Chapter 2 Flashcards
stimulus
agent, action or condition that elicits physiological or psychological response
ex. mosquito bite or shark fin in water
response
unit of behavior, discrete and usually reoccurring segment of behavior
ex. itch or heart rate
elicited behavior
behavior that occurs in response to specific environmental stimulus
reflexes are the _______ form of elicited behavior (2 examples)
simplest; knee tap = kick, loud noise = startle
interaction between stimulus and response requires what involvement?
CNS/brain
what are anatomically specific and can be modified by the brain as well as change with development?
reflexes
2 examples of reflexes that change with development?
rooting and grasping
Tinbergen and Lorenz stated that orderly ________ of reflexive behavior served evolutionary purpose (call back to causal mechanism), study was about …
sequences; herring gulls and how chicks knew to peck the beak of the mother to receive food
Modal Action Patterns (MAPs)
complex, species-specific response sequences
Important characteristics of MAPs (5)
- unique to all species (usually)
- all species members show the behavior
- not the result of prior learning (hard-wired)
- behaviors occur in rigid order
- triggered by specific stimulus (sign stimulus)
Eliciting stimulus for reflexes are obvious to identify whole more difficult to identify for ____
MAPs
Sign stimulus
specific features required to elicit MAP
ex. herring gull, when tested a moving red and yellow stick is best/elicited most pecking
preferred features of sign stimulus can be ______
enhanced
supernormal stimulus
unusually effective sign stimulus based on preferred properties, resulting in robust response
Baerends and Drent (1982)
Manipulated features of eggs (unnatural color, size, texture) to see what mother gulls would bring into their nest as eggs
green speckled eggs were found to be the most highly effective at eliciting retrieval behaviors
supernormal stimulus can be seen in ___________ for humans!
advertising
appetitive behaviors
early part of sequence/front end
behaviorally flexible making it easier to modify
ex. searching for food or looking for a (or to) mate
consummatory behaviors
end component of sequence
often species-specific
difficult to alter
ex. feeding young or preparing a nest (example from class: cardinal so driven to feed young even when nest was destroyed seen feeding a trout)
what did Descartes believe about reflexes that was false?
a stimulus produces the same response every time
habituation
decrease in response with repeated stimulation
ex. rats response to a tone every three seconds starts with being startled and ends up becoming unfazed after a few minutes
sensitization
increase in response with repeated stimulation
what did the visual attention in infants study tell us?
conditions determined trajectory of behaviors
while the 4 x 4 didn’t hold the attention of the baby, the 12 x 12 briefly did, however, ended up habituating as well
what did the salivation in adults study tell us?
a decrease in salivary and hedonic responses over trials 1-10
restored response to new taste in trial 11
recovery of response to original flavor on trial 12
TopHat question: The repeated stimulus and the elicited response used in Habituation and Sensitization procedures reflects what causal mechanism?
material
efficient
final
formal
efficient
what did the Davis (1974) study tell us?
Group 1 habituated to the loud tone over time (low background noise)
Group 2 sensitized to the loud tone over time (medium/high background noise)
Why habituation and sensitize?
to organize and focus behaviors based on relevance of stimulus
To qualify as habituation or sensitization, where must the behavior happen?
in the central nervous system
when habituation is stimulus-specific…
altering the stimulus elicits the response
rules out muscle fatigue (associated with response-specific/motor neuron)
ex. switching tone quality restores startle
when habituation is response-specific…
reduced responding to stimulus in one aspect of behavior but not others
rules out sensory adaption (associated with stimulus-specific/sensory neuron)
ex. child may still be listening despite little/reduced eye contact
sensitization can only be ruled out by _________________ ______
electrophysiological tests
dual process theory
formal cause
2 distinct neural processes:
- habituation process
- sensitization process
these processes act simultaneously
habituation and sensitization are different from what we actually ___ and are at __________ at all times
see; competition
behavioral outcome (__________) depends upon the strength of each process (___ ___)
performance; net sum
stimulus-response (S-R) system
habituation occurs in reflex arc
- specific stimuli and response
- short neural loop
- each stimulus presentation activates the loop
state system
sensitization occurs in CNS areas that determine activation
- generalized response
- only activated during arousal/attention getting events
- drugs can affect the state system
the change in 20 db for the Davis study in background noise amplified what system?
state
characteristics of habituation
semi-permanent
determined by stimulus interval (frequency between stimuli)
short-term habituation
when stimulus is frequent/short stimulus interval
long-term habituation
when stimulus is widely spaced/spaced stimulus interval
characteristics of sensitization
temporary
- ex. 15 minutes after 80 db background is off, startle returns to baseline
determined by stimulus intensity
stimulus generalization
sufficiently similar stimuli may generalize (ex. using key lime instead of lime will continue habituation/generalize)
for sensitization, the animal will readily ________ to other cues in the environment, reflecting what cause?
generalize; final (evolution mechanisms)
Habituation can be reversed by changing …
stimulus features
dishabituation
restoration of response by a strong extraneous, surprising stimulus
dishabituation is the result of _____ system activation
state
TopHat: the stimulus specificity of habituation is ________ that of sensitization.
equal to
less than
greater than
less than or greater than (depends on the stimulus)
greater than
difference between spontaneous recovery and dishabituation
s: requires passage of time
d: requires different/new stimuli
Aplysia is what kind of animal and helps us study what cause of learning?
sea slug; material
for the aplysia, initial siphon stimulation induces siphon or gill withdrawal. What will we see in regards to habituation and sensitization?
hab - continued stimulation decreases responding
sens - tail shock would increase responding
habituation: repeated skin stimulation decreases __ neurotransmitter release in ___, which decreases __ response
sensory neuron (SN); CNS; motor neuron (MN)
sensitization: tail shock activates the excitatory __ and increases __ neurotransmitter release in ___ to increase __ response
facilitory neuron (FN); SN; CNS; MN
habituation and sensitization can be applied to _______ emotional response/reactions to drugs
biphasic
biphasic characteristics of heroin
early: relaxed and euphoria
late: irritable and depression
tolerance
habituation of early drug response (i.e. addicts report less euphoria over time)
withdrawal
sensitization of the late post-reaction (i.e. addicts report more distress upon termination)
opponent process theory
mechanisms that control emotional behavior minimize deviations from emotional neutrality (homeostasis)
opponent process theory: primary process (a)
elicited directly by an arousing stimulus
efficient
- heroin elicits euphoria immediately
opponent process theory: opponent process (b)
elicited indirectly by the primary process
inefficient
- euphoria elicits depression which is delayed
experience = net result of what two processes?
primary (a) and opponent (b)
