Unit 2: Elicited behaviour, Habituation and Sensation Flashcards
Are nativists or empiricists more accurate?
nativists were overall closer to the truth
Is behaviour infinitely flexible?
no, it depends on the pre-exisitng behaviour systems
What are examples for genetics and the environment influencing characteristics and traits?
Intelligence
Addiction
Mental health
Genetic determinism vs free will
genes predispose behaviours
environment, life and capacity for choice are important as well
How are behaviours complex?
result from the interaction between genes and environment
-> identifying each role difficult
plasticity/ adaptability
brain plasticity and our ability to adapt ourselves to the environment helps overcome some genetic predispositions
What is learning according to the nativist position?
equal to shaping a wooden statue
-> most successful when considering preexisting behavioural structures
Whats the most simple form of elicited behaviour and what does it involve? Is it learned?
reflex
stimulus - response
not all relations between s- r learnt, some phyiological
Why can you say that S and R are linked?
S is (often) followed by R
R rarely occurs without S
Which type of neuron transmits a signal from an afferent neurone to an efferent neurone (in most cases)?
interneurone
What is the purpose of reflexes?
necessary for survival
e.g. feeding reflex, respiratory occlusion reflex, milk-letdown reflex
What are Modal action patterns (MAPs) and what do they include?
response sequences specific to a species or group of species
-> some only occur in certain species (e.g.gull pecking dot on parents beak)
involve many aspects of behaviour (sexual, territorial, aggressive, …)
What did Tinbergen and Perdeck conduct and what did they find out?
test: pecking in chicks with artificial models of gull adults and changed beak characteristics (other characteristics fixed)
-> beak must be long, thin, pointed downward with red patch near tip
-> colour, shape and noises irrelevant
What’s a supernormal stimulus?
sign stimulus exaggerated to produce larger response
-> also plays major role in social and sexual behaviour (e.g. cosmetic and perfume)
What are individual actions usually organised into?
functional behaviour sequences
What were behaviour sequences originally divided into in behavioural psychology?
appetitive and consummatory behaviour
appetitive: brings organism in contact with stimulus, releases consummatory behaviour
consummatory: completes action
Which part of the original behaviour sequence can vary more?
appetitive behaviours
How can elicited behaviour be modified?
through experience
-> increases of decreases via sensitisation or habituation
What is habituation?
the reduction of an elicited response due to repeated presentation of the stimulus
Is habituation universal?
No, it is stimulus specific
Apart from being stimulus specific, what else does habituation depend on?
attention
How does habituation relate to obesity?
normal-weight participants showed habituation to taste stimulus
overweight participants didn’t
-> lack of habituation may be related to obesity
What were the results of Bashinki et al. study about visual attention in infants?
visual attention changes with familiarity (which depends on the nature of the stimulus)
complex stimuli produce initial sensitisation, then habituation
infants distinguish between complex and simple stimuli
What’s the startle response and what are some characteristics?
defensive response to a potential or actual attack
sudden jump, tensing of upper body muscles, raised shoulders, pulling back of head into shoulders
Why has the startle response been extensively investigated?
because of its role in fear and defensive behaviour
How can the startle response be measured?
in rats
measured by putting rat on surface with pressure sensor
-> startle response increases pressure against floor
Which types of habituation are there?
Long-term habituation: when stimuli are widely spaced in time
Short-term habituation: stimuli presented closely together
What’s sensitisation?
stimulus producing greater elicited response due to state of arousal
How does arousal relate to our experiences?
it intensifies them
What’s the adaptive function of habituation and sensitisation?
habituation helps us ignore what’s benign
sensitisation helps us attend to what’s important
What’s the relation between sensory adaptation and behaviour?
change in elicited response due to decreases in sensitivity
What’s the relation between fatigue and behaviour?
changes in elicited behaviour due to decreased ability to contract and relax muscles
Habituation and sensitisation on a biological level
habituation inhibits the activity of sensory neurones while sensitisation facilitates the activity of motor neurones
What does the dual process theory want to explain?
changes in responses to stimuli due to habituation and sensitisation
Habituation process
neural process producing decreases in responsiveness
Sensitisation process
neural process producing increases in responsiveness
Habituation vs habituation process & sensitisation vs sensitisation process
effects: observable behaviours
processes: underlying mechanisms
-> behavioural outcome is the net effect of both processes
In which part of the NS does the habituation process occur?
S-R system
activated every time stimulus is presented
-> each presentation causes build-up of habituation
In which part of the NS does the sensitisation process occur?
state system
determines organism’s general level of responsiveness
activated by arousing events
Complex, emotional behaviours
biphasic (primary and secondary response/ effect)
change with experience
-> primary resonses decrease while secondary responses increase
Which process causes people to build up a tolerance against drugs?
habituation
What does oponent process theory state?
elicited emotional responses push emotional states away from normality in one directon
-> triggers counter-acting response in opposite direction
