Learning Flashcards
What two categories is behaviour split into?
1) Innate behaviour
2) Learned behaviour
What determines innate behaviour?
Genes
What is innate behaviour?
Behaviors that are closely controlled by genes with little or no environmental influence, can be performed by all of same species in response to a cue without prior experience
Why are innate behaviours important?
Increase survivability
What would happen to an individual who poorly performs innate behaviors?
It would be less likely to survive or reproduce.
What is an instinct and give an example
An instinct is the ability of an animal to perform a behavior the first time it is exposed to the proper stimulus.
For example, a dog will drool the first time—and every time—it is exposed to food.
What is an instinct and give an example
An instinct is the ability of an animal to perform a behavior the first time it is exposed to the proper stimulus.
For example, a dog will drool the first time—and every time—it is exposed to food.
Fixed Action Pattern
Innate behaviours are less common in species with higher levels of intelligence. True or False?
True, Humans are the most intelligent species, and they have very few innate behaviors.
What is a reflex and give 2 examples
Reflex - involuntary and rapid response to a stimulus, or cue, involve Single Muscles
- sucking reflex - newborns instinctively suck on a nipple that is placed in their mouth.
- When light acts as a stimulus, the pupil of the eye changes in size.
Why did the sucking reflex in babies evolve?
It increases the chances of a baby feeding and surviving
List different types of innate behaviours
reflex, taxis, kinesis, instinctive
What is a taxes and give an example?
a response to a stimulus resulting in movement of entire skeletal musculature towards or away from the stimulus phototaxis - earthworms move towards dark place
geotaxis - earthworms move deeper in soil
Why is Innate behaviour in many individuals of the same species
Passed on by genes
When is a taxis negative?
A taxis is negative if the organism moves away from the stimulus.
Give examples of stimuli for taxis and kinesis in animals
light, temperature, water, food, certain chemicals, gravity, and other things in the enviornment around that animal
What is kinesis and give an example
undirected movement in response to a stimulus
What is the difference between taxis and kinesis?
Taxis is more direct, kinesis is undirect
Name two types of kinesis
Orthokinesis -speed
Klinokinesis - turning
What is klinokinesis and give an example and advantage
klinokinesis - an increase in turning behaviors.
-E. coli which, in association with orthokinesis, helps the organisms randomly find a more hospitable environment.
Is hibernation innate?
Yes, it is not learned after birth. Animals that hibernate are born with an internal sense, or instinct, that tells them when they need to hibernate. This same instinct also awakens them at the proper time.
Is eating a learned behavior?
Since it is coded in your DNA, you don’t have to learn it. You might refer to innate behavior as instinct.
What is fixed action pattern?
series of movements elicited by a stimulus such that even when the stimulus is removed, the pattern goes on to completion (innate)
Give an example of fixed action pattern
three-spined stickleback - Males of this species develop a red belly during breeding season and show instinctual aggressiveness to other males during this time. In laboratory experiments, researchers exposed such fish to objects that in no way resemble a fish in their shape, but which were painted red on their lower halves. The male sticklebacks responded aggressively to the objects just as if they were real male sticklebacks.
What are the advantages of innate behaviour?
- speed
- immediate effect even when young
- defense against deadly things (react quickly to danger without thinking)
- when no-one to teach you
- building blocks of complex behaviours
What are the advantages of innate behaviour?
- speed
- Increases chances of survival
- Frees up brain so that we can sore more conscious info
- defense against deadly things (react quickly to danger without thinking)
- when no-one to teach you
- building blocks of complex behaviours
What are the disadvantages of innate behaviour
Cannot be modified to suit circumstances.
Examples: Most aggressive or submissive postures and movements; courtship and mate-attracting behaviors (songs, etc.), nest-building behaviors in many species, web-weaving in spiders, territoriality.
What is a behaviour?
organism interacts with other organisms and it’s environment
What can cause a change in Innate behaviour over time in individuals of the same species?
