ΔP (delta P): reflects the extent to which the presence or absence of the US is correlated with the presence or absence of the CS.
A-B-A-B design: experimental design often used in single-subject research. Involves a baseline phase (the first A), followed by a treatment phase (the first B). To test if the intervention was effective, treatment is withdrawn (the second A) and then reintroduced (the second B).
A-B-C contingency: the three elements of an operant contingency—namely, an antecedent (a), behavior (b), and consequence (c). Also known as the three-term contingency or the ABCs of behavior.
Abstinence reinforcement interventions: a class of interventions that utilize operant contingencies to reinforce an alternative behavior (e.g., drug abstinence) that is incompatible with a to-be-changed behavior (e.g., drug use).
Abstraction: the act of simplifying by focusing on specific features of an event. Certain properties of the situation, organism, and context are disregarded so that the researcher’s focus is centered on one or a limited number of properties that apply across a wide variety of cases.
Abstract types of functional knowledge: knowledge created by identifying those core aspects of the relation between environment and behavior that apply across many different stimuli, contexts, and organisms. Behavioral principles (e.g., classical or operant conditioning) represent examples of abstract functional knowledge.
Adaptation: the impact of environmental regularities on behavior.
Adaptive: relating to the perceived utility of a behavior or mental mechanism for fulfilling the (survival) goals of the organism.
Analytic-abstractive functional approach: scientific approach to the study of behavior that aims to develop abstract knowledge or principles that explain many different behaviors with precision (apply to specific instances of behavior), scope (apply to many different behaviors), and depth (cohere with development at different levels of scientific analysis).
Analytic-abstractive functional level: level of scientific analysis. This level (a) is functional (focused on environment-behavior relations) and (b) generates or utilizes abstract functional terms and concepts when doing so (e.g., lever pressing is an operant behavior).
Appetitive stimulus: a stimulus that an organism will work to produce or approach.
Applied behavior analysis: the scientific study of behavior change that relies on the principles of learning to evoke or elicit targeted behavioral change.
Applied cognitive learning psychologists: scientists who study the mediating impact of mental processes on environment-behavior relations with the aim of achieving behavioral change in some applied domain.
Applied functional learning psychologists: scientists who focus on those environmental regularities and moderators that lead to real-world behavioral change.
A-process: see opponent-process theory of Solomon. Solomon argued that there are two components underlying the reaction to an emotional stimulus. Every emotional stimulus evokes a primary process that Solomon calls an a-process. The a-process is evoked by the stimulus and is unaffected by repeated stimulus presentations.
Associative models: a class of models at the mental level of analysis, united by the idea that the formation and activation of associations between representations in memory mediates learning.
Associative strength: the strength of the association between mental representations.
Autoshaping: as an effect refers to changes in voluntary behavior that result from the pairing of stimuli.
Aversion learning: an increase in the probability of an aversive response to a CS as a result of CS-US pairings (e.g., food-nausea pairings).
Aversive stimulus: a stimulus that an organism will work to escape or avoid.
Avoidance learning: an increase in the frequency of a behavior that is due to the fact that the behavior reduces the probability of a stimulus.
Avoidance response: a behavior that reduces the probability that a stimulus will occur.
B-process: see opponent-process theory of Solomon. Solomon argued that there are two components underlying the reaction to an emotional stimulus. The b-process is evoked by the a-process (or, in later versions of the model, by stimuli that co-occur with the b-process), strengthens as the result of repeated stimulus presentations, and starts more quickly as the result of repeated stimulus presentations. The b-process and a-process impact behavior in opposite directions.
Backward blocking: as an effect refers to a reduction in the impact of AX trials on the CR to X that is due to presenting A+ trials after the AX+ trials.
Behavior: a transition in state that is due to a stimulus.
Behavioral contract: a common element in ABA interventions. Involves documenting one’s functional analysis so that (a) the targeted behavior can be observed and measured, (b) descriptions of that behavior can be read and understood by others, and (c) the behavior can be distinguished from other types of behavior. Also used in reference to an operant-inspired educational intervention delivered by teachers to influence student behavior.
