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PSYC*2330 > PSYC*2330 Chapter 1: Background and Rationale for the Study of Learning and Behaviour > Flashcards

PSYC*2330 Chapter 1: Background and Rationale for the Study of Learning and Behaviour Flashcards

1
Q

What is defined as a stimulus and response?

A

A behaviour

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2
Q

What is a stimulus?

A

A detectable change in the internal or external environment

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3
Q

What is the difference between an exteroceptive stimulus and an interoceptive stimulus?

A
  • Exteroceptive: External signals from environment
  • Interoceptive: Internal signals from body
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4
Q

What is an appetitive stimulus?

A

A stimulus perceived as positive or rewarding

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5
Q

What type of stimulus does not initially elicit a response or have an inherent association, but can acquire one through learning?

A

A neutral stimulus

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6
Q

What is an aversive stimulus?

A

A stimulus perceived as negative or unpleasant

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7
Q

What is a response?

A

A quantifiable reaction to a stimulus

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8
Q

Is behaviour predominantly somatic or autonomic?

A

Somatic

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9
Q

What is the difference between learned and instinctual behaviour?

A
  • Learned: Behaviours adapted to the environment
  • Instinctual: Behaviours that are genetically programmed to occur under certain circumstances
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10
Q

Which type of behaviour is generally flexible and open to modification (learned or instinctual)?

A

Learned

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11
Q

T or F: Experience is required for learning.

A

True

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12
Q

T or F: Animal models can be treated as replicas.

A

False

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13
Q

In terms of life experience and learning, why is it easier to study animal models than humans?

A

Animal models make it possible to control all life experiences and make drawing conclusions about learning more accurate

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14
Q

Why are animal models ideal when studying neurobiological correlates of behaviour?

A

Their tissue can more easily be taken and investigated

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15
Q

T or F: Animal models can reveal complex behavioural and neural mechanisms of learning.

A

False. Only basic mechanisms.

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16
Q

What are the three Rs of animal research?

A
  • Replacement
  • Reducing
  • Refining
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17
Q

When considering the ethics of animal research, what is meant by “replacement”?

A

Consider replacing animals with other testing techniques

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18
Q

When considering the ethics of animal research, what is meant by “reducing”?

A

Consider reducing the number of animals studied by utilizing statistical techniques

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19
Q

When considering the ethics of animal research, what is meant by “refining”?

A

Ensuring the experimental procedures have been refined to cause the least amount of suffering

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20
Q

What is a non-human species called when used to study a particular biological phenomenon?

A

A model organism

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21
Q

What is an animal model?

A

The manipulations of an animal and/or their environment used to model a disease state or cognitive domain

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22
Q

T or F: Animal models include model organisms.

A

True

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23
Q

What is behaviourism?

A

The theory that all behaviour is based on experience with stimuli and consequences and conscious thoughts are irrelevant

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24
Q

Until the 1600s, what was all human behaviour thought to be?

A

Completely voluntary

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25
Q

Who introduced the notion of some human behaviour being involuntary?

A

René Descartes

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26
Q

What is Cartesian Dualism?

A

The view that actions can be separated into voluntary and involuntary

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27
Q

According to Cartesian Dualism, what controls voluntary behaviour?

A

The mind/ the conscious intent to act

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28
Q

According to Cartesian Dualism, what controls involuntary behaviour?

A

Reflexes caused by stimuli in the environment

29
Q

According to Cartesian Dualism, how does the mind control the body?

A

Through animal spirits released by the pineal gland

30
Q

What is Nativism?

A

The belief that all humans are born with innate ideas independent of experience

31
Q

What is Empiricism?

A

The belief that all humans are born as a blank state and their ideas are acquired both directly and indirectly after birth

32
Q

What does “tabula rasa” mean?

A

Blank slate

33
Q

John Locke proposed which mind-based theory?

A

Empiricism

34
Q

How did British Empiricists believe simple sensations were combined into more complex ideas?

A

Through associations

35
Q

What are the three primary rules proposed by Aristotle for the establishment of associations?