1) Variation due to genes coding for innate behaviour are mutated
2) Selection pressure - change in env (stimuli) would affect type of innate behaviour shown
Those with mutated allele= advantage, passing on mutated, beneficial allele - leads to change in innate behaviour -to maximise chances of survival
Why do animals with hugely developed brains show conscious behaviour as well as unconscious e.g. innate?
1) Animals have brains
2) Which are hugely developed
3) Lots of innate, unconscious behaviour means space in brain is free
4) This free space can be used to display conscious behaviour
What is learned behaviour?
experience during life, using a variety of mechanisms e.g. which foods to eat
What are the advantages of learned behaviour?
- can be varied to suit local circumstance
- can become more complex than instincts.
What are the disadvantages of learned behaviour?
- slow processing
- learning (and mistakes) must take place first
- youthful inexperience is a price.
- the amount of possible learning is limited by neural complexity.
How do animals learn? (4 types)
Habituation
Associative Learning
Instrumental Learning
Cognitive reasoning
What is habituation and give an example
the decrease in innate response to a stimulus after repeated exposure to a frequently repeated stimulus
- hear a loud banging noise from your neighbor’s yard. Unusual sound immediately draws your attention, and you wonder what is going on or what might be making the noise. Over the next few days, the banging noise continues at a regular and constant pace. Eventually, you just tune out the noise
What are the advantages of habituation
Habituation is important in filtering the large amounts of information received from the surrounding environment. By habituating to less important signals, an animal can focus its attention on the most important features of its environment
What is a disadvantage of habituation
Once you become habituated to seeing an object, it will no longer drive you to perform a task. Ironically, the more you believe in the need for visual prompts, the less effective these reminders are likely to be.
What is Dishabituation
Dishabituation is when a stimulus to which we’ve become habituated changes, and we start reacting to it again
(brother with smelly socks - When he goes out to the kitchen, and returns, he can smell them again.)
Which is quicker, habituation or rehabituation?
Rehabituation is quicker than habituation.
What is rehabituation
After leave room, come back dishabituation and then it comes back
What is associative learning?
learning through the relationship between two stimuli or a response and a stimulus.
What are the two types of associative learning?
classical conditioning (Pavlovian) operant/instrumental conditioning (Skinner)
What is classical conditioning and give an example
learning of an association between a stimulus and an outcome.
Example : Pavlov’s experiment
- Offered dog a stimulus it knew, meat.
- Rang a bell before giving the dog the meat
- Measured how much the dog salivated.
- Dog soon started salivating on hearing the bell, even if meat not visible.
- It had formed an association between the bell and the meat arriving.
The Russian physiologist (person who studies the workings of the body) who discovered classical conditioning through his work on digestion in dogs was..
Ivan Pavlov
_________________ _________________ is learning that makes a reflex response to a stimulus other than the original, natural stimulus that normally produces the reflex.
Classical conditioning
What was the unconditioned stimulus in pavlov’s experiment?
unconditionally, naturally, and automatically triggers a response
meat (what the dog already knows about)
_________________ ________________________ a naturally occurring stimulus that leads to an involuntary response.
Unconditioned Stimulus
What was the conditioned stimulus in pavlov’s experiment?
a previously neutral stimulus that, after becoming associated with the unconditioned stimulus, eventually comes to trigger a conditioned response
bell
(what the dog must learn)
A stimulus that becomes able to produce a learned reflex response by being paired with the original unconditioned stimulus is called a
Conditioned Stimulus
What is a neutral stimulus?
Neutral Stimulus
a stimulus which initially produces no specific response other than focusing attention.
What is a conditioned response?
a behavior that does not come naturally, but must be learned by the individual by pairing a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus.
drooling in response to the bell
What is a reinforcer?
the reward which makes the dog respond next time (getting to eat the meat).
A ____________________ is any event or object that, when following a response, increases the likelihood of that response occurring again.
Reinforcer
What are the 3 types of reinforcers and give examples?
- primary (unconditioned) = inherently reinforcing (e.g. food)
- secondary (conditioned) = become reinforcing (e.g. money)
- social = consequences of behaviour (e.g. smiling etc)
Conditioned reinforcers gain their reinforcement value though their association with ____________ reinforcers
Primary
What is positive reinforcement?