Behavioral maintenance: a change in behavior that continues even when the contingencies that constitute the intervention have been removed.
Behavioral repertoire: the collection of all behaviors that can be exhibited at a given moment in time.
Behaviorism: an intellectual tradition whose advocates (i.e., behaviorists) have, over time, subscribed to different philosophical positions (e.g., mechanism, functionalism), which have in turn influenced the ways they approach the study of behavior (e.g., methodological behaviorism, radical behaviorism).
Behaviorist (radical): a scientist who operates at the functional level of analysis and is concerned with explaining changes in behavior in terms of the environment.
Blocking (forward): as an effect refers to a reduction in the impact of AX trials on the CR to X that is due to presenting A+ trials before the AX+ trials.
Bouton’s model: mental model on extinction in the context of classical conditioning. Argues that extinction as a procedure does not lead to the unlearning or forgetting of an association, but to the acquisition of new knowledge about the CS-US relation (“inhibitory associations”).
Bradley’s theory: mental model of noncontingent stimulus presentation effects. Argues that stimuli can elicit an orientation response (OR), either on the basis of the extent to which they are novel or on the basis of their significance. Repeated stimulus presentations are assumed to have a bigger impact on novelty than on significance. Stimuli differ in the extent to which they are novel or significant. Responses differ in the extent to which they are influenced by the novelty and significance of the stimuli.
Classical conditioning: as an effect refers to the impact of stimulus pairings on behavior.
Cognitive approach: scientific approach to the study of behavior, the goal of which is to develop knowledge about the mental mechanisms that mediate the impact of the environment on behavior.
Comparator model: an associative mental model concerned with classical conditioning effects. Posits that cue competition effects are due to a comparison of the strength of multiple associations.
Conditional contingency: the contingency between two stimuli in situations in which a certain condition is met. The condition that must be met is that the situations that are compared in terms of the probability of the US differ only with regard to the presence of the CS.
Conditional response (CR): a change in behavior due to the pairing of stimuli.
Conditional stimulus (CS): a stimulus that is examined in terms of whether responses to it change as the result its pairing with another stimulus.
Conditioned suppression: a reduction in the rate of responding that occurs as the result of presenting a CS that was previously paired with a US.
Conditioning through instructions: a change in behavior that is due to a verbal stimulus—namely, instructions about environmental regularities (e.g., the verbal stimulus “When you hear a tone, an electric shock will immediately follow” leads to a change in fear responses toward the tone).
Context: situations (historical and current) in which (relations between) stimuli and responses are embedded.
Contiguous: when stimuli are presented together in time and space.
Contingency: a reliable statistical relation in the spatiotemporal presence of two stimuli; the probability that one stimulus is present depends on the presence of the other stimulus.
Contingency judgment: a judgment about the strength of the relation between the presence of a cue and the presence of an outcome.
Contingency management treatments: a class of interventions derived from applied behavior analysis that are often used to treat, among other things, substance abuse problems. These treatments view problematic behavior as an instance of operant behavior under stimulus control and utilize functional knowledge to exert influence over that behavior.
Contingent: see contingency.
Counterconditioning: as an effect refers to a change in a previously conditioned response that results from pairing the CS with a US that is opposite to the US with which the CS was originally paired. For example, conditioned salivation to a tone that results from tone-food pairings can be eliminated by subsequently pairing the tone with an aversive shock.
Covert behavior: behavior that (in principle) is observable only to the organism emitting that behavior (e.g., thoughts or feelings).
CS postexposure: involves presenting the CS alone after the pairing of that CS with a US. Leads to CS postexposure effects (i.e., a reduced CR), also known as extinction.
CS pre-exposure: involves a procedure wherein the CS alone is repeatedly presented before a relation is established between the CS and US. Leads to CS pre-exposure effects (i.e., a reduced CR), also known as latent inhibition.
