midterm 2 Flashcards
coolidge effect?
??
problems with habituation - sex on the beach example
sex and bonding in humans, men habituate more quickly than women to erotic pictures, but men are also easier to arouse from pictures
potential solutions to habitutation?
prolonged abstinence or partial separation (separate bedrooms)
spaced presentation (long distance relationships)
how can you introduce dishabituation?
change the context (ie. avoid routine)
- but this routine dimension may have to do with the predictability of reinforcers
how does the predictability of reinforcers affect dishabituation?
social and affective neuroscience: endorphins and dopamine
if you want to habituate quickly?
Expose yourself to the S frequently (don’t avoid locations, pictures, memories, etc). This is massed exposure » BUT, it may lead
to spontaneous recovery
if you want to habituate for a long time?
Continue to expose yourself, but with
longer and longer inter-trial presentations (spaced exposure). It may take a
while, but you will get there.
delayed spontaneous recovery?
If the exposures continue
even if the responses are long gone. Movies and tv shows love these stories of ex’s
hooking-up years after they separated.
20
two strategies for dishabituation?
- Make the stimulus weaker: If loud music next door, put some earbuds on.
- Decrease your arousal: Avoid stimulants (e.g., caffeine), meditate, do yoga, etc.
what is sensitization?
The opposite of habituation (kinda…)
- The gradual increase in response to a stimulus that is repeatedly presented
and processed by the organism
where does sensitization occur?
Occurs in the “state system” » readiness to respond. Activated by eliciting
stimuli
how is sensitization affected by generalization?
- Exposed to artillery fire on the battlefield » get sensitized.
- Later respond to fireworks the same way
if habituation is stimulus-specific…
sensitization is generalizable
sensitization can lead to…
desensitization (the same way habituation can lead to dishabituation)
how can systematic desensitization be used in therapy?
In therapy, systematic desensitization is used for phobias, for example
what happens if an organism is stressed/sick/preoccupied (with sensitization)
If the organism is stressed or sick or preoccupied, what is normally habituated can become quickly sensitized: The paparazzi example in Gluck et al
pre-pulse inhibition?
The basic idea is that being pre-exposed to a stimulus, even if weaker, will reduce the
sensitization or response to that stimulus, even when presented at high intensity.
sensitization: startling stimulus =
strong response
sensitization: low intensity stimulus =
same stimulus but very high intensity (“startling”) » weaker response than above
what is “low intensity stimulus » same stimulus but very high intensity (“startling”) » weaker response than above” a case of
desensitization
What is dishabituation and what can we use it for: developmental psych?
In developmental psychology: understanding natural (non-learned) discrimination of S. Useful with infants and pre-verbal children, no need for language or understanding of the test
What is dishabituation and what can we use it for: animal psychophysics?
can an animal naturally (without training) detect and discriminate stimuli?
Example — ribbon snake ??
how does systematic desensitization work in therapy?
Initially with micro doses of the stimulus and then is increased with time
social learning can play a role!
Desensitize by using social learning, gradual exposure — removes flooding
what is pre pulse inhibition?
pre exposure to a stimulus may diminish your response to it later
- Pre exposure makes you more familiar which may help you cope with it
studying sensitization/habituation?
Can use a series of dependent variables — a lot of these are parts of the polygraph and studies used in sleep clinics
What are the best measures? Depends. Autonomic nervous systems measures differ a lot, they don’t always cross correlate.
ways to study sensitization/habituation?
- GSR
- EDA
- thermal response
- cardiac markers
- other polygraph measures
sensitization/habituation: GSR/EDA?
- GSR (galvanic skin response) or EDA (electro-dermal activity) can be used to monitor the autonomic nervous system (ANS) response
- GSR might be too sensitive — any little disruption and the person would have a strong response. This adds a lot of noise
- Simple versions of EDA can be bought and used at home — form a biofeedback. Get feedback at a certain threshold, eg. Beeping, and cause you to react
sensitization/habituation: thermal response?
With organisms that don’t sweat a thermal response can be used (eg. Thermal cameras, these are less obtrusive)
sensitization/habituation: cardiac measures?
All the cardiac markers work as well: ECG, heart rate, blood pressure, etc.
sensitization/habituation: other polygraph measures?
- Challenge with these are that you need a baseline — this is why apple watches can be good because they take daily measurements
- Might be able to pick up responses on one test and not another, depends on the individual
measuring sensitization/habituation: lacey and lacey?
- found pattern in these — some people have huge reactions to some things and not others, depends on the person. Found this is constant throughout life.
- Intersection between geography and psychology here — tracking patterns, can assess your ability to monitor and control
dual process theory (DPT): Groves and Thompson, 1970
says that habituation and sensitization posits are both activated at the same time
States that they can both be defined and discussed and are measurable
DPT: process?
Process: the physiological mechanisms involved
DPT: effects?
Effects: the observable consequences or behaviours (response)
DPT: process and effects?
- Both processes are adaptive
- Not always adaptive to keep responding to some stimuli (eg. crying baby – which we do have an initial physiological reaction to)
DPT: final statement
So it is not H or S but rather H and S, but the connections between the sensory neurons (input) and motor neurons (output) is what matters, and changes over time.
opponent process theory (OPT)
- Complex theory (gadbois favourite)
- Emotional regulation for high arousal events (skydiving, bungie jumping) is very well explained by the OPT
OPT what happens with time?
- Initial fear response becomes weaker (habituates faster) — first jump, overwhelmed by fear. Once you land the first time it is accompanied by relief. The theory thinks that is what people are after. The fear is not what is fun, what is potentially intriguing is the elation you experience when you experience it
- Rebound exhilaration response becomes stronger — allows elation response to either increase or be more salient (obvious)
what is different about OPT compared to DPT?
