Conditioning approaches emphasise two types of learning. In classical conditioning, a neutral stimulus (or conditioned stimulus – CS) is presented along with another stimulus (unconditioned stimulus – US) that already elicits a reflexive response (unconditioned response – UR). After repeated pairings, the CS itself comes to elicit a response (conditioned response – CR) that is similar to the UR. The CR appears to be an anticipatory response that prepares for the US.
This basic phenomenon is modified by discrimination (different stimuli leading to different responses), and extended by generalisation (different stimuli leading to similar responses). CRs fade if the CS is presented repeatedly without the US, a process termed extinction. Classical conditioning is important to personality primarily when the responses being conditioned are emotional reactions (emotional conditioning). Classical conditioning thus provides a basis for understanding people's unique preferences and aversions, and it provides a way of analysing certain psychological problems, such as phobias. |
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Term
| Conditioning approaches 2 |
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Definition
In instrumental conditioning, a behaviour is followed by an outcome that is either positively valued or aversive. If the outcome is positively valued, the tendency to perform the behaviour is strengthened. Thus, the outcome is called a reinforcer. If the outcome is aversive (a punisher), the tendency to perform the behaviour is reduced.
Discrimination in instrumental conditioning means responding in different ways to different situational cues; generalisation is responding in a similar way to different cues; extinction is reduction of a behavioural tendency through non-reinforcement of the behaviour. Reinforcers can occur in many patterns, termed schedules. An important effect of variations in reinforcement schedules is that behaviour learned by intermittent (partial) reinforcement is more persistent (under later conditions of non-reinforcement) than is a behaviour learned by continuous reinforcement. |
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Term
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Definition
| An early discovery about learning was that reactions could be acquired by associating one stimulus with another.This type of learning is called classical conditioning. It’s sometimes also called Pavlovian conditioning, after the Russian scientist Ivan Pavlov, whose work opened the door to understanding it |
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Term
| A reflex (Classical Conditioning) |
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Definition
.A reflex is an existing connection between a stimulus and a response, such that the first causes the second. For example, when you put something sour in your mouth (perhaps a tart candy), you start to sali- vate.When you touch a hot oven, you pull your hand away
.The first stage is the situation before conditioning. At this point, only the reflex exists—a stimu- lus causing a response.The stimulus is termed the unconditioned or unconditional stimulus (US), and the response it creates is called the unconditioned or uncon- ditional response (UR). |
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Term
| Higher-order Conditioning |
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Definition
| Once conditioning has taken place, the CS–CR combination acts just like any other reflex. That is, once it’s there, this combination can act as reflex for another instance of conditioning. Returning to our example, once Sicilian music has been conditioned to induce sexual arousal, Sicilian music can be used to condition that arousal to other things, such as a particular photograph in the place where you listen to Sicilian songs.This process is termed higher-order conditioning |
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Term
| Generalisation of Conditioning |
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Definition
| Extinction and spontaneous recovery in classical conditioning. When a CS appears over and over without the US, the CR becomes progressively weaker and eventually disappears (or nearly does). If the CS is repeated again after the passage of time, the CR returns at a lower level than it was initially but at a higher level than it was when the CS was last presented. Over repeated occasions, the spontaneous recovery also diminishes |
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Term
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Definition
| That is, many of the stimuli that most clearly cause reflexive reactions are those that elicit positive feelings (hope, delight, excitement) or bad feelings (fear, anger, pain).The term emotional conditioning is sometimes used to refer to classical conditioning in which the CRs are emotional reactions. An interesting aspect of emotional conditioning is emotional reactions to prop- erties such as colors |
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Term
| Instrumental Conditioning |
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Definition
| A second form of learning is called instrumental conditioning. (This term is often used interchangeably with operant conditioning, despite slight differences in mean- ing.) Instrumental conditioning differs in several ways from classical conditioning. For one, classical conditioning is passive.When a reflex occurs, conditioning doesn’t require you to do anything—just to be there and be aware of other stimuli. In contrast, instrumental conditioning is active (Skinner, 1938). The events that define it begin with a behavior (even if the behavior is the act of remaining still). |
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Term
| The Law of Effect (L.Thorndike) |