Descriptive level: a level of scientific analysis that is limited to possible ways of describing the features of events, without making claims about the relation between events (functional level) or the mental processes that mediate environment-behavior relations (cognitive level).
Direct contingency management: see contingency management treatments.
Direct operant conditioning: impact of a response-outcome relation on a (typically autonomic) response that is not mediated by a change in another (typically voluntary) behavior. In contrast, in indirect operant conditioning of (autonomic) responses the response-outcome relation (e.g., increase in heartbeat leads to receipt of money) has an effect on (autonomous) behavior (e.g., increase in heart rate) only because of a change in voluntary behavior (e.g., walking up and down stairs).
Discrepancy model: model put forward by Sokolov that posits that organisms constantly build up a model of their environment. When a stimulus that is not part of this model is subsequently administered, an orientation reflex (OR) is triggered and this new stimulus is included in the model. After repeated presentations of the same stimulus in the same context, there is no longer a discrepancy between the input and the stimulus representation, and the OR mechanism is inhibited.
Discrete trials procedure: experimental design in which the researcher needs to intervene (e.g., by putting a rat at the start position of a maze) in order to progress from one trial to the next.
Discriminative stimulus: at the descriptive level refers to a stimulus that signals whether a response will be followed by a consequence. At the functional level refers to a stimulus that influences the frequency of an operant response because it signals whether the response is followed by a consequence.
Dishabituation: the finding that a habituated response to a first stimulus is restored after a second stimulus is presented.
Drives: concept introduced by Hull (1943) to explain why certain stimuli function as reinforcers or punishers to a greater extent than others. Assumes that each organism has certain “drives” or “needs” and will strive to achieve an optimal level of satisfaction of those needs.
Dual-process models: a class of mental models concerned with the mental mechanisms that mediate the impact of environment on behavior. Often take the form of one “simple” mechanism (e.g., association formation) and one “complex” mechanism (e.g., formation of propositions).
Dynamics of affect: refers to a situation wherein the repeated presentation of an emotional stimulus leads to a weakening of the reaction to that stimulus but a strengthening of the counterreaction to the stimulus. This is the phenomenon that Solomon’s opponent-process theory aims to explain.
Early and intensive behavioral interventions (EIBIs): a “package” of applied behavior analytic procedures systematically applied to tackle developmental or intellectual deficits. Typically consists of a comprehensive, hierarchically arranged curriculum implemented across several years to improve a child’s overall functioning.
Effect: a change in behavior due to an element in the environmental. A learning effect is that subclass of effects in which the change in behavior is due a regularity in the environment.
Effect-centric functional approach: scientific approach to the study of behavior, the goal of which is to describe the impact of environment on behavior in terms of topographical (i.e., superficial) features.
Environmental regularity: all states in the environment of the organism that entail more than the presence of a single stimulus or behavior at a single point in time.
Escape learning: as an effect, an increase in the probability of a behavior that occurs because the behavior leads to the termination of a stimulus.
Escape response: see escape learning.
Evaluative conditioning: as an effect refers to a change in evaluative responding due to stimulus pairings.
Excitatory associations: associations via which activation of one representation leads to the activation of another representation.
Excitatory conditioning: said to occur when a positive contingency is established (i.e., when p(US/CS) > p(US/~CS)). Excitatory refers to the finding that there is an excitation (i.e., an increase or intensification) of a certain behavior (e.g., an increase in anxiety).
Expectation discrepancy: the discrepancy between the degree to which a US is expected to be present and the actual presence or absence of the US. This is a core concept in the Rescorla-Wagner model of classical conditioning.
Explanandum: that which needs to be explained.
Explanans: that by which the explanandum is explained.
Extinction: as an effect refers to the weakening of a CR as the result of CS only presentations that follow CS-US pairings.
Eyeblink reflex: an involuntary blinking of the eyelids elicited by stimulation of the cornea. Often used in research on classical conditioning.
