Week 2 Slides Flashcards
Thinking about Thinking: Two Systems
- Daniel Kahneman
- Thinking Fast and Slow
- Two Systems
Daniel Kahneman System 1
- Thinking is fast, automatic, effortless
- Happens to you
- Prone to biases
e.g. 2 + 2 = . . . . or Bacon & . . . .
Daniel Kahneman System 2
- A form of deducing and judgement that is conscious purposeful
Critical Thinkers Consider:
- The Evidence
- The Context of Judgement
- Criteria of Judgement
- Theories and constructs for understanding problems and evidence
Critical Thinkers Consider: (9)
- The Evidence
- The Context of Judgement
- Criteria of Judgement
- Theories and constructs for understanding problems and evidence
- Ask hard questions
- Gathers information and interprets it well
- Thinks with an open mind
- Challenges assumptions
- Considers alternative perspective
Critical Thinking: Justifiable
- Information is acquired using informal logic
Identify information that is affected by:
- Prejudice
- Bias
- Propaganda
- Self-Deception
- Distortion
- Misinformation
Critical Thinking does not Guarantee truth or correctness
- We may not have all the relevant information
- We might have biases or incorrect thinking
Questions to Challenge your Beleifs
- What do you believe anyway?
- How well based is the opinion you already hold?
- How good is the evidence?
- Does the current evidence really contradict what you already believe?
- What evidence would be sufficient to change your mind?
- Is it worth finding out about, or is it a case of “why not?”
Challenge your Beliefs: Learning Styles
Claim that a person’s learning style will predict how well they will learn:
- Concept still taught in education degrees
- 90% of teachers think it is true and valuable
- No real evidence to show this
- Many studies have shown this is not true
- VARK questionnaire has low reliability and validity
- Lodge, Hansen & Cottrell, 2016
Use Critical Thinking while Studying
Learning requires good thinking skills
Learning occurs in 2 stages:
- Basic ideas, principles and theories in the content
- Applying thinking skills to activate and apply knowledge from phase 1
Questions for Critical Thinking While Studying
While studying, think of questions like these:
- What does this mean?
- Why did we come to this conclusion?
- What was the source of the information?
- What assumptions led us to that conclusion?
- Why did we make those assumptions?
- What are the implications if our conclusions are incorrect?
- How do I know whether this is true?
- Are there any alternative explanations for this phenomenon?
Opposing thoughts to Study Methods
Summary of Critical Thinking
- A form of judgement that is purposeful & reflective
- Used to make decisions, form opinions, solve problems and challenge our beleifs
- Engaging in System 2 helps us but there is no guarantee that individuals will overcome their biases
Define Learning
- Relatively permanent change in behaviour to any experience that occurs repeatedly
- Not explained by natural causes, maturation, or states of mind like fatigue or drugs
Pragmatism
- William James
- John Dewey
- A philosophical framework to understand psychology
- Scientific theory should be analysed to see if it explains data in a practical way
- Should not speculate on transcendental truth
Pragmatism - Theory & Practice
- Theory and practice are tools to help us understand the world
- They go together and should not be considered separetley
- Assumptions about the mind being bigger that science is not useful and not needed
- Introspection and intuition are not valid
- Observe how we interact with the environment
- Be careful about deciding that behaviours have causes that we cannot observe
Behaviourism divided into 3 groups
- Methodological Behaviourism
- Radical Behaviourism
- Theoretical Behaviourism
Methodological Behaviourism
Private Events exist, but they are subjective and should be ignored
Radical Behaviourism
Private Events exist and they are controlled by the same processes that control our overt behaviours
Theoretical Behaviourism
Private events exist, and they are controlled by the same processes that control our overt behaviours, AND they can influence our overt behaviours.
Pavlovian Conditioning/Associative Learning
Conditioning where a neutral stimulus can evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus
Conditioned Stimulus (CS) ⇒ Conditioned Response (CR)
A type of conditioning in which a neutral stimulus acquires the ability to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus
Associative Learning - Key Terms
- Unconditioned Stimulus
- Conditioned Stimulus
- Unconditioned Respones
- Conditioned Response
Unconditioned Stimulus
A stimulus that has biological relevance to the learner e.g. food
Conditioned Stimulus
- A cue that initially does not elicit a response
- No biological relevance for the learner e.g. bell
Unconditioned Response
- A cue that initially does not elicit a response
- No biological relevance for the learner e.g. bell
Conditioned Response
- A learned response that is elicited to the CS
- Can be the same as the UR e.g. salivation
- Can be preparatory behaviour e.g. freezing
Associative Learning - Acquisition
- The likelihood that a behaviour increases with repetition of CS-US pairing
- Up to a certain point
Associative Learning - Extinction
The probably that behaviour decrease with repeated CS only presentations
Phenomena in Associative Learning: Acquisition
- Blocking
- Conditioned Inhibition
- Latent Inhibition
- Overexpectation
- Spontaneous Recovery
- Rapid acquisition
Acquisition Phenomena: Blocking
- CS-US pairing is established (bell + food)
- New stimulus is introduced but US is not removed (Bell + horn + food)
- Learning to respond to the new stimulus will be blocked
Acquisition Phenomena: Conditioned Inhibition
- CS-US pairing is established (bell + food = salivation)
- New stimulus added but US removed (bell + horn = no food)
- New stimulus becomes Conditioned Inhibitor (CI)
- If CS is presented with CI behaviour will not occur (bell + horn, no food = no salivation
- If CS is presented without CI the behaviour will occur (bell + food = salivation)
Acquisition Phenomena: Latent Inhibition
- If CS is first presented repeatedly without the US (bell + nothing)
- CR is slower to acquire a response than something new (
