What is learning?
acquisition, from experience, of new knowledge, skills, or responses that results in a relatively permanent change in the state of the learner.
What are the 3 principle of learning?
- based on experience
- produces changes in the organism
- changes are relatively permament
What is habituation?
- a general process in which repeated or prolonged exposure to a stimulus results in a gradual reduction in responding
- occurs in even simplest organisms
What is sensitizing?
when presentation of a stimulus leads to an increased response
What are 2 fundamental laws of behaviour?
- Motivation: selection of actions
- Learning & memory: the ability to use information that’s not currently present
What are the 3 ways we learn?
- Through association
- Through consequences
- Through acquisition of info that guides behaviour: observational
What is Classical conditioning?
pairing a neutral stimulus with a meaningful event or stimulus
What are the 3 ingredients of classical conditioning?
- Unconditioned stimulus: stimulus that leads to a response w/o prior learning
- Unconditioned response: automatic, reflexive response w/o prior learning
- Neutral stimulus: stimulus that doesn’t innately provoke a response
What is eye blink conditioning?
- tone followed by puff of air administered to one eye (US)
- puff of air causes eye to blink (UR)
- Eventually tone alone causes eye blink (CR)
What is operant conditioning?
- form of learning that uses reinforcement and punishment
- reinforcement: increases likelihood of behaviour
- punishment: reduces likelihood of a behaviour
What are the cognitive components of operant conditioning?
- organisms behave as though they have clear expectations about the outcomes of their actions & adjust actions accordingly
- associative mechanisms that underlie operant conditioning have their roots in evolutionary biology
What is acquisition?
- Linking a neutral stimulus to an unconditioned stimulus
- Neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response
What is extinction?
gradual weakening of a conditioned response that results in the behaviour decreasing or disappearing
What is spontaneous recovery?
reappearance after a pause of an extinguished conditioned response
What is generalization?
Tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses
Who illustrated the concept of generalization?
Pavlov: attached vibrators to various parts of dogs body
What is associative bias?
We have innate preference for forming associations that can override statistical correlations
eg. tone + taste paired with poison > taste provokes CR
tone+taste paired with shock> tone provokes CR
What is discrimination?
the capacity to distinguish between similar but distinct stimuli
What is classical conditioning?
- created by Pavlov and explained by Watson
- learning through association of 2 stimuli to create a response
- demonstrated learning process can be studied objectively
- applies to all species
Who applied Pavlov’s concept to their study?
Watson in his study of Little Albert
What is Thorndike’s law of effect?
behaviours that are followed by a “satisfying state of affairs” tend to be repeated, and those that produce an “unpleasant state of affairs” are less likely to be repeated.
How do drug overdoses occur with classical conditioning?
- When drug is injected, the entire setting functions as the CS, and the addict’s brain reacts to the heroin by secreting neurotransmitters that counteract its effects.
- Over time, protective physiological response becomes part of CR occurs in the presence of the CS but prior to the actual administration of the drug
- If the drug is consumed in a new
setting, much of the conditioned tolerance will disappear and the addict will be more likely to overdose
What is Hebb’s rule?
the act of sending a NT to a neuron strengthens the bond between the 2, making it easier for them to transmit to each other next time
What is long term potentiation?
a process whereby repeated communication across the synapse between neurons strengthens the connection, making further communication easier