Fear conditioning: as an effect refers to changes in fear responding as the result of stimulus pairings.
Forward conditioning procedure: a classical conditioning procedure wherein, on each trial, the CS is presented prior to the US. The resulting change in behavior due to such a procedure is known as a forward conditioning effect.
Free-operant methods: experimental designs that allow the researcher to register operant responses without having to intervene in order to iniate each trial. The opposite of discrete trials methods, in which the researcher has to intervene to initiate each trial.
Function: used in this book in the mathematical sense of function (“X is dependent on Y”) and not in the sense of functionality (“X is at the service of Y”).
Functional analysis: the process of identifying and testing the functional relationships between those stimuli and responses that make up one’s unit of analysis.
Functional approach: a scientific approach to the study of behavior. Can be carried out in two related ways: initial identification of the environmental events that moderate changes in specific behavior (see effect-centric functional approach), and then creation of more abstract concepts from those environment-behavior relations (see analytic-abstractive functional approach).
Functional-cognitive framework: a metatheoretical framework that distinguishes between two mutually supportive but distinct levels of explanation: a functional level concerned with the identification of environmental events that lead to changes in behavior and a mental level concerned with the identification of mental mechanisms that mediate the impact of environment on behavior.
Functional explanations: explanations of behavior in terms of environmental events. Functional knowledge about learning (i.e., knowledge about which environmental regularities influence behavior under which conditions) thus provides functional explanations of behavior.
Habituation: as an effect refers to a decrease in the intensity of a response due to the repeated presentation of a single stimulus.
Heuristic value: the extent to which a theory or concept allows one to organize in a coherent manner existing functional knowledge in a given domain.
Higher-order conditioning: either a procedure in which CS1 is first paired with a US, and subsequently paired with CS2, or, as an effect, a change in behavior toward CS2 as a result of prior CS1-US followed by CS1-CS2 pairings.
Indirect operant conditioning: impact of a response-outcome relation on a (typically autonomic) response (e.g., increase in heartbeat because this leads to receiving money) that is mediated by a change in another (typically voluntary) behavior (e.g., walking up and down stairs). Contrasted with direct operant conditioning of (autonomic) responses, in which the response-outcome relation (e.g., increase in heartbeat leads to stimulation of the pleasure center in the brain) has an effect on (autonomous) behavior (e.g., increase in heartrate) independent of changes in voluntary behavior (e.g., walking up and down stairs).
Indirect relations: regularities in the spatiotemporal presence of two stimuli that do not co-occur but that are both related to a third stimulus. In the case of second-order relations, the two indirectly related stimuli both co-occur with the third stimulus. In the case of higher-order (third, fourth, etc.) relations, the two indirectly related stimuli are indirectly related to the third stimulus (e.g., in the case of third-order relations, the two indirectly related stimuli co-occur with different stimuli that in turn, both co-occur with a fifth stimulus).
Inhibitory associations: links between mental representations via which the increase in activation of one representation results in a decrease of the activation of the associated representation.
Inhibitory conditioning: as an effect refers to an instance of classical conditioning in which a (typically negative) CS-US relation results in a decrease in the intensity or likelihood of a response to the CS. As a mental process refers to the formation of inhibitory associations.
Intrinsically motivated: loosely defined mental term for the source of motivation for a certain action. Intrinsic involves an assumption that the source of motivation lies inside the organism itself, as opposed to external motivation, where some external event or other organism is said to motivate behavior.
Intrinsic relation: see intrinsic R-Sr relations and intrinsic Sd-R relations.
Intrinsic R-Sr relations: pre-experimental properties of the R-Sr relation; that is, properties established before the implementation of the operant conditioning procedure. The impact of intrinsic R-Sr relations can be demonstrated by showing an impact of the interaction between the nature of the R and the nature of the Sr on operant conditioning. It is often assumed that this impact arises because of phylogenetic factors, but this is difficult to substantiate.