- The rebound is triggered by the initial response
- Both underlying processes are associated with emotional arousal
what is familiarization?
- With times exposure will increase the sense of “sameness” of familiarity
- Studied via novel object recognition — you get a sense of familiarity, having seen something before.
problem with familiarization?
Problem (seen through mnemonic theory) is that it is very context specific and at a context of time
familiarization: recognition memory?
Recognition memory is usually in reference to something you have already seen
recognition memory example?
if prof sees someone in a different environment, may not ‘recognize’ you, the problem is context. When you’re exposed to so many people, in context they will recognize you. Outside of context it might not be as obvious.
what is priming?
- Unconscious effect of an exposure, often repeated
- Implicit memory
- Change from physiological psychology — now cognitive or neuro
- Repeated exposure with a stimulus will actually prime, at the very least, that stimulus if not related stimuli
- Priming is unconscious and lasts long
priming general idea?
Idea is if you’re exposed to something, you will recall that first later. Eg. Have a conversation about healthcare professions, later on if someone asks you to name a profession you will name one of those first
example of priming?
The blue jay example (p. 88-89 of Gluck et al): Exposure to different species of moth (without reinforcement), will facilitate moth detection and discrimination later on
what is true about recognition (familiarity)
is conscious and does not last long; it is also very context-specific
are recognition and priming the same?
Unclear if we are dealing with two different processes
- We don’t know how it exactly works but it is very documented
- We think specific parts of the cortex are activated in these processes, thought limbic system was involved but no obvious proof of that
priming famous case?
Example: famous case is HM — triangle tower, you have to move them through three pegs and reconstitute the tower. Very specific sequence is needed. HM was asked to do it, first time took a while, with time he got better and faster (like most people). Thing is, every time he was exposed to the tower he would claim he had never seen it before.
–> This is priming, unconscious/implicit memory
what do different types of priming have in common?
all via stimulus repetition
different types of priming?
Perceptual priming
Lexical/semantic/conceptual priming
Affective and kindness priming
Associative or context priming
perceptual priming?
involves the extra striate cortex (part of occipital cortex: V3, V4, V5/MT)
Lexical/semantic/conceptual priming
involves the left prefrontal lobe
Affective and kindness priming
based on the positive or negative valence of prime
Associative or context priming
basic contextual/cue conditioning?
what is perceptual priming?
Being exposed to stimuli over and over will change the way you perceive them (exposing yourself to a variation of these stimuli, statistical learning, often unconscious)
what does perceptual learning help?
discrimination
perceptual learning examples?
- Wine is a wine is a wine? Not to a sommelier
- Rash is a rash is a rash? Not to a dermatologist
- Thrush is a thrush is a thrush? Not to a seasoned birdwatcher
- These nuances aren’t clear to people that are not trained/experienced with these things
what is perceptual learning a form of?
latent learning. Because unconscious and not dependent on reinforcement it is like habituation, sensitization and priming
perceptual learning is also called?
statistical learning
difference of perceptual learning compared to priming?
it is long lasting, if not permanent
- priming is a lot more fleeting
what could explain perceptual learning?
dual process theory
what is perceptual learning really about?
It is about perceptual invariance, simpler way to say this: it is about identifying the difference. See the difference, hear the difference. That is what discrimination is.
perceptual invariance example?
wolves vs. Cayotes — immediate difference in size, nose, eyes, tail. Trained people can see so many differences. Interestingly, that is so remarkable when you realize that people in movies sub a German Shepard for a wolf. If you knew the difference, you would think that is obviously dumb. If you don’t know to look for differences, interestingly you won’t see them
what is spatial learning another form of?
Another form of latent learning, often implicit
spatial learning example?
Tolman and Honzik (1930): rats in mazes
tolman and honzik method?
Operation training (food at the end of the maze) vs. Exploration — behaviourists at the time believed in responses you could see. The rat basically memorizes the route, tolman thought if it was that specific to the response, I am going to make them go through the same maze but flooded. Interestingly, the rat could still find the way. Not based on motor responses but on mental map. Might be based on both, individual differences.
tolman and honzik what rats learned faster?
Trained rats learn faster initially
Explorer rate learn better at end — may take longer initially, but remember better
tolman and honzik two theories of learning?
hippocampal learning
striatal learning
what is hippocampal learning?
learning a navigational map (the mental map for the psychologists or the search image for the ethologists) — indeed based on mental representation
what is striatal learning?
learning motor navigation (turns): motor learning of spatial learning — striatal system that records this moments and sequence of them, basal ganglia domain
what is individual adapation?
Conditioning allows you to get familiarized with your environment so you can adapt to it (individual adaptation)
what do you need for any kind of conditioning?
you need the right mental/motivational state
what is true about classical and operant conditioning?
not completely separate topics
Eg. Pavlov is always on your shoulder even when working with skinner
what is instrumental conditioning?
the law of effect - thorndike
- Association between a stimulus and response, ie. it is about S-R learning
what does instrumental conditioning say about S-R?
S-R association strengthened if S followed by a satisfying event
S-R association weakened if S followed by an annoying event
what does instrumental conditioning presuppose?
motivational states
example of instrumental conditioning (real world)
Examples: saying thank you, tipping
- You are aware of contingencies — you are manipulating the other person, both sides are implicated
- Dialectical in social interactions, may not be aware you are doing it, but you are playing that game of conditioning
instrumental conditioning (refer to notes for whole story)
- Prof in an American uni that decided to make a point. He would compliment all the female students that would show up to class dressed in red, on a typical day not that many. This is an example of classical conditioning (implicit)
- Students then decided to play a game with this guy. The following year the students decided to condition him (instrumental, although might be a mix)
four players in outcomes?
