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Fundamentals of Learning > Chapter 1 > Flashcards

Chapter 1 Flashcards

Background and Rationale for the Study of Learning and Behaviour

1
Q

What is the philosophical definition of
learning?

A

Learning is the process of accumulating knowledge

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2
Q

What is knowledge?

A

“Knowledge is internally stored information about
THE WORLD and about HOW THINGS WORK

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3
Q

What are the two forms of knowledge?

A

(1) Declarative
(2) Procedural (we focus on this type of knowledge in class)

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4
Q

Describe declarative knowledge:

A

The world
“Knowing That”
Explicit knowledge

  1. Attributes
  2. Past events
  3. General information
  4. Meaning of concepts
  5. Significance of things
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5
Q

Procedural Knowledge

A

How the world works
“Knowing How”
Implicit knowledge

  1. Skilled actions
  2. Cognitive abilities
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6
Q
A
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7
Q

What is the biological definition of learning?

A

Learning is a BIOLOGICAL PROCESS that facilitates adaptation to one’s environment

(1) biology dictates learning
(2) Experience alters biology

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8
Q

Biology dictates ___

A

learning

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9
Q

__ dictates learning

A

biology

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10
Q

___ alters biology

A

Experience

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11
Q

Experience alters ____

A

Biology

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12
Q

What is the psychological definition of learning?

A

Learning is the acquisition of a NEW BEHAVIOUR due to exposure to a similar situation in the past

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13
Q

Define behaviour:

A

Behaviour is any activity of an organism that can be observed or somehow measured

The activity may be in response to stimuli that are either internal or external

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14
Q

What are the problems associated with the psychological definition?

A
  1. Not always “acquisition” of new behaviour
  2. Changes in behaviour may not always be due to learning for ex:
    * Short-term changes:
    – Fatigue
    – Change in stimulus conditions
    – Alterations in physiological/motivational state
    * Long-term changes:
    – Maturation
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15
Q

Differentiate performance vs. learning

A
  • Similar but NOT the same
  • Many factors can underlie performance:
    – Fear, hunger/thirst, exhaustion, etc….
    – Contribute to whether a learned behaviour is observed
  • Control as many factors as possible to confirm that observed behaviour is a reflection of learning
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16
Q

What is a type of behaviour potential?

A

latent learning

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17
Q

Describe latent learning:

A

– Behaviour is learned, but remains initially dormant
– May be expressed in situations that are non-similar to those in which it was learned

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18
Q

What was the Tolman and Honzik study in 1930?

A
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19
Q

What is the behaviourist definition?

A

Learning is a relatively long-lasting
change in the mechanism of
behaviour, or behaviour potential, that occurs as a result of practice or experience

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20
Q

The behaviourist definition modified to

A

Reflect findings like latent learning and
limit the role for cognitive processes

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21
Q

If learning can be evidenced through
changes in behaviour, then we should be able to understand

A

the principles that
govern learning by examining behaviour

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22
Q

the behaviourist definition limits:

A

the role for cognitive processes
(Which is fine, since much of our behaviour is habitual
– Our focus is on implicit learning for this course anyway)

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23
Q

Animal models of behaviour, __ human behaviour

A

Animal Models of Behaviour
do not mimic human behaviour, but can observe similarities

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24
Q

Who is associated with the general process approach?

A

thorndike

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25
Q

Animal Models of behaviour:

A

Focus on relevant features and functions

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26
Q

What are the two methodological considerations in regards to learning :

A

1.Learning is an Experimental Science (need to identify causal variables)

2.General Process Approach (for the study of learning)

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27
Q

General Process Approach (for the study of learning) driven by the:

A

search for commonalities

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28
Q

General Process Approach (for the study of learning) – Implication?

A

General rules of learning may be discovered by studying any species or response system that exhibits learning

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29
Q

What Constitutes a Good Animal Model?

A
  1. Construct validity
  2. Criterion Validity
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30
Q

Define construct validity:

A

SIMILAR CAUSAL MECHANISMS

‘We can gain insight into human behaviour from animal models if the CAUSAL FACTORS governing the behaviour are similar’
– e.g. drug taking in rats

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31
Q

Criterion Validity

A

Extent to which laboratory-animal behaviour induced by an experimental manipulation PREDICTS human behaviour in the REAL WORLD
– e.g. reinstatement of drug taking behaviour

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32
Q

What are the three levels of investigation?

A

1.Whole organism

2.Neural circuits
& neurotransmitters

3.Neurons and synapses

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33
Q

What is the learning mechanism for the whole organism level of investigation?

