PSYC 2410 Chapter 7: Chapter 7 – Psych 1100.docx
Document Summary
Learning: a relatively enduring change in an organism"s behaviour or performance capabilities that occurs that occurs as a result of experience. In science we must measure learning by actual changes in performance. The concept of learning calls attention to the important of adapting to the to the environment. Habituation: a decrease in the strength of response to a repeated stimulus. By learning not to respond to uneventful familiar stimuli, organisms conserve energy and can attend to other stimuli that are important. Sensitization: an increase in the strength of response to a repeated stimulus. Tends to occur to strong or noxious stimuli. Its purpose is to increase response to a potentially dangerous stimulus. Acquisition: refers to the period during which a response is being learned. Unconditioned stimulus (ucs): a stimulus that elicits a particular reflexive or innate response (the ucr) without prior learning.