Intrinsic Sd-R relations: pre-experimental properties of the Sd-R relation; that is, properties established before the implementation of the operant conditioning procedure. The impact of intrinsic Sd-R relations can be demonstrated by showing an impact of the interaction between the nature of the Sd and the nature of the R on operant conditioning. It is often assumed that this impact arises because of phylogenetic factors, but this is difficult to substantiate.
Latent learning: a change in behavior at Time 2, which is a function of the regularities that an organism experienced at Time 1.
Law of effect: idea introduced by Thorndike (1911) that holds that behavior that has appetitive outcomes will increase in frequency, whereas behavior that results in aversive (negative) outcomes will decrease in frequency.
Learned helplessness: the detrimental impact of the absence of an R-Sr relation on later effects of the presence of a R-Sr relation.
Learning: a change in behavior due to regularities in the environment.
Learning effects: see learning.
Learning procedures: an experimental context in which a certain regularity is present and a certain behavior is observed. A procedure is a list of observable actions that the researcher carries out when conducting an experiment.
Learning psychologists: a subset of psychologists concerned with changes in behavior due to environmental regularities.
Maturation: changes in the physical constitution or behavior of an organism that occur independently of events in the environment of the organism.
Mediation of learning: a (part of a) mechanism is said to mediate learning when it is represents a necessary causal step between the environmental regularity and the observed change in behavior.
Mere exposure effect: a change in liking due to the repeated presentation of a single stimulus.
Metaregularities: regularities in the occurrence of regularities.
Methodological behaviorism: an approach within the wider tradition of behaviorism that argues that only overt behavior can be objectively observed and that covert behavior (thoughts and feelings), as well as unconscious mental processes should therefore be omitted from scientific study.
Moderated learning: a situation where the impact of one regularity on behavior depends on (or is “moderated by”) the presence of other regularities in the environment.
Moderators of learning: an element of the environment that serves to moderate the impact of environmental regularities on behavior.
Multiple baseline designs: experimental designs often used in single-subject contexts, which involve (a) targeting two or more behaviors, settings, or individuals, and (b) collecting baseline data at the same time. There are three different types: multiple baselines across settings, across subjects, and across behaviors.
Myth of the cognitive revolution: common misconception that cognitive psychology and behaviorism are competitors for scientific legitimacy, with cognitive psychology typically seen as superior in scientific legitimacy to behaviorism, which is assumed to have become extinct.
Needs: see drives.
Negative contingency: a contingency between two events wherein the presence of one event (e.g., presentation of the US) is less likely in situations in which the other event is present (e.g., presentation of the CS) than in situations wherein the other event is absent.
Negative occasion setter: in classical conditioning research, a stimulus whose presence is indicative of the absence of a CS-US relation.
Negative reinforcement: increase in the frequency of a behavior due to the fact that the behavior results in the absence of a stimulus (i.e., because there is a negative contingency between the behavior and the stimulus).
Noncontingent stimulus presentations: a procedure in which a stimulus is presented in a manner that is not contingent on (i.e., related to) the presence or absence of other stimuli.
Observational conditioning: a change in the behavior of an observer toward a stimulus that is due to the pairing of that stimulus and the behavior of a model.
Occasional setting: the effect of occasion setters on CRs.
Occasion setter: an event that indicates when a relation between a CS and a US is either present or absent.
Ontogenetic adaptation: the impact of regularities in the environment of an organism on the behavior of that organism during its lifetime. We use the word “learning” as a synonym of ontogenetic adaptation.
Operant behavior: behavior under the control of a consequence.
Operant class: at the functional level, a set of behaviors that are under the control of a particular outcome.
Operant conditioning: at the procedural level, the presence of a relation between a behavior and certain consequences; at the effect level, changes in behavior that result from regularities in the presence of behavior and consequences.
Opponent-process theory of Solomon: theory about the effect of noncontingent stimulus presentations on the “dynamics of affect” (i.e., the interplay between reactions and counterreactions).