A

Behavioural/Psychological

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34
Q

What is the learning mechanism for Neural circuits & neurotransmitters level of investigation?

A

Neural system or network

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35
Q

What is the learning mechanism for Neurons and synapses

A

Molecular, cellular
& genetic

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36
Q

what are considerations when using nonhuman Animals

A

Humane and ethical treatment of animals

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37
Q

Using Nonhuman Animals (practical advantages):

A

– Can control prior experience
– Often know full genetic sequence
– Animals will not guess the goals of the experiment/adjust their behaviours to expectation

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38
Q

What are the empirical advantages of using nonhuman Animals (2) ?

A

Can ask questions about human behaviour that cannot be studied in humans
– Can study the neurobiological substrates of learning and memory

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39
Q

Nativist definition:

A

Humans are shaped primarily by
their BIOLOGICAL INHERITANCE (NATURE)

Fixed at birth; born great (or not)

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40
Q

Empiricist definition:

A

Humans are shaped primarily
by their EXPERIENCE (NURTURE).

Endless possibilities with
the right experiences

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41
Q

Some supporters of nativism:

A

Plato: proposed that we are born
with innate differences in skill and
talent, and suggested sorting by
quality soon after birth

Descartes: proposed that most of
our knowledge is innate, not from
experience

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42
Q

Some supporters of empiricism:

A

-Aristotle: proposed that
knowledge and talent are matters
of training and experience, not
inheritance
– Locke: proposed that we are born
as blank slates (tabula rasa),
completely equal and without
innate knowledge, and that all our
habits and skills are due to
experience

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43
Q

Plato:

A

proposed that we are born
with innate differences in skill and
talent, and suggested sorting by
quality soon after birth

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44
Q

Descartes

A

proposed that most of
our knowledge is innate, not from
experience

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45
Q

Aristotle:

A

Proposed that
knowledge and talent are matters
of training and experience, not
inheritance

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46
Q

Locke:

A

proposed that we are born
as blank slates (tabula rasa),
completely equal and without
innate knowledge, and that all our
habits and skills are due to
experience

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47
Q

Current Approaches

A

Most modern researchers acknowledge that we are shaped by both nature and nurture
– Still, sharp disagreements persist over relative
importance in different domains
* e.g., IQ; language

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48
Q

Nature of Mind

A

René Descartes (1596-1650) - Dualism
– Mind has innate knowledge
– The mind is the source of all voluntary behaviour
– The body controls involuntary behaviour in
response to external stimuli
– Involuntary behaviour is mediated by the reflex
* Automatic reaction to external stimuli
* Connects a stimulus with a response, typically
consistent

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49
Q

Descartes’ Reflex

A

There is an automatic connection
between a stimulus and a response
* Stimulus is detected by sense organs
* It agitates ‘animal spirits’ that travel
up the nerves to the ‘mind’ via the
pineal gland
* Through the same route, the agitation reaches the muscles and makes them
swell, causing movement

50
Q

What are Reflexes?

A

A form of elicited behaviour
– Any kind of behaviour (innate or learned ) that
is demonstrated by (or drawn out of an
organism) in response to a stimulus

51
Q

Types of reflexes:

A

– Simple reflexes
– Complex behavioural sequences
* Often comprised of a series of reflexes that need to work in concert
– Modal action patterns (MAPs)

52
Q

What Defines a Reflex?

A

-Presentation of the stimulus reliably triggers the response, and the response rarely occurs
without the stimulus

53
Q

Describe the moro reflex (when baby not supported):

A

Throw out arms and legs, bring them back in, maybe cry

54
Q

What are babies’ other reflexes besides the Moro reflex:

A

Rooting (Head-turning)
– Grasp: Touch palm –> clench fist
– Babinski: Stroke foot –> toes flare
– Respiratory Occlusion Reflex:
* Reduced airflow –> pull head back, wipe hands in front of face, cry

55
Q

What are Complex Behaviours?

A
  • May require coordinated reflexes
  • Example: breast feeding
56
Q

What are MAPs?

A

Orderly sequence of reflexive behaviours typical of a particular species or group of related species

– Species typical behaviour
* e.g., feeding, mating, social behaviours, territorial
defense, aggression, prey capture

57
Q

How are MAPs Elicited?

