All flashcards
Flashcard 1: Identify the phenomenon: prior CS–US learning prevents conditioning to a new CS.
Answer: Blocking. The existing association prevents new learning.
Flashcard 2: What is the key difference between classical and operant conditioning?
Answer: Classical links stimuli; operant links behavior to consequences. Classical is passive association; operant is active learning.
Flashcard 3: What is the best definition of contiguity in classical conditioning?
Answer: How close in time the CS and US occur. Temporal proximity enhances association formation.
Flashcard 4: Which option best defines higher-order (second-order) conditioning?
Answer: A CS is paired with a new NS to create a second CS without the US. The first CS substitutes for the US in new pairings.
Flashcard 5: What is stimulus discrimination in classical conditioning?
Answer: Learned ability to respond to the CS but not to similar stimuli. Allows precise responses to specific stimuli only.
Flashcard 6: What is stimulus generalization in classical conditioning?
Answer: CR occurs to stimuli similar to the original CS. Adaptive for responding to similar potential threats.
Flashcard 7: What is the conditioned stimulus (CS) after conditioning?
Answer: A previously neutral stimulus that now elicits a learned response. Through repeated pairing, it gains power to trigger responses.
Flashcard 8: What is an unconditioned response (UR) in classical conditioning?
Answer: An automatic, unlearned response to an unconditioned stimulus. Innate reflex requiring no learning, like blinking to air puff.
Flashcard 9: Which pairing best defines forward (delay) conditioning?
Answer: CS begins before the US and overlaps with it. This timing produces the strongest conditioning.
Flashcard 10: Which pairing best defines trace conditioning?
Answer: CS ends before the US begins, with a time gap between them. The gap requires memory to bridge CS and US.
Flashcard 11: Which concept best explains why some CS–US pairings are learned more easily due to biology?
Answer: Preparedness (biological predisposition for certain associations). Evolution primes certain associations (e.g., snakes-fear) over others.
Flashcard 12: Identify the correct labels: bell paired with food leads to salivation to bell; what are CS, US, CR, UR?
Answer: CS=bell; US=food; UR=salivation to food; CR=salivation to bell. Bell becomes CS through pairing; salivation transfers from UR to CR.
Flashcard 13: What is the conditioned response (CR) in classical conditioning?
Answer: A learned response elicited by the conditioned stimulus. Acquired through association, not innate like the UR.
Flashcard 14: What is the neutral stimulus (NS) before conditioning?
Answer: A stimulus that does not elicit the target response before pairing. Like a bell that initially has no special meaning.
Flashcard 15: Which option best describes the Garcia effect (taste aversion learning)?
Answer: Rapid conditioning of nausea to a taste, even with long CS–US delays. Evolutionary adaptation for avoiding poisonous foods.
Flashcard 16: What is the unconditioned stimulus (US) in classical conditioning?
Answer: A stimulus that naturally elicits a reflexive response. Like food causing salivation or loud noise causing startle.
Flashcard 17: What is the unconditioned response (UR) in classical conditioning?
Answer: An unlearned reflexive response to the unconditioned stimulus. Automatic, innate reaction requiring no prior learning.
Flashcard 18: What is the best definition of contingency in classical conditioning?
Answer: How reliably the CS predicts the US. Statistical relationship matters more than just pairing.
Flashcard 19: Identify the most effective timing for acquisition in classical conditioning.
Answer: Delayed conditioning (CS starts before US and overlaps it). Overlap allows strongest predictive relationship.
Flashcard 20: Identify the phenomenon: repeated NS exposure before pairing slows later conditioning.
Answer: Latent inhibition. Familiarity reduces attention and learning potential.
Flashcard 21: What is the Rescorla-Wagner model’s central idea about conditioning strength?
Answer: Learning depends on prediction error (surprise) about the US. Greater surprise leads to stronger conditioning.
Flashcard 22: Identify the concept: learning that occurs without conscious awareness of associations.
Answer: Implicit learning. Occurs automatically without deliberate attention.
Flashcard 23: What is spontaneous recovery in classical conditioning?
Answer: Reappearance of an extinguished CR after a rest period. Shows extinction doesn't erase learning, just suppresses it.
Flashcard 24: What is extinction in classical conditioning?
Answer: Decrease of the CR when the CS is repeatedly presented without the US. The learned association weakens without reinforcement.
Flashcard 25: Identify the learning process in which a CS becomes associated with a US.
Answer: Acquisition. The initial learning phase where associations form.
Flashcard 26: What is an unconditioned stimulus (US) in classical conditioning?
Answer: A stimulus that naturally and automatically elicits a response. No learning required; triggers automatic reflexive responses like food causing salivation.
Flashcard 27: What is an unconditioned response (UR) in classical conditioning?
Answer: An unlearned response naturally elicited by the unconditioned stimulus. Automatic reflex like salivation to food or blinking to air puff.
Flashcard 28: What is classical conditioning?
Answer: Learning by associating two stimuli so a neutral stimulus elicits a response. Pairs neutral and unconditioned stimuli to create new learned responses.
Flashcard 29: After extinction, a CR returns when the CS is presented again following time with no CS exposure. What is this called?
Answer: Spontaneous recovery. Time allows inhibition to weaken, revealing original learning.
Flashcard 30: Identify the correct term: A stimulus that blocks learning about a second stimulus when both predict the US.
Answer: Blocking. Prior learning prevents new associations from forming.