Chapter 9 - Learning and Behaviour Flashcards
Behaviourism
Pioneered by John B. Watson, he believed that things had to be measurable and objective, removing reasoning and self-reports.
Likert-scale
Used to quantify psychological habits on a scale. Data is qualitative and not quantitative, due to the data being on an ordinal scale and not an interval scale.
Phylogenetic Behavior
The behavior that is a product of evolution. 4 different types. Reflexes, Habituation, fixed action patterns, General behavioral traits.
Reflexes
A relationship between a specific event and simple response to that event, caused by evolution by natural selection. E.g. Baby grasping objects
Primary Laws of Reflex
The laws that dictate whether an action can be classified as a reflex.
Law of threshhold
there is a necessary stimulus to trigger a response.
Law of intensity-magnitude
Increase in stimulus intensity also increases intensity of response.
Law of Latency
The more intense the stimulus the faster the response.
Habituation
A decrease in the intensity or probability of a reflex response resulting from repeated exposure to that stimulus, shorter intervals between exposure cause greater habituation.
Fixed action patterns
A series of related acts found in all members of a species, occurs when the appropriate releaser stimulus is present, AKA Modal action patterns, like nest building.
General Behavioral Traits
Any general Behavioral tendency that is strongly influenced by genes E.g. introversion, general anxiety, aggressiveness, evidenced by selective breeding, gene knockout, and twin studies.
Limits of Natural Selection
natural selection is a very slow process, to cope with slow changes in the environment, previous adaptations can become malignant quickly with the changes in the environment.
Learning
Rapid evolution to adapt to sudden changes, measurement of changes in behavior due to environmental changes. Not all changes in environment that cause a change in behavior are considered learning
How to measure learning
Learning can be measured a number of ways including frequency, intensity, rate/speed, form, topography.
Problems with defining learning based off of physiology.
Changes like neuroplasticity are insufficient due to out lack of knowledge of how the brain works and how different parts of the brain relate to behavior.
Respondent (classical/Pavlovian) Learning
Learning by association relating to a conditional stimulus (CS), learning in such a way follows an asymptotic curve and marginal changes are decreasing. Familiar stimuli are harder to condition because of the organisms prior knowledge.
Unconditional Stimulus (US)
A stimulus that elicits an unconditional response without any prior learning
Unconditional Response (UR)
The behavior elicited by the antecedent stimulus called the unconditional stimulus.
Conditional Stimulus (CS)
A previously neutral stimulus that acquires the ability to elicit a conditioned response it is contingently paired with an unconditioned stimulus
Conditional Response (CR)
The behaviour elicited by the antecedent stimulus called the conditional stimulus.
Probe Trial
Presentation of CS without US and measuring the strength of the CR.
Delayed Conditioning
The CS and US overlap temporally partially, CS occurs first, most effective method. Optimal time difference 0.4 to 1.0 sec.
Trace Conditioning
CS starts and ends before the US is presented, longer intervals cause a weaker conditioned response.
Simultaneous Conditioning
The CS and the US begin and end at the same time, less common in real world and least effective method.
