Unit 1 Flashcards
Change is the only constant
Who?
Why?
Lucretius - Roman philosopher, 2000 years
Natures struggle to survive is due to change.
Ie: Climate, prey animal, camouflage, faster predators, diseases, population increase and resources, moving continents, glaciers, sun, drivers
Malthus vs. Darwin
Theory Subject
Opinions
Human population growth
Resources are limited, population growth=disaster
vs.
Population growth = competition for resources = some die 
Theory of adaptation
Who
What
____
Darwin
Offspring are preserved due to PROFITABLE changes. Any variation, cause, size 
Genetic basis for natural selection,
Who
Darwin’s Understanding of it
Gregor Mendel (Austrian, founder of genetics) not known until 1900s.
Knew beneficial characteristics are passed down generationally pending environment but not sure how. 
Genetic variance in species, and natural selection
Darwin vs. Critics
Identical genes = no selection. Organs become increasingly sophisticated
Vs.
Even with variation, natural selection cannot account for the sudden appearance of complex organs, such as the human eye 
Examples of:
1) gradual changes
2) rapid changes
1) Human brain, guppies, skin color (melanin)
2) Global epidemics, peppered moth 
Define
Reflex
___ ___ ___
Example
Non-Useful
A reflex is a RELATIONSHIP between a EVENT and a simple  BEHAVIOUR
Ie: dirt in eye
R/dirt/lid movement
…
Allergies. Seizures.
Amoeba Reflexes
Extends and pulls, reflex is when it withdraws and engulfs 
Ie: limb from pain
1) Rooting Reflex
2) Salivary Reflex
1) Touch cheek = baby turns, nipple touch = sucking 
2) Begins digestion
Saliva + Food = swallow = peristalsis
(chain)
Acronym
MAP
Aka
Modal Action Pattern
…
Instinctive behaviour (x)
Fixed-action patterns.
Species-specific behavior. 
MAP vs. Reflex
___ ___ ___
They differ because MAPs involve the ENTIRE organism and are more COMPLEX and  VARIABLE. May appear deliberate. 
MAPs
Examples
Migration, mating, finding food, safety, offspring.
Spiders. Wood Peckers. Cats back, Peacock
MAPs in Humans
discuss
Unknown. Lack monotonous character. 
ie: instincts, sex, social, maternal, territorial
Vs
Spider webs and birds nests
Fixed action pattern in tropical army ants
Describe
Follow a chemical trail in forest from prev. ants. On a flat surface, no obstacles to direct, they move toward the ant beside them, marching in circle. 
Define
General behavioural trait
vs
Fixed-action patterns 
The tendency to engage in a certain kind of behavior that occur in a wide variety of situation’s
I.e.: shy, aggressive, anxious.…
1) Released by many event varieties versus one 
2) plasticity of behaviour
ie: spider vs aggressive rat
3) heredity is a factor
Define
Releaser
Specific kinds of environmental events that illicit MAPs
What is the opposite of impulsive?
Obsessive-compulsive
How does genetic engineering demonstrate the role of genes and behavioural traits? 
What about in humans?
Removing one gene from mice, placing on an unfamiliar white surface. Engineered were bolder.
Another study showed genetic component in social dominance. 
Humans: No engineering, twin studies and specific gene studies
ie: Characteristics that can be bred in animals, such as aggressiveness, activity, level, drug abuse, risk-taking
What are the limits of natural selection?
___
IE
The chief problem with natural selection is that it is SLOW.  to cope with change, generational
**Guppies: 13-26 generations (8 yrs) bc short-lives. 
Rabbits dodging trucks
Define and discuss mutations
Abrupt changes in genes, Can possibly sweep through a population if it has a significant advantage
Why can hybridization help in species adaptation?
IE
Cross, breeding of closely related species = gene variability but hybrids are often sterile 
IE: 1-4% Of European and Asian descent is homo Neanderthalensis, a species distinct from Homo sapiens. Grizzly and polar bear.
 Jeans me a jump from one area of a chroma zone to another, changing the influence.  still takes long time.
What is a faster version of natural selection?
Rapid change that occurs within the lifetime of the individual. “ Evolved modifiability” a.k.a. learning 
Natural selection helps the ___ to adapt to change, not the ___
Species, individual
What is the criticism to “learning has been described as the acquisition of behavior”
Learning is a change in behaviour due to experience. Due to a change in environment.
