Lecture 4

Question 1

Learning

Answer 1

Learning is a process that allows animals to modify their behaviour on the basis of experience
‘Change in cognitive state due to experience’

Question 2

3 dimensions of learning

Answer 2

1. What are the conditions needed to learn?
2. What is learned?
3. What are the effects of learning?

Question 3

Dimension 1: what are the conditions needed to learn?

Answer 3

What age, sex, species or past experience is necessary?
Context is important - learning the skill must be ecologically relevant
Early life effects are often overlooked

Question 4

Dimension 2: What is learned?

Answer 4

Experience can change the strength of the association between stimuli and response
What is learned depends on to what extent there is an innate ‘template’

Question 5

Dimension 3: what are the effects of learning?

Answer 5

• What behaviour will occur as a result of learning?
• Is information used immediately or later?
• Does information alter a whole behavioural strategy to just a single behaviour?

Question 6

Describe classical conditioning

Answer 6

Unconscious/instinctive learning, associative, predictive
Pair an unconditioned stimulus with a conditioned stimulus that gives a conditioned response
After repeated exposure, the unconditioned stimulus should also lead to the conditioned response
E.g. dogs learning to salivate when a bell rings, expecting food

Question 7

What is blocking?

Answer 7

When a conditioned stimulus is so closely associated with an unconditioned stimulus + response that no other CS can become associated with it

Question 8

Rescorla-Wagner model

Answer 8

V = associative strength between a conditioned stimulus and an unconditioned response
/\ = maximum associative strength possible
🔼 = change in associative strength during trial
Shows that more trials leads to more accurate decision making

Question 9

‘Extinction’ of learning

Answer 9

Learned associations can be lost if associative strength is weakened due to a lack of reinforcement in trials
Predicted by Rescoria-Wagner model
However it is quicker to relearn associations than to learn them de novo

Question 10

Simultaneous associative learning

Answer 10

Bees can learn two contrasting associations simultaneously

Different molecular pathways: aversive (electric shock - dopamine) and appetitive (sugar - octopamine)

Question 11

Molecular mechanisms behind universal pavlovian conditioning

Answer 11

Classical conditioning is phylogenetically widespread
Neurobiological and molecular mechanisms for conditioning across species are contrasting - example of convergent evolution

Question 12

What type of plasticity is learning?

Answer 12

Phenotypic plasticity - change in phenotype due to the environment
Allows animals to adjust their foraging behaviour, predator avoidance and social behaviour

Question 13

Evolution of learning

Answer 13

• Acting on learnt material is a form of phenotypic plasticity, and the ability to be plastic is under selection
• Depends on temporal stability of environment
• Stable unchanging environment: inmate behavioural strategies, learning will introduce errors
• Medium stability environment: changes across generations but stable within generations, will favour learning
• Unstable changing environment: no point learning