lecture 6 - learning

Question 1

define learning

Answer 1

process that leads to adaptive changes in behavior as result of experience

Question 2

true or false: the ability to learn is not genetically encoded

Answer 2

false

Question 3

what are the differences in imprinting and learning

Answer 3

imprinting is irreversible and happens within in a short time frame (restricted to the sensitive period)

learning is reversible and has no such sensitive period

Question 4

what did tinbergen learn about differ wasps and nests

Answer 4

digger wasps use landmarks of a specific shape (arrangement of landmark) rather than type of landmark to find nest entereances

Question 5

what did sheehan and tibbets learn about paper wasps

Answer 5

wasps are able to recognize faces but they must be intact. they are unable to learn geometric patterns

Question 6

what is single stimulus learning

Answer 6

when they learn to do stuff by a single stimulus, this is the simplest experience that can lead to learning

Question 7

what is sensitization

Answer 7

period of high responsiveness following arousal by rewarding or punishing expereinces

Question 8

what is habituation

Answer 8

reduction in responses over time (can be problem in experiments)

Question 9

what is involved in single stimulus learning

Answer 9

sensitization and habituation

Question 10

what is a conditioned stimulus

Answer 10

associated with another stimulus that evokes that response (of the other stimulus) in the animal even if they are not paired together at this point (pavlovian or classical conditioning)

Question 11

what is an unconditioned stimulus

Answer 11

stimulus that evokes the response in animal no matter what (response makes sense)

Question 12

what is an appetitive stimulus

Answer 12

a pleasant, rewarding stimulus (food, mate, etc)

Question 13

what is an averse stimulus

Answer 13

unpleasant stimulus (pain, etc)

Question 14

what is a positive relationship with learning

Answer 14

first event predicts second

Question 15

what is negative relationship with learning

Answer 15

first event predicts that second will not occur

Question 16

what is excitatory conditioning produced by

Answer 16

positive relationships

Question 17

what is inhibitory conditioning produced by

Answer 17

negative relationships

Question 18

what is second order conditioning

Answer 18

add another element to the positive relationship timeline

Question 19

what are the three types of learnability

Answer 19

• overshadowing
• blocking
• latent inhibition

Question 20

what is overshadowing

Answer 20

stimulus produced a reduced response to another stimulus (hurts ability to learn)

Question 21

what is instrumental conditioning/operant or goal directed leaning

Answer 21

Response is made and an animal is reinforced with a reward, which is different than pavlovian conditioning; must undertake some action or response to produce learning

Question 22

what is paired stimulus

Answer 22

something happens every time you present that stimulus

Question 23

what is blocking

Answer 23

block ability to pair one thing with the other thing

Question 24

what is latent inhibition

Answer 24

a delay of the unconditioned stimulus being attached to the CS makes it take longer for learning to occur

Question 25

when should natural selection favor learning over genetically programmed response

Answer 25

when environment changes often but not too often

Question 26

list reasons why animals learn

Answer 26

foraging, individual recognition, predator avoidance, kin recognition, retrieving food stores, solving challenging problems

Question 27

how do honey bees associate color and scent with food reward

Answer 27

they have a crucial 5 second time window where they associate flowers with reward (3 seconds during approach and 2 seconds after landing). after 3 learning events, the bees will remember forever

Question 28

how do stress hormones affect learning in rats

Answer 28

stress hormones like corticosterone impact ability of rats to learn