prepotent response

Examples of prepotent response in the following topics:

• Executive Function and Control

  • A prepotent response is a response for which immediate reinforcement (positive or negative) is available or is associated with that response.
  • Executive functions tend to be invoked when it is necessary to override prepotent responses that would otherwise occur automatically.
  • For example, on being presented with a potentially rewarding stimulus like a piece of chocolate cake, a person might have the prepotent "automatic" response to take a bite.
  • But if this behavior conflicts with internal plans (such as a diet), the executive system might be engaged to inhibit that response.
  • Anterior cingulate cortex: inhibition of inappropriate responses, decision making, and motivated behaviors.

• Basic Principles of Classical Conditioning

  • Classical conditioning occurs when an unconditioned response becomes a conditional response to an unrelated conditional stimulus.
  • The conditioned response is the learned response to the previously neutral stimulus.
  • The conditioned stimulus is usually neutral and produces no particular response at first, but after conditioning it elicits the conditioned response.
  • The unconditioned response was the salivation of dogs in response to seeing or smelling their food.
  • The conditioned response, therefore, was the salivation of the dogs in response to the conditioned stimulus (the ringing of the bell) .

• Basic Principles of Classical Conditioning: Pavlov

  • The conditioned response is the learned response to the previously neutral stimulus.
  • When presented with the conditioned stimulus alone, the individual would show a weaker and weaker response, and finally no response.
  • The unconditioned response was the dogs' natural salivation in response to seeing or smelling their food.
  • The conditioned response, therefore, was the salivation of the dogs in response to the ringing of the bell, even when no food was present.
  • Pavlov had successfully associated an unconditioned response (natural salivation in response to food) with a conditioned stimulus (a buzzer), eventually creating a conditioned response (salivation in response to a buzzer).

• Sensory Adaptation

  • Sensory adaptation is the decrease in the responsiveness of a sensory system that is confronted with a constant stimulus.
  • Sensory adaptation, also called neural adaptation, is the change in the responsiveness of a sensory system that is confronted with a constant stimulus.
  • In contrast, sensitization is an increase in behavioral responses following repeated applications of a particular stimulus.
  • Unlike sensory adaptation, in which a large amount of stimulus is needed to incur any further responsive effects, in sensitization less and less stimulation is required to produce a large response.

• Conscious vs. Unconscious Emotion

  • For example, the experience of fear usually occurs in response to a threat.
  • It is primarily responsible for processing our emotional life, and assists in the formation of memories.
  • Our behavioral response to emotional stimuli is a product of the various brain processes.
  • It is designed to elicit defensive responses without conscious thought.
  • These automatic responses are one way our emotions affect our behavior.

• How the Body Responds to Stress

  • When presented with stress, the body responds by releasing hormones that will prepare it for the fight-or-flight response.
  • When a threat or danger is perceived, the body responds by releasing hormones that will prepare it for the fight-or-flight response.
  • The main physiological structure involved in this response is known as the HPA (hypothalamic–pituitary gland–adrenal gland) axis.
  • The sympathetic nervous system regulates the stress response via the hypothalamus.
  • The sympathetic nervous system regulates the stress response via the hypothalamus.

• Schedules of Reinforcement

  • Variable refers to when the number of responses or amount of time between reinforcements varies or changes.
  • With a fixed-ratio schedule, there are a set number of responses that must occur before the behavior is rewarded.
  • In a variable-ratio schedule, the number of responses needed for a reward varies.
  • The four reinforcement schedules yield different response patterns.
  • The variable-interval schedule is unpredictable and produces a moderate, steady response rate (e.g., fishing).

• Biology of Sexual Behavior

  • The biology of human sexuality includes the reproductive system and the sexual response cycle, as well as the factors that affect them.
  • Males also have both internal and external genitalia that are responsible for procreation and sexual intercourse.
  • The sexual response cycle is a model that describes the physiological responses that take place during sexual activity.
  • Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) is responsible for ovulation in females by triggering egg maturity; it also stimulates sperm production in males.
  • Like females, males have both internal and external genitalia that are responsible for procreation and sexual intercourse.

• Habituation, Sensitization, and Potentiation

  • Recall that sensory adaptation involves the gradual decrease in neurological sensory response caused by the repeated application of a particular stimulus over time.
  • Habituation is the "behavioral version" of sensory adaptation, with decreased behavioral responses over time to a repeated stimulus.
  • Sensitization is the strengthening of a neurological response to a stimulus due to the response to a secondary stimulus.
  • It is essentially an exaggerated startle response, and is often seen in trauma survivors.
  • For example, the sound of a car backfiring might sound like a gunshot to a war veteran, and the veteran may drop to the ground in response, even if there is no threat present.

• Introduction to the Nervous System

  • The neurons responsible for taking information to the CNS are known as afferent neurons, while the neurons that carry the responses from the CNS to the PNS are known as efferent neurons.
  • It synthesizes sensory input to compute an appropriate motor response, or output.
  • The autonomic nervous system is made of two components, which work in opposition to one another: the sympathetic nervous system, responsible for the body's "fight-or-flight" response to danger, and the parasympathetic nervous system, which calms the body back down.