Instinct, Learning & Motivation Flashcards
Define Imprinting.(1)
A process where hatchlings bond to their mother at first sight and then follow her everywhere.
What is the difference between conspec and conlearn?(1)
A system that orients the infant towards
Face-like structure and is supported by mature subcritical brain mechanisms present at birth whilst conlearn is a system largely supported by maturing cortical brain mechanisms that learns about specific faces.
Why did Behaviourists reject the concept of instinct?(2)
1) saw instinct as internal conscious which behaviourists discarded as said external stimuli were the best measure
2) saw all complex behaviour as learnt therefore innate tendencies were seen as less important to investigate
What is the universality hypothesis? Which expressions are involved?(1,6)
That everyone understands the facial expressions
Fear, happiness, disgust, surprise, sadness, anger
Evidence also found recently for amusement, guilt & embarrassment.
Difference between symbols and signs in expression.(2)
Symbols have no causality link eg English word for cat is cat whereas is gatto in Italian ie is a symbol for a thing not a cause of the thing
Alternatively facial expressions are signs as they are a direct cause of given emotion eg smiling is a sign of happiness which caused the contraction of the zygomatic major muscle.
Define the facial feedback hypothesis.(1)
Emotional expressions can cause the emotional experiences they signify.
What are beliefs for the facial feedback hypothesis?(2)
1) such strong association that elicits the emotion
2) contraction of the muscles change brain temp hence elicit a specific emotion.
What are display rules and what are they?(1, 4)
Social norms that control emotional expression:
Intensification eg being more surprised than you are
Deintensification eg muted response
Masking eg displaying one emotion whilst feeling another
Neutralising eg feeling an emotion but displaying no expression.
What are the features which help determine whether an expression is genuine or as a result of display rules?(4)
Morphology-some muscles resist conscious control eg reliable muscles for example zygomatic major occurs for fake or real smiles but the obicularis oculi (responsible for eye crinkling) is genuine
Symmetry-genuine expressions are more symmetric whilst insincere tend to be more asymmetric
Duration-Sincere expressions tend to last half a second to five whilst those shorter or longer tend to be more insincere
Temporal patterning-sincere expressions appear and disappear smoothly over a few seconds whilst insincere tend to have more abrupt onset and offsets.
What is acquisition in the case of classical conditioning?(1)
The phase where both the unconditioned stimulus (natural stimulus to unconditioned response) and the conditioned stimulus (unnatural stimulus to unconditioned response) are presented at the same time.
What is second order conditioning?(1)
Conditioning where the new US is a previous CS and as such can produce learning of a new CS for the same CR/UR.
What is spontaneous recovery?(5)
Following extinction of a CR ie cessation of US with CS resulting in extinction of CR,
If a short rest period occurs and then just presents the CS there is what is known as a spontaneous recovery:
As shown with pavlovs dogs there was an increase in saliva again hence it seems there is still some CR
following extinction,
notably it is not as large as when the both were presented or just following and gradually decreased
Also shown that there is a second spontaneous recovery which occurs and has a lower CR rate that the first but still occurs.
