Simple Learning - Its Role In Beh Of Non Human Animals

Question 1

Classical conditioning AO1

Conditioning
Timing
Extinction/spontaneous recovery
Stimulus generalisation/discrimination

Answer 1

UCS (food) -> UCR (salivating)
NS (bell) -> No Response (no salivating)
UCS (food) paired with NS (bell) -> UCR (salivating
CS (bell) -> CR (salivation)

Forward timing (NS presented before UCS) STRONG
Backward, simultaneous, trace all provide weak associations 

Extinction - if CS appears without UCS association is lost

Spontaneous recovery - can recover if CS and UCS are presented together - demonstrates adaptability

Stimulus generalisation/discrimination - stimulus related to CS eg other bells can still elicit CR - will not occur if v different
- if other stimuli are presented then the animal can learn to differentiate

Question 2

Classical conditioning AO2

Garcia
Garcia and Koelling
Blue Gourami fish
Evolutionary reductionist

Answer 2

Garcia - dressed mutton in sheep skin which had been infected with poison - wolves and cayotes led to it but neither ate it - still applicable in wild
BUT Garcian conditioning differs in - taste aversion, one trial learning, extinction harder, continuity - long delay didn’t effect learning of beh, social learning

Garcia and Koelling - 2 groups of rats - one group electrocuted, one made sick through exposure to x-Ray’s - only second group avoided as sickness = biologically irrelevant

Blue gourami fish - male fish in tank - flashed red light - even acted agg when male fish not there / female fish - flashed red light - acted flirtatious even when female not there

Ev reductionist - what may appear as classical conditioning may be reflective of evolutionary adaptation eg taste pivotal to survival

Question 3

Operant Conditioning AO1

Thorndike
Skinner

Answer 3

Thorndike - if an action has pos consequences it’s more likely to be repeated
- tested this with a puzzle box, placed a hungry cat inside with food outside and a button that freed it - got quicker over time

Skinner - aimed to get an animal to change its beh in anticipation of a future event / rats placed in a box - eventually they press the lever releasing the food

• learns as a consequence for this beh, something pleasant will happen
• they now recognise to press the lever when they want food

Pos reinforcement, neg reinforcement, primary and secondary reinforcers

Question 4

Operant conditioning AO2

West and King
Breland and Breland
Tolman and Holzik

Answer 4

W&K - cowbirds - identified 2 groups of cowbird - geographically separated - each have diff accents - reared one in isolation and it’s song was far richer to be understood by both - found females only responded to certain songs so changed their song to fit this

B&B - instead of learning desired beh an animal will misbehave and learn something closer to instinctual beh - raccoons hired to pick up coins and deposit in bank - instead they rubbed the coins - closer to food washing habits

T&H - rats in a maze, g1 - food at end of maze - solved in 17 days, g2 - didn’t solve - no food, G3 - food intro’d on 10th day and solved in 3 - latent learning