CAS PS 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Reinforcement, Observational Learning, Behavioral Addiction

• School: Boston University
• Department: Psychological & Brain Sciences
• Course: CAS PS 101
• Professor: Robert Reinhart

Document Summary

Important terms learning - relatively enduring change in behavior resulting from experience. Conditioning - associations develop through a process whereby environmental stimuli and behavioral responses become connected. Operant (instrumental) conditioning - learning that a behavior leads to a particular outcome. B. f skinner believed that behavior occurs because it has been reinforced. Unconditioned stimulus (us) - stimulus that elicits a response, such as a reflex, without any prior learning. Unconditioned response (ur) - response that does not have to be learned, such as a reflex. Neutral stimulus - stimulus that does not elicit any reflex. Conditioned stimulus (cs) - stimulus that elicits a response only after learning has taken place. Conditioned response (cr) - response to a conditioned stimulus; a response that has been learned. Acquisition - the gradual formation of an association between the cs and us. Contiguity - time; the critical element in the acquisition of a learned association.