Thorndike’s Puzzlebox
graph shows decreasing trend of cat’s response times with each successive trial
Learning
specific modification or change of behavior involving the nervous system that occurs as the result of experience with an external event or series of events in an individual’s life
Learning does NOT include:
maturation of nervous system** (male puppy squatting vs. adult male dog “leg lifting” in urination)
** muscle or nervous system fatigue
* sensory adaptation (vision adapting from a bright to a dark room)
Categories of learning
- Habituation
- Sensitization
- Classical conditioning
- Operant conditioning
- Latent (exploratory) learning
- Observational (cultural) learning
- Insight learning
- Imprinting
Habituation
gradual fading of an unlearned response to a stimulus that proves to be safe/irrelevant
likely the most primitive & universal form of learning
Habituation in Marine Snail, Aplysia (Kandel, 2000)
- simple nervous system (focus on gill retraction)
- habituation involves change at synapses between sensory & motor neurons –> increased cue –> less neurotransmitters released –> response returns a few hours later
velvet monkey alarm calls
frequency increases as danger type intensifies
Ching & Seyfarth: wrr–> neighboring group first spotted; chutters –> 2 groups come together in aggressive conditions
Sensitization
showing a response to a previously irrelevant stimulus because something relevant occured shortly before
ex. octopus seeing crab vs. electric shock –> later response
ex. hawk attacks chicken –> chickens startled by gust of wind
Classical Conditioning
a stimulus (controlled stimulus) can come to serve as a cue that a reward (unconditioned response) is about to occur (contingency between stimulus and outcome
Changes in the stimuli that elicit behavior
- US (ex. food)
- UR (ex. salivation)
- CS (ex. bell)
- CR (conditioned response)
Classical conditioning findings
Strength of conditioning depends on:
1. Consistency w/ which US follows CS
2. Amount of time between US and CS
3. Relevance/strength of US to animal at time presented
- DOES NOT depend on nature of CS
Predispositions to learn (“programmed” learning)
(Garcia, 1966)
- 2 groups of rats: 1 exposed to bright light + sound when drink water; 1 drank sweet water (taste)
- Each group divided into 2: 1 receives shocks after drink; 1 receives X-rays (sick after some time)
Avoid water: Light + Shock; Taste + X-rays (ALS, ATX)
Drank water: Light + X-rays; Taste + Shock (DLX, DTS)
Operant conditioning
actions result in reinforcers (positive/negative) that influence likelihood of those actions occuring again
“trial-and-error” learning
Latent (exploratory) learning
involves experience that modifies behavior at a later time, even though there is no immediate reinforcer at the time of the experience
Observational (cultural) learning
an animal learns to do something by watching what another is doing
ex. chimpanzee “termite fishing”, blue tit drinking milk
Observational learning vs. imitation controversy
Imitation: performing action based on others’ w/o knowing why
ex. orangutans sharing camp chores @ rehabilitation center
ex. dolphins mimic each other + humans
Blue tit
blue tits able to open tops of bottles & skim off cream of milk
Japanese macaques
- Imo washing off sand from sweet potatoes before eating –> 5 years later, 18% of adults & 79% of juveniles copy
- observed separating wheat grains from sand by dropping them into water –> wheat grains float & sand sinks –> spread to macaque population similarly
- bathing in hot springs –> cold reduces stress hormones (esp. for mothers)
Jane Goodall
accused @ time of teaching chimps how to make tools (popular belief was only humans know how to use tools naturally)
M. Tomasello
suggested monkeys & apes may not necessarily learn through observation (all accounts at time were observational rather than experimental evidence) –> trial-and-error learning on its own?
Local enhancement
facilitation of learning that results from drawing attention to a locale or place associated with reinforcement
Stimulus enhancement
when activity of an individual draws the attention of the observer to a particular object
ex. mom & child –> mom eats ants with stick –> child plays with stick before learning purpose
Social enhancement
when the presence of another individual draws the attention of the observer to a particular situation associated w/ reinforcement
Monkey See, Monkey Do?
- put honey in box –> apes use tools to access –> enjoy problem solving?
- orangutan teach to use to rake to get food –> get ignored, prefer to experiment on own 00> know tool can be useful, want to learn how to use (compare to human children)
