5 Steps to a 5 AP Psychology, 2014-2015 Edition

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Learning

IN THIS CHAPTER

Summary:Did you have to learn how to yawn? Learningis a relatively

permanent change in behavior as a result of experience. For a change to be

considered learning, it cannot simply have resulted from maturation, inborn

response tendencies, or altered states of consciousness. You didn’t need to

learn to yawn; you do it naturally. Learning allows you to anticipate the future

from past experience and control a complex and ever-changing environment.

This chapter reviews three types of learning: classical conditioning, oper-

ant conditioning, and cognitive learning. All three emphasize the role of the

environment in the learning process.

Key Ideas

Classical conditioning

Classical conditioning paradigm

Classical conditioning learning curve

Strength of conditioning

Classical aversive conditioning

Higher-order conditioning

Operant conditioning

Thorndike’s instrumental conditioning

Operant conditioning training procedures

Operant aversive conditioning

Reinforcers

Operant conditioning training schedules of reinforcement

Superstitious behavior

Cognitive processes in learning

The contingency model

Latent learning

Insight

KEY IDEA

CHAPTER

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