Chapter 1 - Intro Flashcards
Learning
Relatively permanent change in behavior that results from experience
Two types of learning
Classical & operant conditioning
Classical conditioning (Pavlovian/respondent conditioning)
Process through which inborn behaviors (reflexive/involuntary) become produced in new situations
Classical conditioning example (Pavlov)
Dog learns to salivate to bell that has previously been paired with food
Operant conditioning
Involves strengthening or weakening a behavior (goal directed/voluntary) as a result of rewards or consequences
Operant conditioning (rats)
Rat learns that pressing lever = food, effect is that it increases the tendency of the rat pressing the lever. So the reward food, strengthens future occurrence of behavior.
Nativist (Nature) perspective
Plato’s idea that everything we know is innate and learning is simply a process of inner reflection to uncover knowledge that already exists within
Empiricist (Nurture) perspective
Aristole’s idea that knowledge is acquired through experience
Aristole’s 4 laws of association
Law of 1. Similarity 2. Contrast 3. Contiguity 4. Frequency
Law of similarity
Events that are similar become associated with each other (cars and trucks)
Law of contrast
Events that are opposites become associated with each other (tall and short)
Law of contiguity
Events occurring in close proximity in time or space become associated (lightening then thunder)
Law of frequency
The more two items occur together, the stronger they’re associated (perfume and friend)
Behavior
Any activity an organism that can be observed or somehow measured
Mind body dualism perspective
Descartes idea where some human behaviors are involuntary by external stimulation while others are freely chosen and controlled by the mind
British empiricism
John locke’s idea that a newborn is a blank state (tabula rasa) where experiences are written
Structuralism
Wilhelm Wundt idea that the structure of the mind can be determined by identifying the basic elements that compose it using introspection (largely promoted by Titchener)
Functionalism
William James idea that emphasized the purpose of consciousness and behavior and that the mind evolved to help us adapt to the world around us (Darwinism influences)
Evolution
Darwin’s theory that 1. Traits vary both within and between species 2. Many traits are genetic 3. Organisms must compete for limited resources
Behaviorism
John watson’s idea that is a natural science that focuses on the study of environmental influences on observable behavior
Law of parsimony
Preference for a simple explanation as compared to a complex one
Morgan’s canon
Interpret behavior in primitive (reflexes) rather than mentalistic processes (reasoning)
Watson’s Methodological Behaviorism
Only study publicly observable behavior and never anything that’s subjective (thoughts) agreed with Pavlov that all behavior is reflexive
S-R theory
Watson’s theory of learning that involves the development of connection between an environmental event (stimulus) and specific behavior (response)