Exam 1 Flashcards
Learning
A relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs because of experience with events. Excludes temporary change and effects due to maturation. It is necessary because environments are unpredictable and we need to adapt
Memory
Retention or retrieval of information
Epistemology
Philosophical study of nature of knowledge and how we came to have knowledge
Maturation
Effects due to this are not attributed to organism learning, but simply development
Structuralism
School of early psychology associated with Wundt. It was known for emphasizing use of introspection
Purpose of psychology = understanding conscious experience via structure
Functionalism
(James) emphasis on functions of consciousness; is often based on observation
Behaviorism
School of early psychology associated with Watson. It viewed science as the study of observable events and psychology as the study of behavior.
Emphasis on relationship between stimuli and responses. Did not care about mental experience and feelings like attention, insight, etc. Only on what you DO
Cognitive approach to learning
(Piaget, Bartlett) The goal of learning is to use measures of behavior to develop and test theories of mental processes.
The mind is an active processor of information, and forms an internal representation of the world that can guide behavior
Schema
stored framework or body of knowledge about some topic
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
A theory involving qualitative changes in intellectual functioning during childhood. Follows the idea that development results from a combination of assimilation and accomodation
Stages of Piaget’s theory
Sensory motor intelligence: infant, lack of object permanence
Preoperational period: toddler, failure at conservation tasks
Concrete operations: inability to handle abstract concepts or reason scientifically
Formal operations
Repetition priming
Processing of a stimulus is affected by a previous presentation of it
Learning curve
Is represented by a monotonic (one-direction), negatively accelerated (slowing) graph
Habituation
Decrease in a response to a stimulus that is repeatedly presented
Refers to something happening as a reflex and is thus stimulus-specific
Dishabituation
the idea that habituation to one stimulus can be temporarily blocked by the presentation of another stimulus
Discrimination
Responding differently to different stimuli
Features of habituation
It is a function of number of repetitions
effects fade with time
occurs more rapidly if it occurs to same stimulus on multiple occasions
spacing of repetitions is important
Spontaneous recovery
Idea that the effects of habituation fade away as a result of the passage of time
sensitization
increase in response to a stimulus as a result of repetition
reflects the overall state of arousal in the nervous system
tends to occur more with strong stimuli
Thompson et al
Associated with dual-process theory of habituation and sensitization
Thompson et al’s dual process theory
Found that response to a stimulus depends on two different sets of neurons
H neurons: most directly involved in reflect arc and habituate to repeated stimulation
S neurons: more central, reflect general state of arousal in organism and likely to enhance responsiveness
Implications of dual-process theory
habituation and sensitization are not opposites but are based on different levels of the nervous system
Sensitization is less stimulus-specific than habituation
Processes are independent and may both operate, and behavior will reflect both systems
Why does habituation occur
reduction or elimination of inappropriate response to a weak stimulus
Why does sensitization occur
increase of general responsiveness in an important environment, usually dealing with a strong or particularly stressful stimulus
Opponent-process theory of acquired motivation
Theory that presents idea that all organisms are oriented to homeostasis; when experience a strong reaction A, they then experience a counter-reaction B
As a result of repetition, A habituates, but B sensitizes
Applications of opponent-process theory
Romantic passion
Skydiving
Drug tolerance and addiction
Who developed the opponent-process theory
Solomon, in 1980
Hedonic treadmill
Emotional systems adapt to life circumstances, returning us to our emotional set-point
Life experiences have only a temporary effect on our level of happiness
Perceptual learning
Once we have learned how to perceive or identify a stimulus, it is easier to learn other things about it
Experience with stimulus leads to improvement in task performance
Who developed the cognitive theory of habituation
Wagner (1976)
Cognitive theory of habituation
theory that habituation could reflect either short-term or long-term memory
Stimulus more likely to be recognized if short-term
Classical conditioning
Using a conditioned stimulus to program a response
Unconditioned stimulus
Food
Unconditioned response
salivation to food
Conditioned stimulus
tone
conditioned response
salivation to tone
Extinction
when conditioned stimulus comes but not expected consequences, behavior for conditioned response slowly stops being conditioned
Consciousness may be sufficient for extinction, but it is not necessary
preparedness
number of learning experiences that must occur before behavior change is reliable
conditioned taste aversion
only takes one illness to avoid food as a response
one-trial learning
Tends to only be certain aspects of senses
second order conditioning
stimulus that was previously neutral (e.g., a light) is paired with a conditioned stimulus (e.g., a tone that has been conditioning with food to produce salivating - this is the “first” order) to produce the same conditioned response as the conditioned stimulus.
Sensory preconditioning
learning of an association between two stimuli. S1 and S2 presented together, then only S2, with an unconditioned stimulus. It becomes a conditioned stimulus, then present S1 by itself and may elicit conditioned response due to association
overshadowing
a stronger or more salient stimulus may be learned at the expense of a weaker one
Blocking
Will not respond to a second stimulus that is unconditioned if it is presented with a stimulus that is already conditioned.
Unblocking
Increasing the result when having two stimuli will cause conditioning for second stimulus too
who came up with theory of classical conditioning
Rescorla and Wagner
What is the theory of classical conditioning
Every unconditioned stimulus is limited in associative strength, and it is possible that conditioned responses can compete with each other for that associative strength
delta V = f(lambda - V) -> change in associative strength of all conditioned stimuli = coding a particular US will support - associative strength of all CS
Importance of classical conditioning theory
formed the way we think about classical conditioning
Successes of the rescorla-wagner theory
shape of learning curve: learning slows as V approaches lambda
Extinction and inhibitory conditioning occur when delta V is a negative number
For blocking, after CS1-US conditioning, V already near Lambda
over-expectation effect
presenting two stimuli conditioned for a response together with lead to a greater response, but animal will become conditioned to respond less over time if it does not receive twice the result
Positive patterning
presenting simultaneous compound stimuli that are paired with reinforcement while withholding reinforcement when a single stimulus is presented.
produces an increase in responding to the compound stimuli and a decrease in responding to a single stimulus.
Negative patterning
However, the simultaneous compound stimuli are not paired with reinforcement while the stimuli presented individually are paired with reinforcement.
decreases responding to the compound stimuli and increases responding to the stimuli presented individually.
Perruchet effect
subjects’ conscious expectations may differ from physiological response
causal learning
learn associations between events, that one eent causes the other
Evaluative conditioning
a conditioned stimulus coincides with some desirable or undesirable object, the unconditioned stimulus. Over time, stimuli that often coincide with desirable objects are perceived more favorably, whereas stimuli that often coincide with undesirable objects are perceived less favorably
Coolidge effect
The reinitiation of sexual behaviour in a sexually satiated animal, in response to a novel receptive mate
Conditioned emotional response
emotional response that results from classical conditioning, usually from the association of a relatively neutral stimulus with a painful or fear-inducing experience.
Summation test of conditioned inhibition
stimuli that are conditioned separately are then combined in a compound. The procedure can identify a stimulus as a conditioned inhibitor if it suppresses responding evoked by the other stimulus
Retardation of acquisition test of conditioned inhibiton
stimulus as a conditioned inhibitor if, when paired with a stimulus that gets a conditioned response, achievement of response is slowed.
