Learning and Habituation Flashcards
What is innate (species-characteristic) behaviour?
A collection of responses producing behaviour seen in every member of a particular species - not learned.
What is learned (individual-characteristic behaviour)?
Behaviour which is learned by an individual as a result of an experience. An individual learns from experience and modifies their behaviour accordingly.
What are the two types of behaviour?
Innate and learned.
How are innate behaviours determined?
It is genetically determined responses to a particular stimulus, and it occurs as specific nerve pathways are laid down in the embryo from the instructions of the DNA.
What are some examples of innate behaviours?
Covers a large range from simple avoidance reflexes to highly complex courtship and territorial displays.
Which is more dominant in the development of the neural pathways of innate behaviours in the brain, nature or nurture?
Nature is completely dominant.
Why are innate behaviours particularly frequent in short-lived, non-vertebrates?
They don’t have the time to learn by trial and error if they’re to successfully complete their life cycles.
Why are innate behaviours important for humans?
Adults have a ready-made set of responses to a given situation leaves the higher areas of the brain free for more complex learned behaviour.
What is the ease of learning partly down to?
Nature ie genetics
What is habituation?
Learning to ignore a stimulus and make no response when the stimulus is repeated many times with no apparent reward or punishment (reinforcement) associated with it.
What is the consequence of habituation?
Once a response is habituated or lost it doesn’t return unless the animal is specifically sensitised.
What is a conditioned reflex?
It’s when a particular stimulus becomes associated with an existing reflex.
What is operant learning?
Learning which occurs when a piece of behaviour is either rewarded or punished and becomes more or less frequent as a result.
What is imprinting?
It occurs in very young animals. At one receptive stage the young animal identifies with another organism, which is usually the parent or, if no parent is available, another large object. It will then follow this object and relate to other similar objects throughout its life.
What is exploratory (latent) learning?
Learning which takes place when an individual explores new surroundings or experiences and learns about them without immediate punishment or reward.
What is insight learning?
Learning based on thought and reasoning which is often involves problem solving. Once a problem has been solved, the solution is remembered.
What experiment can be conducted on sea slugs to investigate habituation?
Stimulate the siphon of the sea slug with a jet of water which causes the gills to withdraw. After several minutes of repeated stimulation of the siphon, the gill no longer withdraws.
How is habituation achieved?
With repeated stimulation, Ca2+ channels become less responsive so less Ca2+ crosses the presynaptic membrane. So less neurotransmitter is released so there is less depolarisation of the post synaptic membrane so no action potential is triggered in the motor neurone.