- Reward — increases the behaviour,
- Punishment
- Omission — not doing something
- Avoidance/escape — avoiding or escaping an aversive stimulus
what does negative mean in terms of punishment?
- Negative doesn’t mean bad — instead just describes a process of what you are doing
- Positive punishment is the worst form of punishment! Don’t take it semantically. It is positive in the sense that you use something you add — eg. Electrical shock.
difference between avoidance and escape?
- Avoidance: the unpleasant (aversive) S / event has not occurred yet (procrastination)
- Escape: the unpleasant (aversive) S / event is occurring in the moment
omission learning/training?
When a behaviour prevents the occurrence of a good outcome
refer to tables!!!!
important hehehhhh
what is reinforcement?
anything that will increase the probability/rate/duration/liklihood of a response
what is punishment?
anything that will reduce the probability/rate/duration/liklihood of a response
important note about reinforcement/punishment?
That is not what you think is reinforcement/punishment but rather what the subject thinks is reinforcement/punishment — it is subject by subject
learning theory - are shock collars punishment?
epends. If there is no reduction in behaviour for a specific animal than the shock collar is not punishment. Same with this, is giving kibble to a dog reinforcement. Some say yes, but some dogs don’t care about kibble so then not for them.
what does ignoring do? (in terms of punishment)
- If it leads to no response, then it is punishment. Therefore ignoring can be punishment.
- Punishment and reinforcement is just feedback on a response — feedback leads to more or less response.
punishment vs. reinforcement (stimulus type?)
Punishment uses an aversive stimulus and reinforcement uses an appetitive one
what kind of punishment is time out/taking phone away?
negative punishment
is taking stuff away punitive by nature?
an be punitive, but depends on the behaviour that you are trying to extinguish. When you try to stop a behaviour, pull the reinforcement — there is usually a larger response. Takes a while before they realize that positive reinforcement isn’t going to come back and then they stop.
when do the four quadrants come into play?
Everything you say and do taps into all four quadrants with most people around you. Even if you didn’t mean to be nasty, if it fits the definition it counts.
what is punishment/reinforcement?
information
- The way the brain works is by acquiring and strengthening some connections, and pruning others
punishment/reinforcement - what is true
This terms have been poisoned because people don’t understand them
how does cognitive psych view punishment/reinforcement?
In many tasks, you got a tone or green light when you do a task right. Or a bad tone and red light that comes up if you get it wrong — that is punishment. You don’t leave crying, but you are informing. We know that you learn faster if you know what behaviour not to reproduce — this is how discrimination training works.
punishment/reinforcement - thorndike?
In other words, thorndike was right, you have to experience trial-and-error, it is the contrast between success and failure in trial and error that gets you to understand what is good (leads to an answer) and bad (doesn’t lead to an answer).
error of correction?
Dog trainers wrap it into something positive, “keep going signal” — that wasn’t it, keep going. Not because you call it that makes it reinforcement, but people prefer calling it that than positive punishment
what are societal views on corporal and punitive punishment?
- Corporal punishment is different — strong consensus there that is wrong
- Punitive punishment often leads to spontaneous regeneration — some criminals go back to crimes right after being released
what impacts how you understand punishment?
Your ability to measure the response (Feedback) is how your understand the punishment
people say you should never put an animal on cyclic punishment - thoughts?
People say never put a human/animal on cyclic punishment, why not? Because they get stressed. The moment that rat in the skinner box on an intermittent schedule shows stress — you are doing something wrong. You are usually going too fast. Nothing wrong with scheduled reinforcement, something wrong if you are using it in the wrong way — eg. Speeding through.
punishment is often only a …
a temporary stop, spontaneous recovery in the right conditions will often happen.
reinforcement =
strengthening of the response.
reinforcement =
strengthening of the response
does punishment always reduce responses?
It depends on the behaviour! In imprinting, it will often increase the following response: Think, analogically, about the abused with their abusers…
what does positive mean in punishment?
The term “positive” means that something is produced, not that it is perceived as positi
positive reinforcement?
You GIVE a reinforcement (something perceived as positive)
negative reinforcement?
You REMOVE or TAKE AWAY something perceived as negative.
what does the term negative mean, punishment?
means that something is removed, not that it is perceived as negative.
what is shaping?
the main dimension of “training” (as in training an animal)
Reinforcing an animal or human with successive approximations is called…
shaping
shaping procedure?
at first, you reinforce anything that is in the direction or shape of the target behaviour. Then you slowly progressively start reinforcing the behaviours that are closer to the target behaviour until you get to the point that you reinforce only the “perfect” target behaviour
important dimensions of shaping?
- The topology (proximal to goal) or spatial dimension — a lot of what you need to do is understand that the first part of the goal is to get the rat close to the lever, then the timing is important.
- The timing of the behaviour or temporal dimension
- You ignore (ie. do not reinforce) the behaviours that are desired or too far spatially and temporally from what you are looking for
- Sometimes you can get animals to do very complex things very quickly — eg. Rat in a skinner box
what is important about making an operant setting work in shaping?
the topology
what is autoshaping?
computer training a rat in a skinner box rather than a person. There is then no feedback given from a person. Put them in a box, computer starts running and usually the rat has shaped to the task within an hour.
gadbois nose hold on a target stimulus steps
- At first just orienting towards the target S — reinforce this
- Then approaching the stimulus
- Then having the “nose down” towards S
- Then touching the S
- Then holding on the S, at first for a few seconds
- Then holding for a full 5 seconds
what is target always called?
