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GRE Psychology: Learning

Subjects : gre, psychology
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Decreasing responsiveness to a stimulus due to increasing familiarity






2. Skinner - instrumental conditioning; behaviour primarily influenced by reinforcement strategies - do what rewards - not what doesn'T






3. Accidental learning - unrelated items grouped together; opposite of intentional learning (e.g. dog associates car with vet)






4. Evoking responses of autonomic nervous system through training






5. Disassociate car from vet by taking dog on frequent car trip to the park






6. Promotes extinction of undesirable behaviour - negative stimulus presented after behaviour to decrease likelihood of reoccurrence - Skinner thinks it is not effective in long run






7. Takes place without reinforcement - knowledge not immediately expressed - e.g. learning while watching chess






8. What a person learns in one state is best recalled in that state






9. Preparedness - that certain associations are learned more easily than others; animals programmed to make certain connections; Garcia effect - nausea associated with food






10. Teach to performance a desired behaviour to get away from a negative stimulus






11. Reward or positive event that increases likelihood of a particular response






12. The failure to generalize a stimulus






13. Operant conditioning






14. Not-so-neutral stimulus - elicits response without conditioning (e.g. salivation)






15. John Garcia - Certain associations are learned more easily than others - Nausea & food can be paired easily - but light and nausea cannot be paired






16. Part of motivation. One must be adequately aroused to learn or perform






17. Fritz Heider'S balance theory - Charles Osgood and Percy Tannenbaum'S congruity theory - Leon Festinger'S cognitive dissonance theory; what about individuals who often seek stimulation - novel experience - or self-destruction?






18. Previous learning helps learning of another task later






19. UCS and CS presented at the same time






20. Reversal of conditioning - dissociating behaviour from a cue - Repeatedly withholding reinforcement or disassociating the behavior from a cue






21. Learning curve






22. Watson - everything can be explained by stimulus-response chains - chains are developed by conditioning; only objective and observable elements important






23. Experiment shows that there is electrical stimulation of pleasure centers in the brain used as positive reinforcement - this is evidence against drive-reduction theory






24. Relatively permanent or stable change in behaviour as the result of experience






25. Does not produce a specific response on its own (e.g. light or bell)






26. CS presented after UCS (e.g. food - then light); proven ineffective; accomplishes only inhibitory conditioning - harder time pairing CS with UCS later even with forward conditioning






27. Punishment to decrease likelihood of a behaviour - ex: drug Antabuse to treat alcoholism






28. Ability to discriminate between different but similar stimuli (door bell is different from phone ringing)






29. later proved experimentally - Classical conditioning






30. School of behaviourism






31. Performance = Drive x Habit; will do what has worked in the past to satisfy drive






32. Rewards delivered after differing time periods; second most effective strategy in maintaining behaviour






33. Applied expectancy-value theory to individual behaviour in large organizations (e.g. those lowest on totem pole have least motivation since little incentives)






34. Continuous motions easier to learn - once started continues naturally - bike; discrete divided into parts and do not facilitate recall of each other - setting up chessboard






35. Opposite of stimulus discrimination; make same response to a group of similar stimuli (e.g. fire alarms may sound different but same response)






36. Learning and behaving by imitation; Albert Bandura'S Bobo doll (children watching adults with blow up dolls)






37. Removal of a negative event that increases likelihood of a particular response; while punishment introduces a negative event to decrease likelihood of a response






38. Those who set realistic goals with intermediate risk feel pride with accomplishment - and want to succeed more than they fear failure - however less likely to set unrealistic or risky goals or to persist when success is unlikely






39. Reappearance of an extinguished response - even without further conditioning - after the child'S tantrum behaviour has been extinguished - the child may suddenly throw a tantrum again






40. Pavlovian conditioning; teaching a response (relationship) to neutral stimulus by pairing with not-so-neutral stimulus






41. Links together chains of stimuli and responses - learns what to do in response to particular triggers (leaving a building in response to fire alarm)






42. Medium amount of arousal best for performance






43. Primary/instinctual (hunger or thirst) - secondary/ acquired (money or other learned reinforcers) - exploratory (seek novelty or explore) - We are primarily motivated to maintain physiological or psychological homeostasis.






44. Most time to learn but least likely to be extinguished; reinforcements are delivered after different numbers of correct responses - ratio cannot be predicted






45. Performance = Expectation x Value; expectancy-value theory; goals they expect they can meet and how important goal is






46. Natural reinforcement - without requirement of learning; food and water






47. Type of forward conditioning; CS begins before UCS - lasts until the UCS is presented






48. Need for achievement (nAch); need to pursue success or to avoid failure - goal is to feel successful






49. Animals strongly and automatically connect nausea and food - especially strong in children; preparedness






50. Set of characteristics indicative of one'S ability to learn