A

MAPs are highly dependent on the physiological state of the animal

58
Q

MAPs and Goal-Directed Behaviour: Behaviour geared towards:

A

Obtaining a specific outcome (goal) and is typically organized into functional effective sequences

59
Q

Appetitive behaviour:

A

-Early in behaviour sequence

  • Variable, modified by learning
  • ‘Brings animal in contact with
    stimuli that release the
    consummatory behaviour

strategies at beginning to get to proximal location with their goal

60
Q

Consummatory behaviour:

A

-Late in behaviour sequence
- Species typical MAP,
stereotyped, releasing stimulus

  • Interaction with ‘goal’

to achieve goal – this is where maps come into play

60
Q

MAPs in Humans

A

Few pure MAPS in humans

– Most behaviour modified by
experience

– Almost all behaviour is partially
learned

61
Q

Why is yawning argued as a MAP

A

-Once sequence of behaviour
commenced hard to stop

– Consistent across species

62
Q

Most complex reflex type:

A

MAPS

63
Q

What was Tinbergen & perdeck study?

A

study on what makes the gull chick peck the parent bill

same rate of pecking response for natural head, standard model, bill only, stick

they found it was a combination of shape (long thin and narrow), contrast of color and back and forth movement that makes chicks peck – all three feaures have to be present

64
Q

What did Tinbergen and Perdeck also find

A

supernormal stimulus increases pecking response

65
Q

Intraspecies:

A

similarities

66
Q

Interspecies:

A

differences

67
Q

Empiricism:

A

knowledge through experience

68
Q

Tabula Rasa

A

John Locke

69
Q

John Locke (1632-1704) -
‘Tabula Rasa’

A

-The mind is a blank slate at birth
– All knowledge is built up from sensory experience
– The mind receives only simple sensations
– Sensations are combined to form complex ideas
by the process of associations

70
Q

Hobbes came up with:

A

Primary rules of association (similarity, contiguity, contrast)

From Aristotle

71
Q

What are the primary rules of association:

A

1.Contiguity
2. Similarity
3. Contrast

72
Q

Contiguity

A

If two events repeatedly occur together in
space or time, they will become associated

73
Q

Similarity

A

Association formed if two things are similar

74
Q

Why was Ebingghaus important?

A

Ebbinghaus – empirical study of associations

small samples size: himself

75
Q

Contrast

A

Association formed if two things are different

76
Q

Who was Thomas Brown

A

Gave secondary rules of association

77
Q

What are the secondary rules of association:

A
  1. Intensity of sensations/events
  2. Recency of association
  3. Frequency of events being paired
78
Q

William James proposed (3):

A

(1)
That experience links ideas in the mind
(2)
Remembering one idea would spread along links, retrieving a complex episode
(3)
James proposed that these links would be physically formed in the
brain, providing an early link between psychology and neuroscience

79
Q

Hermann Ebbinghaus:

A

Studied memory in a distinctly
modern and scientific way:

– Empirical: actually collected data

– Experimental: manipulated an IV to
observe the outcome on a DV

– Quantitative: expressed observations numerically

80
Q

Hermann Ebbinghaus studied:

A

Used himself as a test subject

studied lists of nonsense words
– e.g., BAP, KEP, DAK

81
Q

How did Hermann Ebbinghaus study nonsense words:

A

Simple, effective design:
– Learn the list (form a new memory)
– Delay
– Test for memory
– Relearn the same list

82
Q

What was Hermann Ebbinghaus dependant variable?

A

SAVINGS

83
Q

Describe Ebbinghaus’ savings dependant variable

A

Time to learn list second time/time to learn first time
– Higher savings –> good memory
– 0 savings –> list completely forgotten

84
Q

What did Ebbinghaus conclude from his experiments?

A
  • Exponential forgetting curve: rapid initial forgetting, but
    progressively less forgetting with time
  • Showed effects of time, practice, and spacing that seem
    general to memory across the animal kingdom
85
Q

Who were the 3 researchers that were critical in re-orienting
psychology to emulate the physical sciences (key figures of behaviourism)?

A

John Watson, Clark Hull, B.F. Skinner

86
Q

Lets focus on behaviour:

A

John Watson

87
Q

Lets be quantitative:

A

Clark Hull

88
Q

Let’s wear lab coats

A

BF Skinner

89
Q

Describe the focus of behaviourism - focus on behaviour:

A

Behaviour is OBSERVABLE, objective, and quantifiable. Mental
processes such as dreams, feelings, and the subconscious are not directly
observable and therefore can’t be studied scientifically.

90
Q

Describe the focus of behaviourism – empiricism:

A

Behaviour is shaped by experience and can be controlled by
regulating experience.

