Learning

Classical Conditioning: involves pairing a response naturally caused by a stimulus with another,
previously neutral stimulus – learning of relationships among events - form of associative
learning in which organisms come to anticipate or associate events
UCS – unconditioned stimulus (loud noise)
UCR – unconditioned response (crying)
CS – conditioned stimulus (white rat)
CR – conditioned response (crying)
Desensitization therapy – a method for unlearning fears – classical conditioning technique
designed to reduce anxiety about something – person relaxes (low heart rate and breathing)
then sees a picture of the fearful object – a hierarchy of fear evoking stimuli shown while the
person remains relaxed
Extinction – the process by which stimuli lose their ability to evoke learned responses because
the events that had followed the stimuli no longer occur - strength and/or frequency of
conditioned response diminishes
Spontaneous Recovery – The recurrence of an extinguished response as time passes by
Generalization – In conditioning, the tendency for a conditioned response to be evoked by
stimuli that are similar to the stimulus to which the response was conditioned