The reinforcement of a response by the addition or experiencing of a pleasurable stimulus
What is negative reinforcement?
The reinforcement of a response by the removal, escape from, or avoidance of an unpleasant stimulus
The strength and speed of learning is altered by what?
1) Intensity of unconditioned stimulus
2) Intensity of conditioned stimulus
3) Speed with which the reinforcer follows the conditioned stimulus (= contingency)
4) Novelty of the situation.
If the conditioned stimulus has previously been learned to be irrelevant, it is much harder to learn to associate it with a meaning now.
What is contingency?
Contingency is the relationship between two events, one being “contingent” or a consequence of the other event.
conditioned stimulus reliably predicts unconditioned stimulus - conditioned stimulus is ___________ on unconditioned stimulus
contingent
What is instrumental/operant learning and give examples
learning of an association between an action and an outcome.
occurs because it was previously instrumental in producing a certain consequence
Appears Goal-Directed
- some cases
- habitual in others
ex.
- training teaches animal to associate a behaviour by the animal (CR) with a reward (= reinforcer).
- studying has improved test performance
- working at a job has earned money
- throwing a switch activates a light
- learning skills and procedures
- development of behavior
Any behaviour that is voluntary is called an
Operant
The use of operant conditioning techniques to bring about desired changes in behaviour is called _________________________ _______________________.
Behaviour Modification
What is Thorndikes Box?
The puzzle box is the laboratory device that E. L. Thorndike invented in order to study instrumental or operant conditioning in cats
Trapped his cat in the box, which had a treadle to open the door.
Waited until the cat escaped by luckily standing on treadle (= trial and error).
Repeated test, and cat gradually learned to get out faster. i.e. cat learned to associate the right behaviour with a reward: release, = instrumental learning.
What is Skinner’s theory?
he developed the theory of operant conditioning
skinner claimed he could train any animal to do any act using instrumental learning (he called it operant conditioning).
What is Thorndike’s theory
Law of Effect -
Consequences of a behavior can increase or decrease the future probability of that behavior
- response in the presence of a stimulus is followed by a satisfying event, the association between the stimulus and the response is strengthened
-response is followed by an annoying event, the S-R association is weakened
-strength of the S-R association determines the probability of the response in the presence of the stimulus
What is Skinner’s theory
Reinforcing Stimulus/Reinforcing Concepts
- Behaviour that is positively reinforced will reoccur; intermittent reinforcement is particularly effective
- Information should be presented in small amounts so that responses can be reinforced (“shaping”)
- Reinforcements will generalize across similar stimuli (“stimulus generalization”) producing secondary conditioning
What is Skinner’s box?
- also known an operant conditioning chamber, is an enclosed apparatus that contains a bar or key that an animal can press or manipulate in order to obtain food or water as a type of reinforcement
- had a device that recorded each response provided by the animal as well as the unique schedule of reinforcement that the animal was assigned.
- Skinner was inspired to create his operant conditioning chamber as an extension of the puzzle boxes that Edward Thorndike famously used in his research on the law of effect.
Why couldn’t the pig pick up coin and put it into a piggybank? Pig simply rooted coin, never picked it up.
Can only “shape” existing behaviours, cannot create new ones.
What was the purpose of the skinner box?
When the lever is pressed, food, water, or some other type of reinforcement might be dispensed. Other stimuli can also be presented including lights, sounds, and images.
study behavior in a very controlled environment. For example, researchers could utilize the Skinner box to determine which schedule of reinforcement led to the highest rate of response in the study subjects.
Give a use of the skinner box
- determine which schedule of reinforcement will lead to the highest response rates.
-Pigeons in the operant conditioning chambers and receive a food pellet for pecking at a response key. - Some pigeons receive a pellet for every response (continuous reinforcement) while others obtain a pellet only after a certain amount of time or number of responses have occurred (partial reinforcement).
In the partial reinforcement schedules, some pigeons receive a pellet after they peck at the key five times. This is known as a fixed-ratio schedule. Pigeons in another group receive reinforcement after a random number of responses, which is known as a variable-interval schedule. Still, more pigeons are given a pellet after a 10 minute period has elapsed. This is called a fixed-interval schedule. In the final group, pigeons are given reinforcement at random intervals of time, which is known as a variable-interval schedule.