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Definition
If a behavior is followed by a better (more satisfying) state of affairs, the behavior is more likely to be done again later in a similar situation (see Figure 3, A). If a behavior is followed by a worse (less satisfying) state of affairs, the behavior is less likely to be done again later (see Figure 3, B). This simple description—linking an action, an outcome, and a change in the likelihood of future action—is the law of effect deduced by E. L.Thorndike
As outcomes are experienced after various behaviors, a habit hierarchy evolves (Miller & Dollard, 1941).The order of responses in the hierarchy derives from prior conditioning. Some responses are very likely (high on the hierarchy), because they’ve often been followed by more satisfying states of affairs. Others are less likely (lower on the hierarchy).The form of the hierarchy shifts over time, as outcome patterns shift. Beh B was the most post. exp. so beh. B will be the most liekly behaviour out of beh. A,B,C,D |
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Term
| Reinforcement and Punishment |
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Definition
| Today, the term reinforcer replaces the phrase satisfying state of affairs.This term con- veys that it strengthens the tendency to do the act that preceded it. Reinforcers can reduce biological needs (food or water) or satisfy social desires (smiles and accept- ance). Some get their reinforcing quality indirectly (money). Different kinds of reinforcers have different names.A primary reinforcer diminishes a biological need.A secondary reinforcer has acquired reinforcing properties by associa- tion with a primary reinforcer (through classical conditioning) or by virtue of the fact that it can be used to get primary reinforcers (Wolfe, 1936; Zimmerman, 1957). The term punisher refers to unpleasant outcomes. Punishers reduce the tendency to do the behavior that came before them, although there’s been con- troversy about how effective they are (Rachman & Teasdale, 1969; Solomon, 1964; Thorndike, 1933). Punishment can also be primary or secondary. That is, some events are intrinsically aversive (e.g., pain). Others are aversive because of their associations with primary punishers. |
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Term
| Positive and Negative Reinforcement |
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Definition
| Getting these things is termed positive reinforcement. “Positive” implies adding something good. When positive reinforcement occurs, the behav- ior that preceded it becomes more likely. There’s also a second kind of reinforcement,called negative reinforce- ment. Negative reinforcement occurs when something unpleasant is removed. For instance,when your roommate stops play- ing his annoying CD of “Polka Favorites” over and over, that might be a negative reinforcer for you. R |
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Term
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Definition
| Imagine that when a stimulus is present, a particular action is always followed by a reinforcer. When the stimulus is absent, the same action is never followed by a reinforcer. Gradually, the presence or absence of the stimulus gains an influence over whether the behavior takes place. It becomes a discriminative stimulus: a stimu- lus that turns the behavior on and off. |
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Term
| Schedules of Reinforcement |
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Definition
| Variations in frequency and pattern are called schedules of reinforcement. One simple variation is between continuous and partial (or intermittent) reinforce- ment. In continuous reinforcement, the behavior is followed by a reinforcer every single time. In partial reinforcement, the behavior is followed by a reinforcer only some of the time. |
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Term
| partial reinforcement effect |
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Definition
| It’s often called the partial reinforcement effect. It shows up when reinforcement stops (see Figure 4).Take away the reinforcer, and a behavior acquired by continuous reinforcement will go away quickly. A behavior built in by partial (less frequent) reinforcement remains longer—it’s more resistant to extinction |
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Term
| Self-reinforcement and Social Reinforcement |
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Definition
For example, you might reward yourself with a pizza for study- ing 6 straight hours, or you may get yourself a new piece of stereo equipment after a semester of good grades.
The second meaning derives from the concept of social reinforcement. It’s the idea that you react to your own behavior with approval or disapproval, much as someone else reacts to your behavior. In responding to your actions with approval, you reinforce yourself. |
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Term
| vicarious emotional arousal, or empathy |
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Definition
| One type of vicarious experience is vicarious emotional arousal, or empathy. This occurs when you observe someone feeling an intense emotion and experience the same feeling yourself (usually less intensely). Empathy isn’t the same as sympathy, which is a feeling of concern for someone else who’s suffering |
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Term
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Definition
The emotion can be caused by something you experience directly, but it can also arise vicariously.Thus, vicarious emotional arousal creates a possibility for classical conditioning. Such an event is called vicarious classical conditioning.
