Introduction to Learning

Question 1

learning flow chart

Answer 1

refer to notebook

Question 2

behaviouralist tradition

Answer 2

main mechanism of behaviourist learning
- pairing of stimulus + response
- i.e. pairing of an environmental stimulus ( to which the learner or subject = aware via 1+ senses) and some B/response on the part of the learner
operant conditioning (Skinner)
mechanisms of behaviouralist learning (+ reinforcement; - reinforcement; extinction; punishment)
BF SKinner had 0 interest in understanding the mental processes
- concern is observable actions
- how they relate to environmental factors

Question 3

cognitive psychology vs the behaviouralist tradition

Answer 3

• cognitive psychology investigates internal mental processes
• emphasis is on internal mental states (attention, perception, memory, problem-solving)

Question 4

text approach to behaviour and learning

Answer 4

awareness of
- behavioural outcome precedes study of underlying neural mechanisms
- behavioural research provides the endpoint, the learned B

Question 5

empiricism

Answer 5

concept that all learning is derived from experience and observations

Question 6

empirical evidence

Answer 6

• info acquired by observation or experimentation
• used to disprove or prove some hypothesis

Question 7

ecological validity

Answer 7

does device/test performance accurately predict Bs in real world?

Question 8

nervism

Answer 8

• philosophical position adopted by Pavlov
• all behavioural and physiological processes are regulated by nervous system
• neuroscience founded on analogous premise; B can be traced to structure and function of the nervous system

Question 9

functional neurology

Answer 9

how the nervous system works, within context of their wider health

Question 10

validity

Answer 10

assessments must measure what they are intended to measure

Question 11

reliability

Answer 11

• different researchers studying the same topic
  1. report consistent outcomes
  2. results are replicated
  3. independent replication of findings; there is strong support for this hypothesis

Question 12

learning

Answer 12

change in the mechanisms of B
1. resulting from experience involving specific stimuli and/or responses involving specific stimuli
2. learning = distinguished from memory
- learning = how we adjust our B based on associations between stimuli, actions, consequences or based on repeated exposure to stimuli
- memory = how we acquire, store, and retrieve knowledge about facts/events/places
3. associations
- develop through conditioning (where stimuli and behavioural responses become connected

Question 13

learning without conscious awareness

Answer 13

biological + necessary for survival
- essential for adaption to the environment and reproductive success
- we must learn to make and withhold responses
- most of what we do occurs without conscious awareness
- e.g. drug users have difficulty resisting automatically triggered impulses to use drugs

Question 14

Pavlov: clarifying S + R

Answer 14

• responses to stimuli changes as a result of experience
• Pavlov showed not all reflexes are innate
• hence, new reflexes to stimuli can be established through mechanisms of association
• Pavlov regarded his studies of digestive, physiology as functions of the nervous system
• modern behaviour theory is built on the concept of stimulus response (S+R)

Question 15

S+R: underlying B

Answer 15

a basic precept in psychology
1. thoughts lead to emotions - emotions lead to B
- thoughts = cognitions, beliefs, opinions
- attitude = extended or long-lived approach to thinking
2. but the overwhelming majority of thoughts = subconscious
- disconcerting thoughts that may suddenly (+frustratingly) come to mind when we try to sleep
3. conscious awareness of thoughts/attitudes
- thoughts/attitudes can be altered
- nature + nurture shape thoughts
4. emotions (+limbic system structures)
- thoughts impact emotions
- emotions are relatively identical around the world
- emotions are impacted by genetics/culture/experience

Question 16

planes of brain scans

Answer 16

• sagittal
• coronal
• axial

Question 17

main emotions and limbic structures: amygdala

Answer 17

1. essential roles in fight-or-flight response, anger, fear
2. attaches emotional significance to memories; key to emotional learning as in conditioned fear responses
3. damage impairs development of conditioned fear responses
4. very fast emotional/behavioural response (in milliseconds)

Question 18

main emotions and limbic structures: hippocampus

Answer 18

1. in floor of leteral ventricle near amygdala nucleus; long term memory formation
2. learning, memory formation
3. mediates spatial navigation; indexes memories for later access

Question 19

main emotions and limbic structures: hypothalamus

Answer 19

1. connects to pituitary gland or hypophysis; main outflow to automatic system
2. regulation of blood pressure, hunger state, internal heat, sleep

Question 20

main emotions and limbic structures: insula

Answer 20

1. awareness of bodily states (interoception - hunger, need to sleep)
2. somatosensory; emotional, cognitive, and motivational signals collected from cortical + subcortical regions
3. important in experiencing emotions (especially disgust), recognition of facial expressions of disgust, anger, anxiety, guilt

Question 21

main emotions and limbic structures: prefrontal cortex (PFC)

Answer 21

1. moderates, influences limbic processing
2. interplay of limbic structures + PFC = essential
3. involved in self-control, judgment, logical analysis, planning, decision-making
   - refer to slide 18 for extra info