*CHANGE vs acquisition
Learning does not always involve acquiring, but always change
ie: Quit smoking, stop, biting, nails, fight less 
Durability shouldn’t be a factor
ie: chest pain or star explodes
Discuss evidence that covert speech is a diminutive form of speech.
Mumble/inner, tiny or short
If thinking, was different than Ouvert speech, stimulation, probably wouldn’t interfere with both

ie: Magnetic stimulation to the area of the brain involved in language interfered with overt and Covert
Stroke interferes with ability to speak to others and herself, Neuroanatomist. 
Discuss unconscious thoughts
They are not a behaviour nor a thought. Oxymoron.
ie: Brains routine activities like salivary glands or liver
What is stimulus?
Examples
___
Physical changes in environment.
…
Air pressure = sound
Light waves = sights
Fragrance of a rose (sig. Beyond physical properties. Remind us of someone) but their physical properties to find
…
A stimulus is an environmental event that is capable of affecting BEHAVIOUR
What is experience?
Relate experience to behavior, and learning
Examples 
A change in the environment…
Learning is due to experience, thus learning is a change in behaviour due to changes in the environment
Do all changes in behavior, even those resulting from changes in the environment, qualify as learning?
Examples
But no. Not if due to drugs, injury, aging, disease
Tranquilizer x= learn to be calm
Agreeable ppl + head injury = argumentative
Relating to natural selection, no change in environment, no change in species. For learning, no change in environment, no change in behaviour
Define habituation
Examples
___
Habituation involves a DECREASE in the probability or intensity of a response…as a result of repeatedly invoking the response
Loud loses affect cars, measured in EEG
Noise = HR baby/fetus
What factors influence habituation?
The rate of habituation depends on:
Intensity
Variations
Number of times it happens
Intervals between repeated
What is the focus of the nature versus nurture argument?
Criticize its use as a debate strategy.
Examples
Heredity versus learning,in determining behaviour.
…
Create an artificial division
Cats and Rats - Kuo (29)
Aggression in humans - Wilson: Most violent comes from genetics and learning. Aboriginal African murder rate With competition for resources, Semai fighting gorillas 
Describe evidence that indicates that heredity and environmental factors influence the ability to learn
Hart & Risley: Study of children’s home environments (29)
-Race and socioeconomic held constant
-More verbal exchange, higher on intelligence tests
Behaviour is anything an organism does that can ___
Be measured
Kuo’s Experiment showed that whether cats killed rats depended on whether they saw ___
Their mothers kill rats
What two forces contribute to behavior?
Natural selection, which modifies characteristics of the species, including behaviour
Learning, which modifies the behaviour of the individual
Explain the meaning of Thomas Henry Huxley’s quote
Example
Huxleys “strikes at the heart of what it means to be a scientist, especially a behavioural scientists. The ability to be guided by one’s observations above all else is essential. 
Do not look for an explanation of behaviour inside the mind. Use the natural science approach. Learning is a natural phenomenon and can, and must be accounted for like any other natural phenomenon 
Describe the law of parsimony
What is its relation to hypothetical events? 
fundamental principle of science.
The simplest explanation
The fewer assumptions [unverified events] required by an explanation, the better.
ie: geocentric vs. Heliocentric theory (sun. current)
Scientists accept explanation of behaviour that rely on hyp event - Take place in mind.
Freud’s Thanatos - Unconscious drive towards self destruction. Law of parsimony says that if hereditary and environmental events, are explained by observed natural phenomenon, there’s no point in speculating about the conscious or unconscious mind. 

Name, and describe the ways of measuring learning (7)
Examples
Changes in:
1) qty of errors:
ie: rat maze, spelling list
2) topography: The form the behaviour takes.
ie: Mirror, tracing, fish, movement
3) intensity:
ie: rat lever, dog bark volume
4) speed:
ie: rat maze, recite ABCs, surgeon, table manners
5) latency:
ie: dog salivation, x-table, avoid snap judgements (vs)
6) rate or frequency: shows subtle changes. Cumulative recorder > computers 
ie: pigeon pecking, decoding Morse code, musician slowing (vs)
7) Fluency: errors + rate (correct per min)
ie: math score 10/12 = 10/min
*need original ie
anecdotal evidence (& flaw) VS case studies
1st or 2nd hand personal experience. Often “in my experience” “they say that”. Maybe specific, number of errors made.
