PSYCH101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Reinforcement, Nucleus Accumbens, Observational Learning

• School: University of Waterloo
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYCH101
• Professor: Steve Spencer

Document Summary

Associative learning: ex. associating certain smell or sound to a holiday. Classic conditioning: learning that occurs when a neutral stimulus elicits a response that was originally caused by another stimulus. Classical conditioning: responses typically involve reflexive actions but they are still quite flexible. Conditioned responses may be very strong/reliable, which is likely if the cs and the. Us have a long history of begin paired together. Acquisition: initial phase of learning in which a response is established; thus, in classical conditioning, acquisition is the phase in which neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with the us. Critical part of acquisition is the predictability with which the cs and the us occur together. Cs and us may not always occur together. Learning involves a change in behaviour due to experience, which can include acquiring a new response. Extinction: loss or weakening of a conditioned response when a conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus no longer occur together.