91
Q

Describe the focus of behaviourism -Evolutionary perspective:

A

Humans are basically the same as any other animal;
what works for a rat will work for a human.

92
Q

Describe the focus of behaviourism - quantitative:

A

Like physicists, try to identify basic mathematical laws that will
generalize to many behaviours.

93
Q

Describe the focus of behaviourism - Law of effect:

A

Our behaviour is not shaped by the subconscious but by past
experience; we seek to repeat rewards and avoid punishments.

94
Q

Mental Processes: Behavioural Critique

A

Behaviourists argued that mental processes are not only subjective,
but also irrelevant: given the stimulus, the response can be predicted
without worrying about what goes on in the mind.

95
Q

Intraspecies similarities:

A

how members of the same species (“all cats” or “all chickens”, etc.) show the same type of response when it comes to MAPs. All chickens run with their neck stretched out and peck when close, for example.

96
Q

The reign of behaviourism: Tolamn

A

-Tolman’s research showed that stimulus->response misses something important

-He found that rats trained on a maze can find novel ways to the goal when encountering an obstacle

-Since the route was novel, there could have been no prior association between the stimulus (food) and the response (novel route)

97
Q

Interspecies differences:

A

Interspecies differences means that between species (e.g., cats vs. chickens) there may response differences (or sometimes differences in eliciting stimuli, or both), even though the generalized MAP is still the same. Here, in the two videos we see the chickens and cats are both responding to the same eliciting stimuli, and both performing similar generalized responses (pursuit of “prey”), but how they display this specific pursuit is different and displayed based on their capabilities (pecking vs. smacking with a paw).

98
Q

Animal models have been at the forefront of __

A

Drug discovery: Role in understanding addiction, Pharmacological agents to alleviate or enhance behaviour

99
Q

Animal models allow for:

A

Exploration of side effects
-Long term and short term
-Potential for overdose

100
Q

animal models teach us:

A

fundamentals of machine learning

101
Q

Formally the crab, fish, turtle, dog, cat, monkey and
baby have very similar intellects and characters. All are
systems of connections subject to change by the law of
exercise and effect. The differences are: first, in the
concrete particular connections, in what stimulates the
animal to response, what responses it makes, which
stimulus connects with which response, and second, in
the degree of ability to learn. –> this was a quote by:

A

Thorndike

102
Q

In the search for commonalities we are looking at processes:

A

That operate in much the same way in different individuals

103
Q

In the search for commonalities, we are looking at general laws with which to

A

organize and explain the diversity of events in the universe

104
Q

In the search for commonalities, there may be diversity in:

A

The types of stimuli, types of responses and rates of learing

105
Q

According to Descartes, the mind has:

A

Innate knowledge

106
Q

According to Descartes, the body controls:

A

Involuntary behaviour in response to external stimuli

107
Q

According to Descartes, involuntary behaviour is mediated by:

A

The reflex

108
Q

According to Descartes, the reflex is :

A

-an automatic reaction to external stimuli
-connects a stimulus with a response, typically consistent

109
Q

Three areas of debate:

A

(1) Nativism versus empiricism
(2) Nature of the mind
(3) rules of the mind

110
Q

Nativism versus empiricism debate:

A

Are we shaped by experience or fixed at birth?

111
Q

Nature of the mind debate:

A

How does the mind differ from physical objects if at all?

112
Q

Rules of the mind debate:

A

Are there rules by which the mind generates ideas from experience?

113
Q

Associationsims was founded by:

A

Aristotle and elaborated by Locke and James

114
Q

Associationism proposes that:

A

Contiguity, frequency and similarity are guiding principles for forming complex ideas

115
Q

Tolman found that :

A

exclusive focus on stimulus and response is too narrow

116
Q

How did Tolman and Honzick introduce the concept of latent learning ?

A

They tested learning in rats (1 control group, 1 consistent reward group, delayed reward group). The findings were significant because the rats in the delayed reward group showed a sharp improvement in performane once they began receiving food, suggesting that they had been learning the maze all along, but had no motivation to demonstrate that learning until a reward was introduced. This led Tolman and Honzick to propose the concept of latent learning - learning that occurs without any obvious reinforcement or motivation but can manifest when there is a reason to do so

117
Q

What is one of the earliest identified MAPS?

A

Egg-Rolling MAP of the Goose

118
Q

Tolman found:

A

That the exclusive focys on stimulus and response is too narrow

119
Q

Hull focused on:

A

mathematical models of learning

120
Q
A

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