S+ = positive stimulus
what is successive approximation?
topology, reinforcement is successful but contingent on getting closer to the target (stop rewarding behaviour that goes backward)
what happens if you go too fast in reinforcing a behaviour?
If you go too fast it is possible that the new thresholds aren’t registering, you could fall back. You might need to go retro and use baby steps at that point, might need a refresher (small reward) to reorient them to the task.
is reinforcement dependent on anything?
species dependent — need to be mindful of what youre working with and the behaviour they typically produce
detection training?
responding yes or no to a stimulus
discrimination training?
choosing the appropriate stimulus out of n number distractors
what is an important measure when a choice has to be made (dogs)?
Because a choice has to be made, it is a good idea to have a clear, well defined response (a good nose hold, held for a full 5 seconds, until the reinforcement (R+) is produced/delivered).
can instrumental conditioning/shaping happen without a coach, trainer, teacher?
yes
what can have the same effect as instrumental conditioning/shaping?
Trial and error learning (thorndiike)
what is selection by consequence?
makes instrumental conditioning very similar to natural selection (ie. species-level adaption) except that it is individual-level adaption
what is learning a force in?
learning is one of the few forces in evolution
what is classical conditioning?
Classical conditioning can be very powerful (as demonstrating through neuro eg. Sick building syndrome). Not all individuals condition the same
what did pavlov come up with (topology)?
Pavlov is the first one that came up with a temperament topology for dogs — four types of topology. Based on how responsive they were to classical conditioning. Not all of us are as easily conditional as one other, there are individual differences (seen with rats and even slugs)
classical conditioning: pavlov’s dog - salivation?
Goal: preparatory for digestion (in fact, arguably the first step as saliva will start the digestion process with starches: think of bread “melting” in your mouth
classical conditioning: taste aversion?
- Too much jack at your birthday — you can get very sick for days, may develop a strong and long lasting aversion, may even be generalized to similar alcohol
- Note: this example is actually special as it often requires very little event. Classical conditioning will often lead to “one-trial learning. This is obviously potentially very adaptive.
biological examples of importance of classical conditioning?
- The Hollis experiment with Blue Gouramis: a kind of warning signal that “primes” the combatant
- The domain experiment with Japanese quails: priming the male for sex
- Note that this is (unconsciously?) important to humans when creating an “atmosphere”
unconscious classical conditioning examples?
sports
dates
restaurant/bars
classical conditioning: sports?
intensive/aggressive music, lightinwhg, narrative (us vs. Them motivational comments). Locker room talk is meant to pump you up, cues for competition because it is context specific
classical conditioning: dates?
slow/languorous music, lighting, clothing, make-up, perfume/cologne, etc.
classical conditioning: restaurants/bars?
music, lighting, etc.
what does marketing and advertising take advantage of?
Marketing and advertising will take advantage of those conditioning stimuli OR they will condition you
classical conditioning and sex?
- Early exposure to stimuli and outcomes (eg. Arousal, pleasure, orgasm, etc.)
- Tapping into motivational systems — sex is used in more subtle ways now, but it is still there
- Good and bad associations depending on the outcome
stimuli following a bad experience could induce
fear, stress, panic
stimuli that could induce fear, stress, panic?
- Long hair or facial hair
- Smell of a person or sell of a location
- Music (specific music/song)
what can happen with classical conditioning in a good experience?
some of these stimuli still may become almost necessary for arousal, or certainly would be facilitating — can trigger the memory responses of the event, works out of context too
positive experience stimuli?
- Long hair or facial hair
- Smell of a person or sell of a location
- Music (specific music/song)
SA: classical conditioning?
- Sex: everything that happens in the context of SA is heavily connected to cues that will follow you for life, connected to PTSD
- Problem with trauma, after SA for example, is to disconnect these associations
classical conditioning and olfaction?
- Olfaction is particular interesting here: it is one of the processes that can bypass the thalamus as a switch board. Thats why you will experience emotion first before even recognizing the smell and the thought of that person.
- Odours are often part of context, good or bad.
shepard siegel and classical conditioning with drugs examples?
- Conditioned analgesia
- Conditioned withdrawal
- Conditioned tolerance
- Conditioned compensatory response
drug tolerance?
When you take a drug, with time you develop drug tolerance. The affects of the drugs reduce with time, this is why people start taking more with some categories of drugs (morphine, heroin, opioids)
tolerance is a huge problem with…
pain management in end of life — trying to make people comfortable but it takes more and more of the drug
tolerance is heavily…
conditioned by environmental stimuli, indicated that if you change some of the cues you lose some of the tolerance — eg. Change the room, change the music, they will become less tolerant to the drug and the dosage will work better
idea, when you take a drug there is a _____ response…
Interesting idea, when you take a drug there is a compensatory response, your metabolism/immune system knows how to react to it. This is good. The right thing in terms of adaptation. Tries to get you back to some sort of immunostatic state, alcohol is poison, the effects of toxicity (drunk) is a poison
is tolerance context specific?
very!
drunk as a skunk example?
Every Thursday you go to a certain bar, have a certain number of drinks over a certain period of time. Over time, you have 4/5/6 beers and you’re relatively fine. Then one time, your friends suggest going to a different bar. You go to that new place, stay the same amount of time, drink the same amount. But you leave and are drunk as a skunk (super drunk) — what happened? As simple as what you are perceiving. Your compensatory response is conditioned to a specific environment and set of cues, remove those cues and it goes back to the way it was before (despite the dose being the same)
emergency doc OD anecdote?