Once the data has been obtained from the trials in the Skinner boxes, researchers can then look at the rate of responding and determine which schedules lead to the highest and most consistent level of responses.
The strength of the ________ __________ determines the probability of the resposne in the presence of the stimulus
S-R association
Outcome(reinforcer) is not part of the association that is learned. In Thorndike’s framework, it merely strengthens or weakens the S-R association(True/False)?
True
What is continuous reinforcement ?
when a behavior is reinforced every time it occurs
What is partial reinforcement?
when a behavior is reinforced only some times
In the partial reinforcement schedules in skinner’s box, some pigeons receive a pellet after they peck at the key five times. What is this known as?
Fixed-ratio schedule
What is fixed ratio scheduele?
fixed-ratio schedule is a schedule of reinforcement where a response is reinforced only after a specified number of responses
Pigeons in another group receive reinforcement after a random number of responses in skinner’s box, what is this known as?
variable-interval schedule.
What is variable-interval schedule?
type of operant conditioning reinforcement schedule in which reinforcement is given to a response after specific amount of time has passed (an unpredictable amount of time), but this amount of time is on a changing/variable schedule.
What is Cognitive reasoning or Insight learning?
thinking out the problem rather than using trial and error
Only seriously proposed for apes and humans, and possibly dolphins, parrots and crow
What is the theory of mind?
an attempt to look at how the animal perceives the problem rather than just the behavioural outcome of it.
What was the Clever Hans and van Oosten 1907?
Horse (hans) claimed to add, subtract, multiply and divide accurately. Clopped out the answer with his foot when shown sum.
Politician, circus trainer, vets etc formed the “Hans Commission” to detect fraud. None found.
Oskar Pfungst, a PhD student investigated and found horse only got sums right if questioner knew the answer.
Horse learned to use unintentional cues by questioner to tell him when to stop clopping. - Hans was able to read minute details in the face of the questioner to come to a correct answer within milliseconds. he’d begin to notice a change on your facial or body expression, then stop at four
What is the Clever Hans effect
It is used in psychology to describe when an animal or a person senses what someone wants them to do, even although they are not deliberately being given signals. It is important to take this effect into account when testing animals’ intelligence or human intelligence.
What was the significance of the findings of the Clever Hans case?
Pointed out possibility that observers often have specific expectations or biases that may cause them to telegraph unintentional signals to a participant being studied
Double Blind tests needed with animals!
If learning’s so great, why don’t we all do it more?
Cost of learning - brain
Brains are expensive to run.
Our brain = 2% of body weight but uses 20% of our energy
Do you need a big brain to learn?
Marsh Wren from American East and West coasts learn different numbers of songs
East coast – 40 songs learned
West coast – 100 songs learned
West coast brains 25% larger
So larger brains correlated with more learning.
The results of the experiments on black capped chickadee and marsh tits, and prarie voles on hippocampus size proved what?
Greater need for learning is associated with larger hippocampus area of brain.
When this is not needed, it reduces in size, and grows again when needed.
Strongly suggests there’s a big cost to having unused brain.
Brain must be expensive to run if it’s cheaper to regrow it.
So learning isn’t cheap!
Why did the hippocampus in the non-storing birds shrink?
Because it was too costly to run if it wasn’t being used for anything vital
Used black capped chickadee and marsh tits, both of which store food, so need good spatial learning
Allowed experienced birds to store food in one of three times during their life. Controls never got to store food.
What was the result of the experiment?
Hippocampus volume measured in all birds.
Storing made hippocampus grow, not storing made it shrink!
Meadow vole males have far greater need of spatial learning than female meadow voles. However, Neither sex of prairie voles has bigger territory. Experiments Tested the spatial abilities of males and females prarie voles of each species in a maze. What were the results?
- Male meadow voles consistently better during breeding season and bigger hippocampus.
- In winter, all get small territories.
- Male meadow voles lost their spatial abilities and their larger hippocampus in Winter.