‘It’s foolish [but what other options? selecting a marriage partner] Provide useful leads and popular wisdom. Not always wrong, Need better evidence
I.e. Whole language is ineffective, but one person’s experience of that is just an Anecdote
vs
Particular individual inconsiderable detail, rather than casual Observation. Better because it’s more systematic.
Used in medicine and economists. Schools with good results
Descriptive studies
Advantages,
Disadvantages 
Often interviews or questionnaires
Analyze data from many cases
+
Reduce the risk of Over generalization
Statistical analysis looks at reliable differences between groups
-
Superficial [case study advocates]
May suggest hypotheses to explain a phenomenon, but cannot test them [determine cause-and-effect]
Independent variable.
Dependent variable
Define.
Original Examples.
1) manipulated
2) varies freely
In learning: change in environment effect on behaviour
Mad minutes with paper or Q cards, results
Note:
controlled variable
Non-experiment
Between-subjects experiment
Describe
Example
Why is random assignment appropriate?
Compares the responses of different groups of people under different conditions [independent variable]
Experimental group is exposed to a anticipated aggression producing experience.
Control group is not
AKA between group or group designs
May use multiple groups. MembersCan be tested individually.
Validity of this assumption rests on the extent of which the participants Being compared are alike
Random assignment~ More people equals Less differences
Match sampling
Within-subject experimental design
Define
Original Example  In the form of ABA reversal design
Diet. School reward.
Involves comparing responses made by the same subject or group under different conditions. The same subjects received different values of the independent variable at different periods of time during the experiment.
Baseline Period (A)
Tx period (B)
Return to baseline (A)
ABA = Return to baseline and retast to ensure no outside factors influence the results, in the same study.
More convincing when replicated, large numbers not required. Statistical analysis not required usually
Within subject designs.
Vs.
Between subjects design. 
Number of participants used
Use of statistics
How extraneous differences among participants are controlled
- BS: Random assignment and matching [differences even out]
- WS: Participants against themselves [differences irrelevant]
Chief limitation of experimental research
What helps overcome it? 
Laboratory Experiments
Vs.
Field Experiments
Artificial environment= artificial view
Simple independent variable = simple behaviour
(Control = better results, easier to interpret)
….
Add Field experiences to test lab results.
Rats maze. Rats wild. Student learning, lab, class.
Three reasons for using animals in learning research
1) Control over the influence of heredity [Sourced from research supply companies]
Human twin studies are OK, less identical than we think, can’t rely on them for all research on behaviour 
2) Able to control the participants learning history
3) Ethical reasonings (depression, aggression)
Objections to using animals in learning research
Valid?
Counter arguments?
1)* most common: Results tell us nothing about people
Valid? Researchers are aware of differences but usually similar. Rat experiments must be confirmed by descriptive or experimental studies in people. Usually right.
2) no practical value
Counter: Often answer, esoteric, theoretical questions, often have practical value.
Humane animal treatment/training. 
3) intrinsically unethical
Counter: True. Ie: Chimpanzee 98% human genes. Eat? Ride/jump horses? Animal workers/pets. Not beaten, teased, hot car, no, Vet, abandoned, living quarters
American psychological Association guidelines for research on animals
1) Work for food, but less than domestic or wild animals
2) use of aversives (Stimuli it would avoid given the option).  use only when needed and no more severe then required. Benefits must be worth it.
3) inspections
What is the major criticism regarding the use of computer simulation to replace animal research?
Cannot program it to stimulate the effects of a variable on behavior, until we know what those effects are
What are the assumptions of the natural science approach?
1) all natural phenomenon are caused.
2) Causes proceed their affects.
3) the causes of natural events include only natural phenomena.
4) the simplest explanation that fits the data is best. [the law of parsimony]. 
Define learning
What is it not
The changes in behaviour being measured are learning, not the result of learning
Key components of learning for studying behaviour
1) Natural scientific approach
2) Measures of learning
3) Sources of data
4) Use of animals
Problems with case studies
Take a lot of time
Generalizations are often made on a few cases Not representative of larger group
Cannot answer certain questions about behavior [ladder, Homosexuality aneurotic disorder]
Data comes from people’s reports, not direct observation of behavior
Better control is required (descriptive studies)