Discovered by Siegel (emergency doc) and they would get people that would come from heroin/morphine OD. At first they were puzzled, would ask people what happened, OD suggests to most people that you took more of the drug. Friends would say that they didnt take any more and could tolerate that amount before. So then why an overdose today? They realized one of two things were happening: either doing it with another group of people or in another environment. Change the environment and that response is gone.
what are therapies for drinking/drug abuse?
send you somewhere remote (new environment) and get you to stop cold turkey. This is super smart, taking you away from the social and physical environment where you have been taking that drug. All those cues are no longer there. After that period of time, you go back home where you used to drink but within a few hours you might be back to drinking. Association of cues is very powerful and has a very strong effect. Although you have not experienced withdrawal in the new environment, you go back to the old one and experience withdrawal — the cues trigger it. Best way to get rid of withdrawal, take the drug again. That is what happens.
conditioned analgesia?
Analgesia or how you feel about a painkiller may be associated with a room
Idea is that theoretically, if you could change the room and other cues, the tolerance could bounce back.
the no-alcohol beer?
some people get drunk on corona zero because they think they’re drinking a beer with alcohol. It is the cues, taste is there, smell is there, etc. cues are strong and you are conditioned to respond to those cues
The bookstore effect — every time someone went to a bookst
the bookstore effect?
every time someone went to a bookstore, she had to shit. Question was always, why? Sometimes trained with classical conditioning would guess that something at some point had happened. Either association between scent of ink or books etc. think about things that cannot be explained
close to home effect?
“I need to pee” — all the cues of being home are there.
morning coffee = cigarette effect?
well known occurrence with former smokers
what are state dependent and context dependent memory?
classical conditioning
what is classical conditioning a pairing of?
CS/US pairing
what is a clicker often considered as?
a secondary/conditioned reinforcer because the idea is that with animals, this is used alongside basic classical conditioning (pair the clicker with food)
secondary enforcers come in…
many forms
eg. money for working
what is the idea of a conditioned reinforcer?
the idea is that eventually you can stop paring the click with the food and the click alone will reinforce the right behaviour
what does conditioned reinforcement bring up again?
the fact that classical conditioning is always with you during operant conditioning
what is there an aspect of within classical conditioning?
anticipation - cognitive
what are the two types of rats/pigeons?
sign trackers and goal trackers
what do sign trackers pay attention to?
really pay attention to the cues that are the predictors of the reinforcement
what do goal trackers pay attention to?
really pay attention to the source of reinforcement
basic set up of a skinner box?
rat responds to a specific stimulus, press a lever, then the magazine delivers a pellet of food
what do goal trackers do if there is no pellet in a skinner box?
attempt to jam their nose in the magazine to see what is going on
what do sign trackers do if there is no pellet in a skinner box?
will pay attention to the cues announcing that the food is coming, more likely to pay attention to the light by the lever
how do sign/goal tracking apply to humans?
goal trackers are less likely to be conditioned by their environment and less likely to be triggered by cues related to those events - less likely to become addicted
what are sign trackers massively controlled by?
cues associated to reinforcers, will pay attention to everything associated to that activity
who are more likely to be addicted and relapse (after rehab at another location) when exposed to cues
sign trackers
why is sign tracking important?
gives us a window into the idea that at least some individuals will find cues more important than the reinforcement itself (smoker example)
table!!
!!
can you both sign and goal tracker?
theory says you can be goal, sign or mix of box
example of sign vs. goal tracking dog?
how does dog signal hunger
- puts paw on your hand = sign tracker
- goes to food dish = goal tracker
people with sick building syndrome are more likely to be…
sign trackers
what is the medicine effect?
possible that you would seek something to remove a symptom, some people just carry around a container of medicine and that is enough for them
commonalities between classical and instrumental conditoning?
- extinction
- timing of outcome
- size of outcome
- prepardness
classical and instrumental: extinction
stop pairing things and eventually the conditioned response will extinguish
- extinction is stopping to condition a link
is extinction classical or operant?
both
extinction example
expose the subject to what normally produces the response, but then not produce the response. this must be done in a very systematic way (start very small and non-threatening)
extinction burst?
if you remove a reinforcement with perceived positive value from someone, the first reaction is to respond more. initally get a bigger response before it goes down
spontaneous recovery w extinction?
doesnt matter if it is classical or operant. if the conditions are right, it will often come back. if you re-expose the right contingency, you will get the right responses
is extinction forgetting?
NO - it is still in the memory somewhere it just has to be reminded
classical and instrumental: timing of the outcome
if you are going to give punishment or reinforcement to a behaviour - need to follow each other closely in time and space
instrumental: timing of outcome
CS/US needs to be close in time. the more time, the more likely something else will happen and people get confused
eg. superstitious behaviours
classical: timing of outcome
CS/US timing is less important. well known example is with conditioned taste aversion. you can eat something rotten, get sick later and still associate it. we dont know why taste aversion is so sensitive to this
when is taste aversion something to take note of
during chemo which causes nausea, dont want to associate the food with that
classical and instrumental: size of outcome
the value of the outcome (positive or negative) is going to be important
- much stronger conditioning if the reward is huge, this is a way to engage the anticipatory system in humans
size of outcome example
you get huge outcomes in gambling very rarely. people keep gambling because they want these big outcomes and know that there are frequently smaler ones, this keeps them engaged
size of outcome example (negative)
clearly the effect of punishment is very different between a little zap and something that burns your skin. if the punishment is more intense, there is more suppression of response
what happens if you give big rewards to rats in mazes?
