TERM 1
Acquisition
DEFINITION 1
The initial stage of the learning or con ditioning process. In this
stage, some response is being associa ted with some stimulus to
the point where we can say the org anism (person, animal, etc.)
has "acquired" the response. During this stage the response is
strengthened (reinforced) so that it i s truly "learned". For example,
if you are trying to train a rat to press a lever in response to you
ringing a bell (i.e., trying to condition th e rat to press the lever
when and only when you ring the be ll),
TERM 2
B.F. Skinner
DEFINITION 2
(March 20, 1904 - August 18, 1990) was an American
psychologist, author, inventor, advocate for social reform,
and poet. -the basic principles of his science in a non-
technical fashion in his Brief Survey of Operant Behavior
TERM 3
behaviorist
DEFINITION 3
an approach to psychology based on the proposition that
behavior can be researched scientifically without recourse to
inner mental states ~a person who advocates or practices
behaviorism
TERM 4
Classical Conditioning or Pavlovian
conditioning
DEFINITION 4
First proposed and studied by Ivan Pavlov which an organism "learns"
through establishing associations between d ifferent events and stimuli.
For example, when a neutral stimulus (suc h as a bell) is paired with an
unconditioned stimulus (such as food) which produces some involuntary
bodily response all on its own (such as saliv ating), the neutral stimulus
begins to trigger a response by the organ ism similar (some salivation) to
that produced by the unconditioned stimulu s. In this way, the organism
has "learned" that the neutral stimulus equ als something good (just like
the unconditioned stimulus).
TERM 5
Unconditional Positive Regard
DEFINITION 5
According to Carl Rogers, unconditional positive regard is
when one person is completely accepting toward another
person. This is not just a show of acceptance, but is an
attitude that is then demonstrated through behavior. Rogers
indicated that for humanistic type of therapy to work, the
therapist had to have this for the client.
