Psychology of Learning - Review Sheet for Exam | PSYC 2044, Study notes of Psychology

Download Psychology of Learning - Review Sheet for Exam | PSYC 2044 and more Study notes Psychology in PDF only on Docsity! Psychology of Learning Chapter 1 Joseph once saw an accident in which a car had plowed into a big oak tree. Now, each time he drives by that tree, he is reminded of the accident. This is an example of Aristotle's law of: a. frequency b. contrast c. contiguity d. similarity Aircraft engineering is to physics as: a. radical behaviorism is to applied behavior analysis. b. applied behavior analysis is to behavior analysis. c. behavior analysis is to applied behavior analysis. d. behavior analysis is to radical behaviorism. Which of the following personal characteristics most directly influenced Skinner's work as a psychologist? a. love of poetry b. extreme emotionality c. inventiveness d. athleticism Seeing someone who is very old makes me wonder what he or she looked like as a young person. This is an example of the law of: a. frequency. b. contrast. c. contiguity. d. similarity. "Thoughts are just another form of behavior and should be studied as such." The behaviorist most likely to have uttered such a statement is: a. Hull. b. Tolman. c. Bandura. d. Skinner. "A person is both a physical being and a spiritual being." The person whose philosophical assumptions are most in agreement with this statement is: a. Aristotle. b. Locke. c. Descartes. d. Skinner. Which school of psychology was the immediate predecessor to behaviorism? a. Functionalism b. British empiricism c. Structuralism d. Gestalt psychology One of the major difficulties with the structuralist approach to psychology was the fact that the method of ________ was unreliable. a. deduction b. induction c. contemplation d. introspection Of the following behaviorists, who would be most likely to reject the assumption that genes play a strong role in determining differences in math ability? a. Watson b. Bandura c. Skinner d. Tolman Karen is an excellent hockey player. According to information presented in the text, Karen's ability is probably the result of: a. excellent motor skills that were inherited from her parents. b. high self-efficacy. c. high self-esteem. d. an extensive amount of deliberate practice. Which of the following behaviorists would probably be most interested in robotics? a. Tolman b. Skinner c. Hull d. Bandura Janice always gets lost whenever she deviates from the route that she normally takes when she drives home. Tolman would be most likely to say that she is suffering from a defective: a. schema. b. schemata. c. d cognitive map. d. vestibular system. Essay What is the distinction between radical behaviorism, behavior analysis, and applied behavior analysis? Radical behaviorism is the set of philosophical assumptions that underlie Skinner's approach to the science of behavior, behavior analysis (or the experimental analysis of behavior) is the basic science that grew out of radical behaviorism, and applied behavior analysis is a technology of behavior in which basic principles of behavior are applied to real world issues. Compare and contrast Watson's version behaviorism with Skinner's. Watson's methodological behaviorism completely rejects the inclusion of internal events in the science of behavior and proposes that we should focus exclusively on observable behavior and the environment that surrounds it. Skinner believed that internal events can be included in a science of behavior, but only as a type of behavior that itself needs to be explained and not as explanations for behavior. Like Watson, Skinner emphasized the importance of the environment in determining behavior; unlike Watson, he was not as extreme an advocate of the nurture perspective. Nevertheless, he was wary of placing too much emphasis on genetic determinants of behavior, since this tends to lead to pessimistic assumptions about the possibility of changing maladaptive behaviors. Finally, Skinner's view of the learning process tends to be more molar and less machine-like than Watson's, who believed that all behavior could be explained in terms of stimulus-response connections. Compare and contrast Tolman's cognitive behaviorism with Bandura's social learning theory. Tolman and Bandura agree on the usefulness of including internal mental events in their theorizing. They differ in that these internal events are purely hypothetical from Tolman's perspective, but quite real from Bandura's perspective. For Tolman, these internal events are utilized as intervening variables that mediate between the environment and behavior; for Bandura, these internal events reciprocally interact with overt behavior and the environment to determine behavior. Tolman almost exclusively studied rats, while Bandura's approach is much more focused on human behavior. Both Tolman and Bandura utilized a molar perspective in their study of behavior and emphasized the distinction between learning and performance. Compare and contrast functionalism with structuralism? Structuralism attempted to determine the structure of the mind by discovering the basic elements of which it is composed. Functionalism was concerned with investigating the adaptive significance of the mind, the assumption being that the mind evolved because it was in some way adaptive. Both structuralists and functionalists made use of the method of introspection, although functionalism was not averse to other methods of investigation, such as animal experimentation. KEY TERMS applied behavior analysis A technology of behavior in which basic principles of behavior are applied to real-world issues. behavior Any activity of an organism that can be either directly or indirectly observed. behavior analysis (or experimental analysis of behavior) The behavioral science that grew out of the philosophy of radical behaviorism. behaviorism A natural science approach to psychology that traditionally emphasizes the study of environmental influences on observable behavior. British empiricism A philosophical school of thought, of which John Locke was a member, that maintained that almost all knowledge is a function of experience. cognitive behaviorism A brand of behaviorism that utilizes intervening variables, usually in the form of hypothesized cognitive processes, to help explain behavior. Sometimes called “purposive behaviorism.” cognitive map The mental representation of one’s spatial surroundings. countercontrol The deliberate manipulation of environmental events so as to alter their impact on our behavior. empiricism The assumption that a person’s characteristics are mostly learned or are the result of experience. Also known as the nurture perspective. functionalism An approach to psychology that holds that the mind evolved to help us adapt to the world around us, and that the focus of psychology should be the study of those adaptive processes. introspection The attempt to accurately describe one’s conscious thoughts, emotions, and sensory experiences. latent learning Learning that occurs in the absence of any observable demonstration of learning and only becomes apparent under a different set of conditions. law of contiguity A law of association holding that events that occur in close proximity to each other in time or space are readily associated with each other. law of contrast A law of association holding that events that are opposite from each other are readily associated. law of frequency A law of association holding that the more frequently two items occur together, the more strongly they are associated. law of parsimony The assumption that simpler explanations for a phenomenon are generally preferable to more complex explanations. law of similarity A law of association holding that events that are similar to each other are readily associated. learning A relatively permanent change in behavior that results from some type of experience. methodological behaviorism A brand of behaviorism that asserts that, for methodological reasons, psychologists should study only those behaviors that can be directly observed. mind–body dualism Descartes’ philosophical assumption that some human behaviors are bodily reflexes that are automatically elicited by external stimulation, while other behaviors are freely chosen and controlled by the mind. nativism The assumption that a person’s characteristics are largely inborn. Also known as the nature perspective. neobehaviorism A brand of behaviorism that utilizes intervening variables, in the form of hypothesized physiological processes, to help explain behavior. radical behaviorism A brand of behaviorism that emphasizes the influence of the environment on overt behavior, rejects the use of internal events to explain behavior, and views thoughts and feelings as behaviors that themselves need to be explained. reciprocal determinism The assumption that environmental events, observable behavior, and “person variables” (which include internal events) reciprocally influence each other. S-R theory The theory that learning involves the establishment of a connection between a specific stimulus (S) and a specific response (R).