they go faster
is there eventually a ceiling effect for rewards?
yes, eventually a ceiling based on the size
the quantity is…
less important than the perceived value of the reinforcer - this has a huge effect on anticipation
perceived value example
not the bone that is important but the anticipation of the bone, learning works because of anticipation and dopamine
when is dopamine released
not during the consumption but the motivation
it is NOT the…
reinforcement that makes you do the thing, rather the anticipation of the reinforcement
classical and instrumental: preparedness
is there possibly an innate dimension to learning? idea that you are more likely to respond to some stimuli as opposed to others
preparedness quote example
you can’t judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree
preparedness and biological relevance?
idea that biological relevance of the stimuli and the reinforcers that you use are predisposed
what did garcia show?
taste aversion shows super fast one trial aversion because it saves your life
what was garcias study?
bright-noisy-water experiment
what was the bright-noisy-water experiment
had flavoured water with a click sound and flash of light. outcome was either a foot shock or nausea. animal would lick, but this suppression of licking was differential
bright-noisy-water experiment parirings
illness and taste
sound and shock
what do illness and taste have in common?
chemcial
what do sound and shock have in common?
physical
what did wilcoxon point out?
that pairing of stimuli is species specific, eg. birds dont have a great sense of taste so wouldn’t pair that with something important
preparedness in instrumental conditoning?
the misbehaviour of organisms
what is the misbehaviour of organisms?
brings in instinctive drift. racoon wouldnt drop the coin in the piggy bank despite training and so they gave up, calling it instinctive drift
what is the racoon piggy bank actually an example of?
sign tracking - raccoons are just not paying attention to the food, instead what it predicts. they mistakingly think it is about manipulating the coin so continue repeating the wrong set of behaviours
what are raccoons as a species
massively sign trackers, get more value in the anticipatory behaviours than receiving the reward
what did shettleworth work with?
hamsters
what did shettleworth find with hamsters?
really easy to enforce everyday behaviours (rearing, scrabbling, digging) could not reinforce other behaviours in their repertoire (scent-marking, scratching, face-washing)
repetition training with reptiles?
very hard to reinforce reptiles, especially snakes. one way could be to train them with heat as the reward. however, very slow
is preparedness a concept in humans too?
all human cultures are more likely to be afraid of snakes and spiders than flowers
what does preparedness mean when conditioning humans?
means if you want to use negative stimuli, associating it wth spiders will get a more natural reaction than with flowers
when you condition something…
one of the stimuli will have to be neutral, otherwise it will impact the conditioning
extremely easy to…
negatively condition people (even those that claim they dont have those phobias), than to neutral stimuli
habituation?
exposed to something a lot - stop responding - relatively simple
sensitization?
exposed to something a lot - increased response - more complex
why do we use animal models in neurobiological underpinning of simple learning?
because they are simpler and there are less intervening variables, sea slugs are a common choice because you can see some neurons with even the naked eye
what do aplysias have?
gills, mantle, siphon
what are aplysia gills for?
retraction for protection - gill withdrawal reflex (GWR)
aplysia how many neurons?
20000 neurons
aplysia hardwired
no individual differences in location and function of neurons
how many sensory/motor neurons aplysia
24 sensory, 8 motor
what modulates the neurons in aplysia
glutamate (excitatory)
aplysia habituation?
over time there is less release of glutamate, touch on the gills
- systematic depression
what explains the systematic depression in aplysia
dual process theory - if you space the exposures, habiutation will last longer. decrease in glutamate contributes to the pruning of the synpases
does habituation work the same in vertebrates?
reduction in NT release is very similar, yes.
sensitization in aplysia?
you need a stronger stimulus to get sensitization of the gills, eg. mild electric shcok
aplysia sensitization process
there is an interneuron (link between sensory and motor) involved – called a modulatory interneuron
big player in aplysia sensitization
neuromodulator, which has the responsibility to change the responsive of the NT
aplysia neuromodulator
serotonin 5-HT
what does serotonin 5-HT do
basically tells glutamate to fire more, never less
what goes on between habituation and sensitization in aplysia
habituation = homosynpatic
sensitization = heterosynpatic
what does homosynaptic mean
only involves one system, very specific and localized
- one sensory neuron = one motor neuron
what does heterosynpatic mean
very non-specific and non-localied, process occurs in many synapses simultaneously
how do habituation and sensitiation work in aplysia
together! not in competition but work together
increase/decrease in aplysia?
decrease in glutamate (NT) in specific synapses, increase in serotonin at many synapses
habituation and sensitization are…
two interactive processes, consistent with DPT
is sensitization the same as dishabituation?
no. sensitization is more complex
sensitization is ___, habituation is ___, dishabituation is ___
sensitization is gradual, habituation is gradual, dishabituation is not
systematic desensitization =
control the sensitization systemically, completely different procedure
systematic desensitiation is used in
therapy
perceptual learning?
completely implicit
- cortex changes based on the exposure
how does perceptual learning work?
taps into the sensory areas of the brain,
what are receptive fields
a range that is specific to neurons, the more neurons that work together, the more the field can actually change
what do receptive fields apply in?
visual, auditory and tactile systems, less clear with chemical senses (although maybe olfaction)
cognitive involvement in perpetual learning?
dont actually know how where the representation is in the brain
as you are exposed to a precep…
your spatial map will get better, become more specific and accurate thanks to pruning
why are guinea pigs used as a model system?