Another vicarious process may be even more important. This one, called vicarious reinforcement, is very simple: If you observe someone do something that’s followed by reinforcement, you become more likely to do the same thing yourself (Kanfer & Marston, 1963; Liebert & Fernandez, 1970). If you see a person punished after doing something, you’re less likely to do it.T |
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Term
| out- come expectancy from vicarious reinforcement (Bandura) |
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Definition
| Note that the effect of vicarious reinforcement just described appears to involve developing an expectancy—a mental model of links between actions and reinforcers. Such a mental model of a link from action to expected outcome is called an out- come expectancy (Bandura, 1977a).The idea that people hold expectancies and that expectancies influence action wasn’t new when it was absorbed into social learning theory (e.g., Brunswik, 1951; Lewin, 1951b; Postman, 1951; Tolman, 1932). But an emphasis on expectancies became a cornerstone of this view of personality |
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Term
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Definition
| Just knowing what to do, however, isn’t enough.You also have to be confident of being able to do the behavior. This confidence in having the ability to carry out a desired action is what Bandura termed efficacy expectancy, or self-efficacy.To Bandura, when therapy works, it’s because the therapy restores the person’s sense of efficacy about being able to carry out actions that were troublesome before |
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Term
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Definition
Although many aspects of the social–cognitive learning approach can be viewed as elaborations on classical and instrumental conditioning, there is one part of this approach that leaves those concepts behind.This part is called observational learning.Two people are involved in this process, providing yet another basis for the term social learning theory. Observational learning takes place when one person performs an action, and another person observes it and thereby acquires the ability to repeat it (Bandura,
At a minimum, the behavior should be one the observer had not previously associated with the context in which it’s now occurring. |
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Term
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Definition
First; Observational learning requires the observer to pay attention to the model (the person being observed). If the person doesn’t pay attention to the right aspect of the model’s behavior, the behavior won’t be encoded well enough to be remembered.
A second important set of processes in observational learning concern retention of what’s observed. In some way or other, what’s been observed has to be represented in memory (which makes this a cognitive as well as a social sort of learning).Two strategies of coding predominate. One is imaginal coding, creating images or mental pictures of what you’re observing.The other is verbal coding, creating a description to yourself of what you’re observing. Either can produce a memory that can later be used to repeat the behavior |
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Term
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Definition
Once an action is in memory, one more thing is needed for it to occur. Specifically, you have to translate what you observed into a form you can produce in your own actions.
That’s why it’s often so easy for experienced athletes to pick up a new sport.They often already know movements similar to those used in the new sport. |
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Term
| Acquisition versus Performance |
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Definition
Observational learning permits fast learning of complicated behaviors. Given what we’ve just discussed, it also seems to be a case of “the more you already know, the easier it is to learn.”
To know whether observational learning will result in behavior, we need to know something else.We need to know what outcome the person expects the behav- ior to lead to
EG. Acquisition and Performance. Participants observed a model display a series of aggressive acts that led to reward, no consequences, or punishment. Participants then had an opportunity to imitate the model spontaneously (performance). Finally, they were asked to demonstrate what they could remember of the model’s behavior (acquisition). The study showed that reinforcement of the model played no role in acquisition but did influence spontaneous performance.
In conclusion, vicarious reinforcement influences whether people spontaneously do behaviors they’ve acquired by observation.This effect is the same as any instance of vicarious reinforcement. It thus reflects vicarious instrumental learning. In contrast, reinforcement to the model has no influence on acquisition of the behavioral potential. |
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Term
| Conditioning-Based Approaches (physiological assessment + behavioral assessment) |
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Definition
Many assessment techniques from the conditioning approach measure the affective quality of people’s experience. Two techniques have evolved. One focuses on assessment of emotional responses through physiological assessment. Physiological assessment (which also relates to biological process views of personality follows from the fact that emotional responses are partly physiological.When you experience an emotion (especially if it’s intense), changes take place in your body: changes in muscle tension, heart rate, blood pressure, brain waves, sweat gland activity, and more.
