Midterm 1 Flashcards
What is a stimulus?
A detectable change in the internal or external environment; conscious and/or pathological; addition or removal.
What are exteroceptive stimuli?
Shared with the people around us (e.g. temperature of room)
What are interoceptive stimuli?
Only felt by the individual (e.g. hunger); state of body/space
What are the different types of stimuli?
Appetitive, neutral and aversive. The distinction depends on the situation.
What is a response?
Quantifiable reaction to a stimulus
What is homeostasis and what is it related to in learning?
The tendency for an organism to maintain an internal equilibrium; a physiological response to the environment; fluctuation around a stable set point maintained by negative feedback.
What do anterior hypothalamus lesions in rats demonstrate?
They are unable to maintain homeostasis; in 5C chamber, baseline body temp reduced by 2C
How do rats in cold environment with anterior hypothalamus lesions vs those who do not have lesions react with lever/heat lamp?
Lesioned rats hold the lever, controlled don’t need to bc their bodies adjust to the temperature
What are some reflexive/homeostatic/autonomic behaviours?
Shivering to warm up, sweating to cool down
What is behaviour?
Generally a set of responses of an organism, usually in reaction to stimuli (predominantly somatic)
What are learned behaviours?
- Adapted to environment
- Flexible and open to modification
- Ex. jacket on when cold, scarf off when warm, fatty foods
What are instinctual behaviours?
Genetically programmed behaviours that occur under appropriate circumstances; no learning (ex. breastcrawl)
What do learned stimuli require?
Experience to become conditioned/learned (ex. Haggis)
Why are animal models useful?
Provide info about origins/mechanisms of human behaviour; NOT replicas (e.g. drug addiction)
- Every experience influences learning, and human’s learning history cannot be controlled
How is learning exemplified?
Change in behaviour
What is behaviourism?
Science that emphasizes analysis of behaviour based on antecedent (previously existing) stimuli and consequences.
- Consciousness/thought are irrelevant
- Built on observations of automaticity of behaviour
- Stimuli trigger response/behaviour
What is radical behaviourism?
Ignores everything not observable
What does ‘anthropomorphize’ mean?
Give human attributes to animals being tested
What was behaviour thought to be based on before the 1600s?
Volition/free will. We determine and guide our own fate. Emerges from conscious volition.
What did René Descartes find?
People do some things automatically (but still hung on to notion of free will)
What is Cartesian Dualism in general terms?
Combination of involuntary and voluntary behaviour.
Involuntary - automatic reactions to external stimuli (reflex)
Voluntary - conscious intent to act (capacity for thought only capable by humans)
What are the reasonable aspects of Cartesian Dualism?
1 - stimuli are perceived by sense organs
2 - Nerves relay info to brain
3 - Brain responds using nerve signals to initiate involuntary response (reflex)
What are the less reasonable aspects of Cartesian Dualism?
1 - Mind observes body through pineal gland
2 - Mind can signal body to perform voluntary actions (consciousness/mentalism)
- Sensory inputs and motor outputs used same nerves
- Nerves were hollow to allow movement of gasses (animal spirits) released by pineal gland
- Gasses caused muscles to swell and create movement
What is the pineal gland?
Endocrine gland that secretes melatonin, regulating circadian rhythms