Acquisition Phenomena: Overexpectation
- Two CS are trained separately to same US (bell + food) & (horn + food)
- Then both CS presented together with US the CR will appear faster than with each CS alone (bell & horn + food = faster salivation)
Acquisition Phenomena: Spontaneous Recovery
- After CR has been extinguished CR will come back if CS if presented again after a period of absence
(food only many times = no salivation at bell) then present (bell + food = salivation) appears faster
Acquisition Phenomena: Rapid reacquisition
- After CR has been extinguished (bell + no food = no salivation)
- CR will return much faster than in the first instance of learning if introduced again
Synaptic Plasticity
- Hebb’s hypothesis “neurons that fire together wire together”
- One neuron repeatedly fires the same message to the next neuron
- The next neuron will adapt to receiving that consistent message
- This causes an enduring or long lasting change to both neurons
- Long Term Potentation - (LTP)
- Long Term Depression - (LTD)
Synaptic Plasticity - LTP & LTD
- Long Term Potentation
- Long Term Depression
- Makes sense theoretically but not quite proven
Areas of the Brain associated with LTP & LTD
- Hippocampus
- Amygdala
- Cerebellum
Behavioural Evidence LTP & LTD
- Drugs that block LTP impairs an animals ability to lear
- Genetically modified rats with enhanced LTD demonstrated better learning than wild rats
Rescorla-Wagner - 1972
- A theory of Pavlov Style Conditioning
- 3 Important Factors
- Learning happens if what happens when a subject attempts something but the result is different to subject’s expectation
- The expectation is based on what the subject predicts will happen or how important the associations of the stimulus is
- The more salient or important the CS is the faster learning happens
- RW model is about how surprising an outcome is and how Associative Learning helps a subject to realign their expectations with the real world
Rescorla-Wager 1972 - ∆V = αβ(λ − ΣV)
Sometimes α and β are combined into K: total salience
∆V
- The Change in the associative strength of a stimulus
- This is what we are trying to find.
- How much learning occurs in a single trial
α
- The salience of the Consditioned Stimulus (0-1)
β
- The Speed of Learning of the US (0-1)
- This is fixed based on the US
ΣV
- The total associative strength of the stimulus
λ
The maximum conditioning possible
Learning and Behaviour is based on Pragmatism
- Is data driven
- Strength of theory is based on how well it explains the data
- Will it work better than other available theories
Behaviourism as a theoretical orientation
- Scientific Psychology should only study observable behaviour
- Can include private events
- Does not necessarily cause outward behaviours
Behaviourism: Learning refers to . . .
- Relatively Permanent change in a subjects behaviour
- Brought about be repeated experiences in a given situation
Associative Learning
- A type of conditioning wher neutral stimulus develop the ability to evoke a response that was originally evoked by something else
- A type of Operant Conditioning
- Rescorla-Wagner models this method where subjects realign their expectations with reality
Operant Conditioning/Instrumental Learning
- Term used by B.F Skinner to describe the effects of the consequence of a particular behaviour on the future occurrence of that behaviour.
Law of Effect
- Thorndike 1898
- Responsed that give a satisfying effet in a circumstance become more likely to be repeated
- Respoinses that give uncomfortable effects become less likely to be repeated
- Reinforcement: A consequence that results in an increase in the frequency of a behaviour
- Punishment: A consequence that results in a decrease in the frequency of a
behaviour
Reinforcement
A consequence that results in an increase in the frequency of a behaviour
Punishment
: A consequence that results in a decrease in the frequency of a
behaviour
The Operant
S ⇒ R ⇒ 0
Discriminative Stimulus ⇒ Response ⇒ Outcome
Sometimes outcome is also called R for Reinforcement
Positive and Negative Reinforcement and Punishment Chart
Schedules of Reinforcement
Certainty/Frequency
Instrumental Learning - Key terms
- Discriminative Stimuli
- Generalisation
- Reactions to Discriminative Stimulus governed by Generalisation and discrimination
- Similar to a CS in Classical Conditioning
Discriminative stimuli
- Cues influence operant behaviour by
indicating probable consequences (reinforcement or non
reinforcement) of a response - Rat only presses lever when light comes on
Generalisation
- Reacting to similar stimuli
- Cat responds to can opener sound
- –> respond to other
kitchen appliance sounds
Stimulus Generalisation
- Little Albert had conditioned fear of rats due to repeated pairings with a loud noise
- His fear was generalised to other furry objects, rabbits, fur coats, Santa Mask
Guttman & Kalish 1956 - Stimulus Generalisation in the lab
- Trained pigeons to respond to light at particular wavelengths
- Pegenos leard to respond to specific wavelengths but also to similar lights
- Generalisation Gradient
- Generalisation Gradient
- Pigeons responded to similar lights to those they were trained on
Hearst et al. 1964
- The higher the rate of reinforcement the more the Generalisation
- Feedback can direct more attention to the relevant stimuli
Matching Law
- Herrnstein 1961
- Instrumental Learning and Choice
- Models the relationship between relative rates of responding and relative rates of reinforcement between two choices
- You can predict a subjects choice of behaviour based on the reinforcement that is provided
- Herrnstein 1961
- Instrumental Learning and Choice
- Models the relationship between relative rates of responding and relative rates of reinforcement between two choices
- You can predict a subjects choice of behaviour based on the reinforcement that is provided
Response Ration MATCHES reinforcement ratio
Factors that Affect Matching: Bias
- Baum 1974
- Inherent factors that consistently produce bias in choices
e.g. handedness
lFactors that affect Matching: Sensitivity
- Davison & McCarthy 1988
- Sensitivity to change in the reinforcer ratio
- Overmatching - Over sensitivity to changes in reinforcer rate
- Undermatching - Under Sensitivity to changes to reinforcer ration