A second technique that can be used to assess emotional responses is called behavioral assessment (Barlow, 1981; Haynes & O’Brien, 2000; Staats, 1996). It entails observing overt behavior in specific situations. Emotions such as fear can be assessed by behavioral indicators—trembling, paleness, avoidance, and so on |
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Term
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Definition
The conditioning view is that phobic reactions are classically conditioned.This view also leads to ideas about how to treat phobias. One technique is systematic desensitization. People are first taught to relax thoroughly.That relaxation response is then used to counteract or replace fear in the presence of the phobic stimulus, a process termed counterconditioning. Once the person has learned to relax, he or she can work with a therapist to create an anxiety hierarchy—a list of situations involving the feared stimulus, ranked by how much anxiety each creates
e.g. An Anxiety Hierarchy Such as Might be Used in Systematic Desensitization for One Type of Acrophobia (fear of heights). Each scene is carefully visualized while the person re- laxes completely, working from the least threatening scene (at the bottom) to those that produce greater anxiety (toward the top). |
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Term
| contin- gency management (conditioning) |
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Definition
One good approach is to reinforce desired alternative actions and simultaneously reduce even further (if possible) any reinforcement of the undesired action.This should shape the behavior toward greater adaptiveness or suitability.This approach is sometimes called contin- gency management.
e.g. Childhood obesity is a risk factor for several serious health problems later on. It stems partly from habits such as watching TV instead of being active and partly from having a poor diet. Research has shown that reinforcing less sedentary activities causes both an increase in those activities and a decrease in sedentary activities.Similarly, reinforcing the choice of fruits and vegetables over snack foods causes an increase in the tendency to choose healthy foods |
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Term
| Social–cognitive approaches (x3 = vicarious conditioning, expectancies, and observational learning.) |
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Definition
| Social–cognitive approaches suggest further influences on problems and their treatment, using the three key principles of vicarious conditioning, expectancies, and observational learning. |
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Term
| Modeling-Based Therapy for Skill Deficits and Emotion-Based Problems. |
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Definition
| e.g. int therapy.The model is put in the situation for which the skill is lacking and makes an action appropriate to the situation.The observer (the person in therapy) is then encouraged to repeat the action. |
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Term
| Modeling and Responses to Fear (Mastery Model or a Coping Model or Participant Modeling) |
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Definition
In discussing modeling and fear-related behavior problems, a distinction is made between two kinds of models: those who exhibit mastery and those who exhibit coping
A mastery model seems to be completely with- out fear regarding what the person in therapy is afraid of.This model presumably creates vicarious extinction of the conditioned fear, as the observer sees that the model experiences no distress.
In contrast, a coping model is one who initially displays fear but overcomes it and eventually handles the situation.The effect of this model presumably depends on the fact that the model is in the same situation as the observer but is noticeably able to overcome the fear through active effort.
and participant modeling, in which the model (often, the therapist) performs the behavior in front of the other person, who then repeats it. |
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Term
| Conditioning vs Personality |
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Definition
To put it another way, conditioning theories tell us a lot about how a specific behavior becomes more or less probable, but they don’t tell us so much about the person who is doing the behavior.The processes are very mechanistic.There seems little place for the subjective sense of personhood, little focus on the continuity and coherence that characterize the sense of self. In sum, to many, this analysis of personality doesn’t convey the subjective experience of what it means to have a personality. Again, this criticism is less applicable to the social–cognitive learning theories. Concepts such as the sense of personal efficacy have a great deal to do with the sense of personhood, even if the focus is on only a limited part of the person at any given time
Another issue is this: Conditioning theories tend to focus on observable events. Behavioral tendencies are explained from patterns of prior experiences and present cues. Nothing else is needed. Cognitions are irrelevant.The social–cognitive learning approach is quite different. Expectations cause behavior.Actions follow from thinking. |
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Term
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Definition
Conditioning approaches emphasizes two types of learning. In classical conditioning, a neutral stimulus (CS) is presented along with another stimulus (US) that already elicits a reflexive response (UR).After repeated pairings, the CS itself comes to elicit a response (CR) that’s similar to the UR.The CR appears to be an anticipatory response that prepares for the US.