A
  • Contiguity
  • Similarity
  • Contrast
36
Q

In terms of associations, what does the rule of contiguity suggest?

A

If two events repeatedly occur close together in time and space, they will become associated

37
Q

In terms of associations, what does the rule of similarity suggest?

A

If two objects are similar in some aspect, they will become associated

38
Q

In terms of associations, what does the rule of contrast suggest?

A

If two objects are very different in some aspect, they will become associated

39
Q

Which of the three primary rules of associations is not supported by empirical evidence?

A

Contrast

40
Q

What is Hedonism?

A

The belief that the actions of organisms are determined by the pursuit of pleasure and avoidance of pain

41
Q

Thomas Hobbes proposed which mind-based theory?

A

Hedonism

42
Q

Who disproved the idea that animals only act by involuntary processes and suggested that they have mental capacities historically reserved for humans?

A

Charles Darwin

43
Q

What is the law of effect?

A

The notion that learning happens by trial and error and that behaviours leading to desirable behaviours are repeated and those with undesirable outcomes are not

44
Q

Who proposed the law of effect?

A

Edward Thorndike

45
Q

What is the operational definition of intelligence proposed by George Romanes?

A

The ability to learn to make new adjustments or modify old ones, in accordance with the results of one’s own individual experience

46
Q

What is nervism?

A

The idea that all behavioural and physiological processes are regulated by the nervous system

47
Q

What is learning?

A

The enduring change in the mechanisms of behaviour involving specific stimuli and/or responses that result from prior experience with similar stimuli and/or responses

48
Q

Which aspect in the definition of learning emphasizes the distinction between learning and performance?

A

“A change in the mechanisms of behaviour”

49
Q

T or F: A change in behaviour cannot automatically be considered to reflect learning.

A

True

50
Q

T or F: Learning can happen without evidence in performance.

A

True

51
Q

T or F: Sometimes evidence of learning cannot be obtained until test procedures are introduced.

A

True

52
Q

Although the change in behaviour due to fatigue is produced by experience, why can it not be considered learning?

A

The change disappears when the individual rests

53
Q

T or F: Alterations in physiological or motivational states are considered learning.

A

False

54
Q

Why is maturation not considered learning?

A

Because the change in behaviour occurs with the passage of time, not experience

55
Q

What is required to determine whether a change in behaviour is the result of learning and not other factors?

A

Experimental research methods

56
Q

What is a between subject design?

A

Involves comparing the behaviour of an experimental group and a control group

57
Q

What is a within subject design?

A

Involves studying the behaviour of one group across time

58
Q

What is the general-processes approach?

A

Involves generalizing the processes of learning across species and situations

59
Q

What is an important distinction made concerning the general-process approach?

A

The generality is assumed to exist in the rules/processes of learning, NOT in the diversity among stimuli and responses or the speed at which different species learn

60
Q

Which part of the neuron receives information?

A

Dendrites

61
Q

In which direction do messages travel along a neuron?

A

From dendrites to axons

62
Q

What occurs in the dendrites when threshold is reached?

A

Na+ channels open

63
Q

When a neuron is at rest, is the inside or outside more negative?

A

The inside is more negative

64
Q

What are the 10 steps of an action potential

A
  • Threshold is reached
  • Na+ channels open
  • Membrane begins depolarizing
  • K+ channels open
  • Membrane is fully depolarized
  • Na+ channels close
  • Membrane is repolarized
  • K+ channels close gradually
  • Membrane becomes hyperpolarized by K+
  • Extra K+ diffuses away (refractory period)
65
Q

What is a synapse?

A

The space between the axons of one neuron and the dendrites of another

66
Q

What happens when the action potential reaches the presynaptic terminal?

A

Neurotransmitters are released onto the postsynaptic membrane of the next neuron

67
Q

Depolarization of the presynaptic terminal triggers which ion channel to open?

A

Ca2+

68
Q

T or F: Experience can alter how neurons operate.

A

True

69
Q

T or F: Neural mechanisms are adaptable/plastic.

A

True

PSYC*2330 (13 decks)

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