Learning & Motivation Flashcards
Stimulus
A detectable change in the internal or external environment
Can be neutral, appetitive, aversive
Appetitive Stimulus
Attracts subject
Aversive Stimulus
Repels subject
Response
Quantifiable reaction to a stimulus
Behaviour
Set of responses of an organisms, usually in reaction to a stimuli
2 types= learned and instinctual
Instinctual Behaviour
Genetically programmed behaviours that occurs when circumstances are appropriate and require no learning
Learned Behaviour
Behaviours adapted to environment, relatively flexible and open to modifications
Psychological Instinct Theory
Developed by William James
Influenced by natural selection
System of instincts that could be overridden by experience and by other instincts (many instincts conflict with each other)
Instincts are motivators of behaviour (not behaviour itself)
Instincts are impulses coming from within organism that lead to the initiation of behaviour
William James
1842-1910
Philosopher and psychologist
Also known as the “Father of American Psychology”
Developed Psychological Instinct Theory
Biological Instinct Theory
Also known as ethology
Developed by Kondrad Lorenz & Niko Tinbergen
Instincts are behaviours that exists because they have or had survival value
Instincts are controlled by genes, therefore not learned (but differ in degree of sensitivity due to changes in environment)
All behaviours need a stimulus and energy
Appetitive instincts
Early components of a behaviour sequence
Searching behaviours that are flexible, adapted to environment, and subject to modification through learning
Bring organism in contact with stimuli that will release consummatory behaviour
i.e. male chasing female, looking for food (many ways to do it)
Consummatory Instincts/ Fixed Action patterns
End components of a behaviour sequence
Fixed patterns of responding to specific stimuli
Rigid behaviours, insensitive to environment, highly stereotyped and independent from learning
Can continue if you remove the stimulus
i.e. rats mating- act of copulating, chewing (only one way to do it)
Sign (Key) Stimuli
Stimulus is an object
i.e. Roll egg out of nest, bird goes to retrieve the egg (fixed action pattern), only occurs when you roll something that looks like an egg out of the nest (will go after the biggest “egg” even if it isn’t their egg)
ie. Dog sees deer, demonstrates hunting/stalking behaviour
Social Releasers
See someone or see them doing something is the stimulus (not an object)
i.e. yawning- see someone else yawn, you yawn too
Drive
Motivational construct associated with maintenance of the homeostatic balance of an organism
General pool of energy that can activate innate and learned behaviours
Several sources of drive, but drive itself is nonspecific and non directive
Process of Drive
Disturbance of homeostasis–> need
Need induced motivational state-> drive
Drive energizes behaviours to reduce need
Reduction of need reduces drive
Drive Theory
Introduced by Clark Leonard Hull
Mechanistic and based on homeostatic drive reduction
Stimulus response associations (habits) become stronger as a function of how often they are followed by satisfying events
Reduction of a drive is satisfying
SR association will be repeated if they are effective at reducing drive
Stimulus Response associations
Habits
Hull’s Model
sER= sHR x D
sEr- strength of behaviour
sHR- strength of learned response
D- strength of drive
Incentive Motivation
Hull modified his model- characteristics of the goal object influence the motivation of the organism
sEr= sHr x D x K
K- incentive value of the goal object (i.e. cheese or pellets)
Incentive Learning
Value of K is learned
Incentive Relativity/ Central Motive State
Value of K is relative
Yerkes- Dodson Law
Optimal level of motivation
Inverse relationship between task difficulty and optimum motivation
(simple problems, increasing motivation enhances learning, difficult problems, high motivation imparts learning)
Latent Learning
Developed by Edward Tolman
Learning can occur in the absence of drive reduction, but remain unused until a stimulus provides incentive for using it
i.e. send rat in maze (no food or other incentive. Take rat out. Couple days later, put rat in one corner with a piece of cheese. Remove rat and place in opposite corner. Rat goes through maze and goes to get cheese even though it wasn’t taught to get to the cheese by going through the maze. Therefore, learning took place without drive reduction (no cheese) until it later need it (when the cheese was present)