This basic phenomenon is modified by discrimination (different stimuli leading to different responses) and extended by generalization (different stimuli leading to similar responses). CRs fade if the CS is presented repeatedly without the US, a process termed extinction. Classical conditioning is important to personality primarily when the responses being conditioned are emotional reactions (emotional conditioning). |
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Term
| Instrumental Conditioning (Summary) |
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Definition
In instrumental conditioning, a behavior is followed by an outcome that’s either positively valued or aversive. If the outcome is positively valued, the tendency to perform the behavior is strengthened. Thus, the outcome is called a reinforcer. If the outcome is aversive (a punisher), the tendency to perform the behavior is reduced.
Discrimination in instrumental conditioning means responding in different ways to different situational cues; generalization is responding in a similar way to different cues;
extinction is the reduction of a behavioral tendency through nonreinforcement of the behavior.
Reinforcers can occur in many patterns, termed schedules. An important effect of variations in reinforcement schedules is that behavior learned by intermittent (partial) reinforcement is more persistent (under later conditions of nonreinforce- ment) than is a behavior learned by continuous reinforcement. |
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Term
| the process of acquiring behavior potentials through observational learning (Summary) |
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Definition
| One part of this approach to personality stands as distinct from conditioning principles: the process of acquiring behavior potentials through observational learning.This process requires that an observer attend to a model (who is displaying a behavior), retain some memory of what was done (usually a visual or verbal memory), and have component skills to be able to reproduce what was modeled.This process of acquisition isn’t directly influenced by reinforcement contingencies. On the other hand, spontaneous performance of the acquired behavior is very much influenced by perceptions of reinforcement contingencies. |
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Term
| Conditioning Therapies (Summary) |
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Definition
Classical conditioning can produce intense and irrational fears, called phobias; instrumental conditioning can produce behavior tendencies that persist even when they are no longer adaptive.These various problems can be treated by means of conditioning procedures, collectively termed behavior therapy or behavior modification.
Systematic desensitization countercon- ditions fear reactions with relaxation. Exposure treatments keep people focused on distressing situations until long after the burst of anxiety calms down
Learning Models - .Therapy based on the social–cognitive learning approach often involve modeling, whether as an attempt to remedy skill deficits through observational learning or as an attempt to show the utility of coping skills through vicarious reinforcement. |
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Term
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Definition
- Behavior modification or behavior therapy A thera- peutic approach in which conditioning processes are used to change behavior.
- Behavioral assessment An assessment made by observing a person’s overt behavior.
- Classical conditioning The pairing of a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus.
- Conditioned or conditional stimulus (CS) A neutral stimulus that’s paired with a US to become conditioned.
- Conditioned or conditional response (CR) A response to the CS that’s acquired by classical conditioning.
- Contingency management Programs in which reinforcement is increased for desired behaviors and withheld after undesired behaviors.
- Continuous reinforcement A schedule in which reinforcement follows each instance of the behavior.
- Coping model A model that displays fear but ultimately handles it.
- Counterconditioning The linking of an emotion to a stimulus that differs from the emotion the stimulus now causes. |
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Term
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Definition
- Discrimination Responding in a different manner to different stimuli.
- Discriminative stimulus A cue that controls the occurrence of behavior.
- Efficacy expectancy; Confidence of being able to do something successfully.
- Emotional conditioning Classical conditioning in which the CR is an emotional reaction.
- Exposure treatments Treatments in which people stay focused on the distressing topic until well after their anxiety reaction dissipates
- Extinction In classical conditioning, the reduction of a CR by repeating the CS without the US; in instrumental conditioning, the reduction of a behavioral tendency by removing reinforcement.
- Generalization Responding in a similar manner to somewhat different stimuli.
- Habit hierarchy The ordering of a person’s potential responses by their likelihood.
- Higher-order conditioning An event in which a former CS now acts as a US in a new instance of conditioning. |
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Term
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Definition
- Instrumental or operant conditioning Conditioning in which a behavior becomes more likely because it’s followed by a desirable event or less likely because it’s followed by an undesirable event.
