Learning Flashcards
What are the three things you need sensation to do
Find food
Detect predators
Find suitable mates
What are the three things you need to perform actions to do
Obtain food
Escape from predators
Attract suitable mates
What is innate behavior
Sensory input leads to a fixed action pattern/motor program
What is learning behavior
Sensory input leads to changing actions
Explain innate behavior in a second way
A behavior that once triggered will progress in a specific manner
Are innate behaviors modifiable?
No
What are stimuli/sensory inputs that trigger innate behaviors called?
Releasers or sign stimuli
What are two animals that practice innate behavior?
Male stickleback and Graylag goose
Describe the male stickleback’s mating behavior
During mating season, their ventrum turns red and they establish a territory to build a nest. Once a female spots a male near a nest, she follows any red object into the nest and lays eggs. Males attack any crude model with a red bottom
What is the releaser in the situation of the stickleback mating
A red object
What is the fixed action pattern in the situation of the stickleback
The male attacking a crude model with a red bottom
Describe the graylag goose’s innate behavior
If an egg becomes displaced from the nest, the goose rolls it back with its beak. It will continue even if the egg is removed and replaced with an egg shaped object
What is the releaser in the situation of the graylag goose
Egg shaped objects
What are supernormal stimuli
Objects with extreme and unnatural features that release an innate behavior
What features are preferred in animals (in the context of supernormal simuli)
More extreme features
What is code breaking
The term used to describe the duplication of another species’ releasing mechanisms. Usually dont by other species in order to take advantage of the fixed action patterns of the other species.
What three questions should be asked about any learning phenomenon?
What conditions bring about learning?
What is the content that is learned?
How does learning change behavior?
What are two other terms for classical conditioning
Pavlovian or respondent conditioning
What is classical conditioning
A learning procedure in which a biologically potent stimulus is paired with a previously neutral stimulus
What is the result of classical conditioning
Behavioral changes made by building a predictive relationship between the conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus
What is an unconditioned stimulus (US)
Releasers that cause unconditioned response
What is an unconditioned response (UR)
Fixed action patter in response to US
What is a conditioned stimulus (CS)
A secondary stimulus which creates a response conditioned on learning
What is a conditioned response (CR)
Response when presented with CS
What is an example of classical conditioning in leopard frogs
They blink in response to a touch to the eye but not a light touch on the nostril. After several pairings of a nostril touch followed by an eye touch, the frogs blink to the light touch on the nostril
What is an example of classical conditioning in lemon sharks
They have learned to blink to a light that heralds a mild electric shock close to the eye. The shock causes them to blink, and after a little training they blink to the light
What are the two conditions for classical conditioning
Contiguity and contingency
Describe contiguity in classical conditioning
CS and US have to be close together in time in space
What does the time frame for classical conditioning depend on
The task and the species
Describe contingency in classical conditioning
There must be a regular predictive relationship between the CS and US (US consistenly follows CS)
Who shoed that contingency, not just contiguity forms the basis of learning
Rescorla (1969)
How did Rescorla show that contingency, not just contiguity forms the basis of learning
What is blocking
Prior associations can block a second association between stimulus and outcome
Who proved blocking
Kamin (1968)
How did Kamin prove blocking
What is overshadowing
Reduced associative strength when individual stimulus is presented after learning on compound stimulus… the individual stimulus is overshadowed by a more relevant or salient stimulus
What causes extinction in classical conditioning
Removing US pairing with CS
What is the Rescorla Wagner Model
Mathematical description of predicted associative strength (conditioning between stimulus and US)
Describe the Rescorla Wagner Model
Describe temporal difference learning
Animals can learn to associate cues that are temporally separated in a transitive manner.
What can temporal difference learning be used for
Long term planning
Give an example of temporal difference learning
Shine light and play music.
Play music and give treat.
Shine light, dog drools
What is the thorndike law of effect
Responses that produce a satisfying effect in a particular situation become more likely to occur again in that situation, and responses that produce a discomforting effect become less likely to occur again in that situation
What does the thorndike law of effect describe
Operant conditioning
What is operant conditioning
A type of associative learning process through which the strength of a behavior is modified by reinforcement or punishment
What is another term for operant conditioning
Instrumental conditioning
What is one way testing operant conditioning is usually done in rats and similar animals
In an operant chamber where the rat receives food reward for performing appropriate reactions
What is a second way testing operant conditioning is usually done in rats and similar animals
Mazes where the rat needs to explore and learn to go to a particular part of the maze to ger a reward
What is positive/negative reinforcement in operant conditioning?
Taking action leads to increase/decrease in reward
What is positive/negative punishment in operant conditioning
Taking action leads to increase/decrease in punishment
What is shaping and what type of reinforcement is it
Increasing a targeted behavior through reinforcement in a process of successive approximation
Positive reinforcement
What did Garcia and Koelling (1964) show
Association between Rats have biases in aversion learning
What bias do rats have in aversion learning
Association between taste and following nausea can be learnt even if separated by hours. This is not true for light followed by shocks, as this association requires short separation
What is an example of innately guided learning
Imprinting (form of innate bias)
What is an animal that performs imprinting
Chicks
How does imprinting work with chicks
They learn to recognize their mother hours after hatching and follow her outside ofthe nest. They imprint on the mother’s visual form, waddling motion, and voice.
How long after hatching to chicks imprint best
16 hours
What happens to chicks that do not imprint by 30 hours
They never imprint
What happens once chicks imprint
They never change mothers
What happens if a chick cannot imprint on its mother
it will imprint on another animal
What happens if there is no animal around for a chick to imprint on
It will imprint on an inanimate object
What are the neural correlates of learning
What do animals need to act on to perform desired behavior
Their sensory obervations
What does classical conditioning study
How stimulus-reward associations are learnt
What does operant conditioning study
How action-reward associations are learnt
What is the association between innate behavior and learned behavior
Innate behavior can interact with learned behavior to produce different actions