because their auditory range is extremely similar to humans. they are precocial therefore better than mice/rats. like humans, cannot produce their own vitamin C
cortical plastic and cortical development
as with imprinting, it brings the concept of critical or sensitive periods in development
the fine tuning of cortical areas requires…
exposure and rich exposures (Eg. environmental enrichment) are even better
what happens if you weren’t exposed to colours during a certain sensitive period?
may have difficulty identifying colours later on
studies with cats, ferrets and opposums have shown that…
sensory deprived animal’s brains develop in unexpected ways
adult human cortical plasticity?
adults have surprisingly high levels of cortical plasticity, re-tuning can occur with training quite quickly
cortical re-organization =
perceptual learning
what are common models for spatial learning and hippocampus?
very well studied in birds and mammals
spatial learning birds
navigation (including homing) and spatial memory (food caching)
spatial learning is mostly a…
sub-cortical function
the hippocampus is in…
the limbic system, close to the amygdala
what does the hippocampus have?
a strong cognitive function for spatial memory, but in the limbic system. hippocampus is located spatially and functionally close to the amygdala.
the hippocampus is…
the contextualiser, info encoded in the hippocampus tells you what/where/when
what is semantic memory?
knowledge that you have that is is not autobiographical, happened in a specific time and place
part of semantic memory is…
subcortical
hippocampus is important for navigation but so is,
basal ganglia
what does basal ganglia do?
encode memory about motor learning
is hippocampus or basal ganglia more important in navigation?
both are. hippocampus is about location/time, basal ganglia is important in timing and is the sequencer of the brain
specific neurons that fire at specific locations
place cells
what do place cells act as
specific neurons act as identifiers of specific locations
what are place cells
a spatial map in the brain or place field, an internal representation of the space that the organism occupies
is there a different response in processing proximal/distal cues
yes, quite a different response
still debates about the importance (depending on species) of:
- local or proximal cues or landmarks
- distant or still cues or landmarks
- sign trackers and goal trackers - best navigators?
sign tracking is almost an…
attentional theory or dimension of attention, about what you pay attnetion to
tolman was…
right after all! spatial maps do exist
what are head direction cells?
when the animal navigates in a particular direction. literally cells that encode for head direction. proprioceptive information
head direction cells example
think about how sometimes you reposition your body in trying to explain direction to them, you orient yourself based on relevant infromation
grid cells
when the animal crosses the intersection points of an abstract grid; navigating equal distances
border cells
when the animal is at the perimeter of the local spatial map. encode the periphery, not mentioned in humans as much more lab animals
spatial learning, memory and navigation =
place cells x head direction cells x grid cells
does object recognition occur in the hippocampus?
unclear.
what happens if the hippocampus is lesioned?
may have mild impairment for object recognition, temporal lobes may also be involved
method of locus?
technique using a spatial map using tag items to remember, idea that if you elaborate on material you retain it better
who does method of locus work best for?
people with well developed hippocampus, eg. taxi drivers or servers
why is method of locus useful
because you go through a known sequence, so you know when you forget something
what are the main cause of brain damage in north america
strokes
stroke rehab idea
by bounding the function arm, the organism will start using the numb arm again, may be a case of dishabituation
weak stimuli facilitate…
habituation!
what is the sling for stroke rehab called in humans
constraint-induced movement therapy
is constraint-induced movement therapy counterintuitive
a bit. but it reinforces the weakened link. brain has to try to compensate the deficit
what does perceptual learning force
forces other brain areas in close proximity to the damaged area to take over the lost function by reorganizing the sensations
how do we treat phobias? 2
- flooding
- systematic desensitization (SD)
flooding
can be very fast, just like dishabituation
SD
usually slow, can result in spontaneous recovery
what do you have to do with phobias
SD, start with very weak versions of the stimulus
role of environmental cues in therapy?
might master the scenario but only in the environmental cues of the therapists office. need to generalize it
does SD result in forgetting
no, the right cues will bring it back
flooding is potentially…
stressful if not traumatic. SD is generally preferred
SD is based on
counterconditioning
what is counterconditoning?
you condition another response to replace that undesired response
SD proces
start with very weak stimulus, work your way up to something stronger
counterconditoning example
dog and mailamn!
does counterconditoning sound similar to reinforcement of alternative behaviour?
partially true, DRO is more specific though.
how is DRO different from counterconditoning?
because you are totally conditioning another activitiy
counterconditoning works well for people with..
anxiety/panic attack, as long as you know the triggers
systematic desensitization for phobias - wolpe and lazarus (1969)
don’t eliminate the conditioned response, instead condition another one that is incompatible with the CR
is emotion important in systematic desensitization
no. what is more important is the environmental trigger. if you cant control the environmental trigger you have to find ways to make it less arousing
for phobias, fear is replaced by…
relaxation
solution for stressors,
not to remove the stressor itself but to learn the best way to deal with the stressor
4 steps of stressors
- identify the sources of fear, triggers, cues
- client is trained with relaxation
- while relaxed, client is asked to imagine least threatening of the stressful stimuli and gradually to the worst
*4. sessions must always stop at the first sign of fear, disress, or stress
how does stress innoculation work?
like a vaccine. HPA axis learns to combat stress like the immune system, by being exposed.
generational effect of stressors
genX tried not to expose their kids to stress, resulted in increased anxiety disorders
trauma will often lead to…
a lifetime of mental issues
how to combat anxiety
try to increase your threshold of stress, stop caffeine!
animal models of stress
low doses of amphetamines to rats increased unusually stereotypical behaviours
rate amphetamines example
repeated low doses sensitized the rats at a level seen in rats that were exposed to few high doses - case of sensitization
amphetamines increase…
stereotypical behaviours, eg. animals doing extremely repetitive behaviours. evidence shows this is partially evolutionarily adapted. fidgeting is good for relaxing.