- Mastery model A model that displays no fear. Negative reinforcement The removal of an aversive stimulus.
- Observational learning Acquiring the ability to do a new behavior by watching someone else do it.
- Operant conditioning See Instrumental conditioning.
- Outcome expectancy A judgment about how likely a specific behavior is to attain a specific goal.
- Partial reinforcement A schedule in which the behavior is reinforced less often than every time it occurs.
- Partial reinforcement effect The fact that a behavior acquired through partial reinforcement is resistant to extinction.
- Participant modeling The act of practicing a behav- ior that’s hard for you while using the therapist as a model. |
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Term
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Definition
- Phobia An inappropriately intense fear of some specific class of stimuli.
- Physiological assessment The measuring of physiological aspects of emotional reactions.
- Positive reinforcement A reinforcement involving the addition of a desired stimulus.
- Punisher An undesired event that makes the behavior that came before it less likely to occur again.
- Reflex An event in which a stimulus produces an automatic response.
- Reinforcer An event that makes the behavior that came before it more likely to occur again.
- Self-control The regulation and sometimes restraint of one’s own activities.
- Self-efficacy See Efficacy expectancy. Self-reinforcement The approval you give yourself for your own behavior.
- Skill deficit The absence or insufficiency of a needed behavior or skill.
- Social reinforcer Praise, liking, acceptance, or approval received from someone else. |
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Term
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Definition
- Symbolic models Models in print, movies,TV, and so on.
- Systematic desensitization A therapeutic procedure intended to extinguish fear.
- Time out A punishment in which a child is temporarily removed from an enjoyable activity.
- Unconditioned or unconditional response (UR) A reflexive response to an unconditioned stimulus.
- Unconditioned or unconditional stimulus (US) A stimulus that causes a reflexive (unconditioned) response. |
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Term
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Definition
- Vicarious classical conditioning Conditioning in which the unconditioned response occurs via empathy.
- Vicarious emotional arousal The tendency to feel someone else’s feelings along with him or her; also called empathy.
- Vicarious reinforcement An event in which a reinforcement experienced by someone else has a reinforcing effect on your own behavior. |
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Term
Classical conditioning requires:
Group of answer choices
a conditioned response to a certain class of stimuli
the organism must already respond to some class of stimuli reflexively
reinforcement of a specific response behaviour
All of these options. |
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Definition
| the organism must already respond to some class of stimuli reflexively |
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Term
When a CS–CR pairing acts like another reflex, it can serve as a reflex for another instance of conditioning. This is called:
Group of answer choices
secondary conditioning.
tertiary conditioning.
higher-order conditioning.
operant conditioning. |
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Definition
| higher order conditioning |
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Term
The term 'instrumental conditioning' is often used interchangeably with the term:
Group of answer choices
classical conditioning.
Pavlovian conditioning.
operant conditioning.
classical learning |
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Definition
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Term
Thorndike’s law of effect states that:
Group of answer choices
people learn more efficiently than rats.
learning cannot occur in a single trial.
learning is quickly forgotten if the relevant situation is not re-experienced.
behaviours followed by negative outcomes are less likely to be repeated. |
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Definition
| behaviours followed by negative outcomes are less likely to be repeated. |
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Term
Vicarious emotional arousal:
Group of answer choices
occurs when you feel the same emotion as another person.
occurs when you feel guilty for an imagined transgression.
is the same as sympathy.
None of these options |
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Definition
| occurs when you feel the same emotion as another person. |
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Term
Which of the following is most important to assessment from the social–cognitive learning perspective?
Group of answer choices
Behavioural observation.
Measures of generalised tendencies.
Self-report measures.
Objective definitions of situations. |
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Definition
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Term
Why is modelling effective at producing behaviour change, according to Bandura?
Group of answer choices
The model receives rewards.
The person in therapy increases his/her sense of efficacy.
The person is learning needed skills.
The person is exposed to what he/she fears. |
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Definition
| The person in therapy increases his/her sense of efficacy. |
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