Question 22

limbic structures in stressful/non-stressful situations

Answer 22

• PFC regulation during alert, non-stress conditions
• amygdala control during stress conditions
• refer to slide 21, 22, 23

Question 23

limbic structure activation system

Answer 23

info reaches amygdala along 2 separate pathways (graph in notebook)
1. fast path
- sensory info travels almost instantaneously through thalamus directed to the amygdala for priority processing
- believed to prepare for a threat
2. slow path
- by which sensory material travels from the thalamus to the cortex (visual/auditory cortex)
- information is scrutinized in greater detail before being passed on to the amygdala
- may confirm threat via more careful scrutiny

Question 24

amygdala and cognition

Answer 24

• emotional events increase likelihood of activity in amygdala
• increases activity and more likely to improve long-term memory for event
• perception of social stimuli (e.g. deciphering facial expressions)
• damage to amygdala makes it more difficult to evaluate the intensity of fearful faces

Question 25

what changes behaviour?

Answer 25

1. thoughts + emotions 2. stimulus change 3. maturation

Question 26

animal models of human behaviour

Answer 26

- they permit simple and controlled conditions - there have to be similarities between the animal and human - important in drug development

Question 27

learning, performance and maturation distinction

Answer 27

LEARNING - learning = emergent change in B - performance of new responses/suppression of prior B - change in mechanism of B PERFORMANCE - all actions of an organinism at a given time - will likely involved learning - some actions (e.g. reflexes) are not learned MATURATION - usually occurs in absence of learning/training/practice

Question 28

levels of learning analysis

Answer 28

- how neural transmitters and circuits are organized to produce learned responses

Question 29

epigenetics

Answer 29

impact of environment on manifested genetic phenotype

Question 30

nervous system components

Answer 30

CNS: brain + spinal cord PNS: automatic nervous system + somatic nervous system

Question 31

neuron

Answer 31

- involved in execution/inhibition motor commands - dendrites have receptor sites - dendrite receptors transform NTs chemical signal to electrical signal

Question 32

neuron properties: lipid bilayer

Answer 32

- separates inside + outside of cell - prevents random diffusion of ions across the membrane - inside of cell has more negative charge relative to outside

Question 33

neuron properties: electrical potential

Answer 33

- difference in electrical charge - polarization: neuron change on inside of membrane is different from outside - resting membrane potential = negative (about -70mV)

Question 34

NT activity

Answer 34

refer to notebook

Question 35

sodium-potassium pump

Answer 35

- contributes to polarization - helped stabilize membrane potential - increases K+ outside the neuron, decreases Na+ inside - maintains different charge across the membrane - 3Na+ out the cell : 2K+ into cell ratio - refer to notebook for schema

Question 36

resting state: K+ channels

Answer 36

- higher concentration of K+ - outward flow of K+ = electrical potential - differential charge across cell membrane - more + outside the cell, more negative inside - concentration gradient - electrical potential - K+ then achieves equilibrium - concentration gradient equals electric potential due to accumulation of K+ outside cell - electrical potential difference drives K+ into cell

Question 37

action potential: neuronal firing

Answer 37

- determined by the number + frequency of signals the neuron receives - occurs when the sum of excitatory + inhibitory signals leads to a + change in voltage that eceeds the neurons firing threshold

Question 38

action potential: all-or-none principles

Answer 38

- principle that when a neuron fires, it fires with the same potency each time - stronger stimulation results in higher frequency action potential

Question 39

excitatory + inhibitory signals: excitatory postsynaptic cell potential (EPSP)

Answer 39

- glutamate = excitatory; activates ACh receptors (allows K+ and Na+ into the cell) - more Na+ conductance = key to depolarization

Question 40

excitatory + inhibitory signals: inhibitory postsynaptic cell potential (IPSP)

Answer 40

- GABA released in synpse; GABA receptors open Cl- channels - Cl- influx into cell - neuron axon hillock integrates all EPSPs and IPSPs

Question 41

absolute refractory period

Answer 41

- after an ion channel opens + closes, channel cannot open again - followed by relative refractory period - ensure that APs always more away from the cell body to terminal buttons

Question 42

neuron properties and AP

Answer 42

- presynaptic terminal contains vesicles (they hold the NTs) - AP travels along the axon - calcium ions in terminal (involved in infusion of vesicles with presynaptic membrane) - vesicles release NT into synaptic cleft - refer to notebook

Question 43

NT fitting

Answer 43

NT cannot bind with a receptor if it cannot fit, it is only with its particular type of receptor

Question 44

general process approach: assuming general, universal learning principles

Answer 44

- assumption that learning principles are general enough to apply under a wide variety of circumstances - does not deny diversity of stimuli + responses - does not deny there may be different learning rates - focus on commonalities of learning - assumed that learning is a product of the same mechanisms - Skinner's pigeon experiment (slide 48-49)