robert post (1992): vicious circle
stressful events or trauma > depression > minor stressful event > more bouts of depression
the vicious cycle is…
sensitization to stress
depressed people show..
high responses to minor stressors, may feel on edge
how to avoid sensitization to stress? 5
- not to avoid stress
- avoiding stress increases sensitivity
- results in lack of resilience
- being exposed to moderate amounts of stress will increase immunity
- but… too much stress will increase changes of depression
anxiety sensitvity
a sensitivity to the signs and symptoms of anxiety, common in people with anxiety disorders
what are panic attacks often
a fear of fear, when you feel it coming it is too late. dogs can help detect chemical signas
what is involved with panic attacks
classical conditioning, works subconsciously a lot of the time
another vicious cycle
some ANS manifestations > anxiety increases > actual anxiety attack
is anxiety conditioned or cognitive (belief)?
modern lit suggests a belief (cognitive)
what do sensation seekers need
high levels of arousal, if lacking than they start to feel anxious
cochlear implants…
reproduce digitally sounds detected from the environment
how is perceptual learning involved in cochlear implants
perceptual learning is involved as the digitized sounds are quite different from the natural ones. if the person has previous experience with the natural sounds, they ned to learn a new phonological and acoustic system of processing auditory information
US?
unconditional stimulus (meat in pavlov dog)
UR?
unconditional response
CS?
conditional stimulus (salivating too, the bell in pavlov. when CS and US are paired, this starts to stimulate salivation)
CR?
conditional response
NS>
neutral stimulus before it was conditoned with food
are US and CS the same?
technically yes. can be subtle differences
who put forward ideas of plasticty
william james and ivan pavlov
how does plasiticity occur
via brain activity (Experience) aka neuroplasticity
what does the term plasticity refer to
changes, more specifically a certain malleability
what are extreme cases of neuroplasticity
brain regions being co-opted or re-purposed for some new functions if some parts of the brain are damaged
how the brain can change with time
on-the-job training
environmental enrichment
imprinting
what is imprinting a case of
learning but with an innate component, the following response (UR)
what is imprinting based on
classical conditioning, operant conditioning, perceptual learning and recognition memory
what is environmental enrichment
poor environment = low dendrite numbers
rich environment = high dendrite numbers
how many dendrites estimated
7-10% overall in the brain, 20% in visual cortex
what does the number of dendritic branching do
increase in the hippocampus (overall volume) in spatial learning and memory
hebbian learning
neurons that fire together wire together, based on concept of neural connectvity
who did hebbian learning spark from
cajal, william james, macdougall
what processes invovle hebbian learning?
repetition, rehearsal, practice, experience
what is behaviour to behaviourists/ethologists
something you observe, eg. must be able to see r hear
what are important concepts for behaviourists/ethologists
motor behaviours and motor organization
the brain gets you to move, with the help from 5 basic systems
primary motor cortex
forntal cortex
cerebellum
basal ganglia
brainstem
what does the primary motor cortex shoe
cortical topological importance of hands and mouth
what does cerebellum control
motor control, coordinaton, motor timing and precision
what does the basal ganglia control
sequencing behaviours
what does the brainstem control
basic reflex-like behaviours
ventral striatum
nucleus accumbens
olfactory tubercle
dorsal striatum
caduate nucleus
putamen
other parts of striatum/basal ganglia
globus pallidus
ventral pallidum
substantia nigra
subthalamic nucelus
what is the substantia nigra a source of
dopamine
area associated with basal ganglia/striatum
ventral tegmental area
functions of striatum?
active selecting
sequencing of movements/behaviour
conditoning
conative regulation
affective regualtion
cognition regulation
components of cognitive regulation
working memory
procedural memory
facets of procedural memory
habit learning and skill/motor learning
what are the 3 major dopaminergic pathways invovled in
learning and motivation
what are the 3 major dopaminergic pathways
- mesolimbic
- mesocortical
- nigrostiatal
what is the mesolimbic pathway invovled with
reward-related processes (incentive salience or wanting; pleasure or liking; positive reinforcement
what is the mesocortical pathway invovled with
executive function or cognitive lealrning
what is the nigrostriatal pathway invovled with
reward-related processes and associative learning
what are mesolimbic and mesocortical sometimes referred to as
mesocorticolimbic projection
what is HSAM
highly superior autobiographical memory, also called hyperthymesia
what does HSAM/hyperthymesia invovle
pre-frontal cortex
hippocampus
frontal-parietal lobe junctinon
where are memories: historical
focus on cerebral cortex
where are memories: lashley
sereached for engram, came up with theory of equipotentiality; idea of a global, distributed storage of memories
where are memories: reality
some modularity: the hippocampus, otherwise distributed
importance of neurochemicals
neuroregulators
neuromodulators
neurotransmitters
neuropeptides
neurohormones
what are neurochemicals usually categorized between
excitatory (glutamate) and inhibitory (GABA)
with synaptic activity youget…
long term//lasting changes and potentiation
what is LTP
increase in synaptic transmission because of previous activiation
- sensitization or faciliation
changes for hours, if not days
hebbian learning to store memory traces
ltd?
neurons that dont fire together become weaker
causes of ltp or ltd
communication changes
neurotransmitter release changes
structural changes
drugs to increase memory
nootrophics
old far east wisdom for mmeory
L-theanine combined with caffeine may be perfect mix
why is L-theanine good?
partial agonist of NMDA
increases 5-HT and DA leevels
mildly nootrophic and mildly anxiolytic