Orientation response (OR): a set of different reactions that seem to orient an organism toward a stimulus (also called the investigatory reaction or what-is-it response).
Overshadowing: at the procedural level, a procedure that compares two groups: Group 1, which is exposed to a CS(X) that is always followed by a US (X+), and Group 2, which is exposed to trials in which the CS(X) is always presented together with another CS(A), and both are followed by the US (AX+). At the effect level, overshadowing refers to the fact that the CR to X is weaker in Group 2 than in Group 1. It seems as if the presence of A in the second group “overshadows” the effect of the (perfectly contingent) X-US relation.
Overt behavior: in the behavioral tradition, behavior that is observable (in principle) to organisms other than the organism emitting that behavior.
Phylogenetic adaptation: changes in the behavior of a species across generations due to regularities in the environment of members of that species.
Positive contingency: a contingency between two events in which the presence of one event (e.g., presentation of the US) is more likely when the other event is present (e.g., presentation of the CS) than when it is not.
Positive occasion setter: in classical conditioning research, a stimulus whose presence is indicative of the presence of a CS-US relation.
Positive reinforcement: increase in frequency of a behavior due to the fact that the behavior results in the presence of a stimulus (i.e., because there is a positive contingency between the behavior and the stimulus).
Predictive coding: the idea that organisms build a mental model of their environment and, based on this model, make predictions about what should happen in the world. When there is a mismatch between a prediction and the actual situation in the environment, this will lead to an adjustment of the model.
Predictive value: the extent to which something (e.g., a theory) allows one to make new predictions about environment-behavior relations. In learning psychology, the ability to make novel predictions about the conditions under which learning will occur.
Premack principle: if performing behavior (A) creates the possibility of performing a higher frequency behavior (B), then the frequency of behavior (A) will increase.
Preparatory responses: responses that prepare the organism in a certain way for the arrival of a certain stimulus.
Primacy effect: in situations where environmental regularities change, a primacy effect occurs when behavior is influenced more by the initial regularity than by the subsequent regularity.
Propositional models: class of models at the mental level of analysis whose core assumption is that learning is mediated by the formation and evaluation of propositions about stimulus relations in the environment.
Propositions: concept at the mental level of analysis that refers to an informational unit defined by two characteristics: (a) it contains information about how stimuli are related (e.g., A predicts B, A causes B, A co-occurs with B, etc.), and (b) that information has a truth value (e.g., A predicts B can, at least in principle, be evaluated as true or false).
Punishment: a behavioral effect whereby the relation between an R and Sr leads to a decrease in the probability of behavior.
Radical behaviorism: an approach within the wider tradition of behaviorism, instigated by Skinner. Unlike methodological behaviorism, it focuses on environmental-behavior relations rather than (behavior-behavior) mechanisms and accepts covert behavior (thoughts and feelings) as a topic for scientific study. It avoids the study of mediating mechanisms (whether behavioral, mental, or physiological) because its ultimate aim is to predict and influence behavior, which requires functional knowledge about aspects in the environment that can be directly observed and manipulated.
Recency: see primacy effect. In situations where environmental regularities change, a recency effect occurs when behavior is influenced more by the later regularity than by the initial regularity.
Reinforcement: a behavioral effect whereby the relation between an R and Sr leads to an increase in the frequency of behavior.
Reinforcer: a stimulus that leads to an increase in the frequency of behavior when this behavior is linked to that stimulus.
Relational contextual cue: a stimulus that signals (cues) which relational response is reinforced in a given context.
Relational learning: changes in behavior that are due to regularities in which relations function as stimuli.
Renewal: typically studied in the context of classical conditioning. An organism is exposed to the pairing of a CS and US (i.e., CS+ trials) in one context. Across trials a CR emerges. The organism is transferred to another context where the CS is presented without the US (CS trials). This leads to the disappearance of the CR. If, however, the organism is returned to the first context or a new context, presenting the CS will immediately elicit a CR again. This phenomenon is known as a renewal effect.
Rescorla-Wagner model: often considered the prototypical example of S-S mental models used to explain classical conditioning effects. Its core assumption is that the extent to which CS-US associations are modified depends on the extent to which the presence or absence of a US is expected.
Response class: descriptive label applied to a set of behaviors that all meet a certain criterion (e.g., that the result in moving a lever 1 cm downward). This criterion is called the unit of behavior.
Response deprivation model: model originally introduced by Timberlake and Allison (1974) that argues that a behavior will increase in frequency if it results in the opportunity of emitting a behavior with a low situational frequency (i.e., a behavior that, within the present context, has a frequency lower than its natural frequency).
Response generalization: a situation wherein changes in the probability of a target operant response also leads to changes in other responses.
Reward: mental level concept that is often confused with a reinforcer. Whether something is called a reward depends not on the function of that stimulus but on some property of the stimulus that is thought to give rise to reinforcing function of the stimulus.
Second-order conditioning: see higher-order conditioning.
Sensitization: an increase in the intensity of a reaction as a result of noncontingent stimulus presentations.
Sensory preconditioning: at the procedural level, the procedure whereby in a first phase, two neutral stimuli (e.g., a tone and a light) are presented together; in a second phase, one of the two stimuli is followed by a US until a CR is established (e.g., the light stimulus); and in a third phase, the other neutral stimulus from the first phase also evokes a CR (e.g., the tone). This CR to the second CS is termed a sensory preconditioning effect.
Sensory reinforcement: the observation that the mere presentation of sensory stimuli can be reinforcing in itself.
Shaping: the emergence of new instances of operant behavior through reinforcement of successive approximations to the behavior.
Simultaneous conditioning: in classical conditioning, the procedure of simultaneous presentation of the CS and US.
Single-subject designs: research design wherein the organism, rather than the behavior of another organism or group, serves as its own control.
Skinner box: an apparatus used to study free-operant behavior.
Sokolov’s theory: see discrepancy model.
Solomon’s theory: see opponent-process theory of Solomon.
Sometimes opponent processes (SOP): mental model, introduced by Wagner (1981), which has as one of its core ideas that two types of S-S associations can be formed: excitatory associations and inhibitory associations.
Spontaneous recovery: finding that extinguished CRs can emerge again as the result of the mere passage of time.
Sr: at the descriptive level, every event that depends on a behavior; at the functional level, one speaks of an Sr when the stimulus influences the behavior because of the R-Sr relation.
Standard regularities: regularities made up of individual elements.
Stimulus class: a collection or class of stimuli. Defined topographically on the basis of a shared feature (e.g., the class of blue stimuli) or functionally on the basis of a shared function (e.g., the class of stimuli that function as an Sd in a certain context).
Stimulus generalization: as an effect, the finding that stimuli that share properties with a stimulus present during conditioning (either operant or classical) will also occasion similar responses as the conditioned stimulus.
Stimulus-response (S-R) models: class of mental models that assume that learning is based on the formation of associations between stimuli and responses.
Stimulus-stimulus (S-S) models: class of mental models that assume that learning is based on the formation of associations between stimuli.
Superconditioning: from the Rescorla-Wagner model, the finding that conditioning can be made extra strong by pairing a CS together with a CS that has a negative associative strength (i.e., the strength of the association between the CS and US has a negative value).
Three-term contingency: see A-B-C contingency.
Unconditional response (UR): the response to a US.
Unconditional stimulus (US): a stimulus that elicits a UR.
Unconscious learning: from a cognitive perspective, learning that occurs when the organism does not have conscious knowledge of the regularities that produced the change in behavior; from a functional perspective, learning without the organism being able to discriminate the regularities that produced the change in behavior.
US pre-exposure: procedure where the US is repeatedly presented on its own before the CS is paired with that US.
US revaluation: procedure where the appetitive or aversive nature of a US is changed.