lesson 1 Flashcards
(90 cards)
1
Q
What is required to process the price of a madeleine?
A
You have to be able to represent numbers in your brain, as well as representing the madeleine itself.
2
Q
How is a representation in the brain defined?
A
Some activity in your brain has to correspond somehow to the thing being represented.
3
Q
What does the representation of a madeleine consist of?
A
A pattern of activity in your brain that is invoked whenever you see or taste a madeleine.
4
Q
What are the three basic processes of cognition?
A
- Perceiving a stimulus
- Storing a representation
- Using that representation to drive behavior
5
Q
How can we redefine learning?
A
As the creation, storage, and manipulation of mental representations, and the use of those representations to drive behavior.
6
Q
What is an operational definition in cognitive research?
A
It tells us how we would expect a cognitive process to affect behavior.
7
Q
True or False: We can directly observe cognitive processes.
A
False
8
Q
What does the activation of the hippocampus indicate?
A
It indicates where the spatial remembering process lives, but doesn’t explain how that process works.
9
Q
What is the purpose of the ‘before’ phase in the rat maze experiment?
A
To check that there isn’t something inherently attractive about the food location.
10
Q
What is the significance of the training phase in the rat maze experiment?
A
It allows us to measure how long it takes for the rat to find food and assess learning.
11
Q
What are the three phases of the rat maze experiment?
A
- Before: rat in the maze without food
- During: rat in the maze with food
- After: rat in the maze without food again
12
Q
Why do we not provide food in the test phase of the experiment?
A
To ensure that the subject is using what it has learned to solve the test, without any external cues.
13
Q
What is the purpose of a control group in experiments?
A
To compare the experimental group against it and determine if the changes are due to the manipulation.
14
Q
What does Darwin’s mental continuity argument suggest?
A
There is a continuity between species that extends to our psychology and mental lives.
15
Q
What is comparative psychology?
A
The field that compares psychological processes across species.
16
Q
What is anthropomorphism?
A
Assuming that other animal species are just like us in their cognitive processes.
17
Q
Why is anthropomorphism considered a danger in animal research?
A
It can lead to inaccurate interpretations of animal behavior and cognition.
18
Q
What is one reason why many cognitive experiments are conducted on non-human animals?
A
The cognitive processes of many animals are simpler than those of humans.
19
Q
Fill in the blank: Animals have more offspring than the environment can _______.
A
support
20
Q
What is one ethical reason for using non-human animals in research?
A
There are things we can do to animals that would be unethical to do to human subjects.
21
Q
What does the term ‘fitness’ refer to in the context of natural selection?
A
The likelihood of individuals surviving and reproducing based on their differences.
22
Q
What is the significance of controlling for age in experiments?
A
To ensure that age does not confound the results of learning or behavior changes.
23
Q
True or False: The results of animal experiments can be directly applied to human psychology.
A
True, but with caution due to differences.
24
Q
What is anthropomorphism?
A
The attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities.
25
What was the main goal of the Navy's research with dolphins?
To communicate with dolphins for potential military applications.
26
Who was John Lilly?
A comparative psychologist who worked on dolphin communication.
27
What ethical concern arises from animal experimentation?
Informed consent, as animals cannot give consent.
28
What is the purpose of the approval process for animal experiments in countries like Canada?
To ensure ethical treatment and minimize harm to animal subjects.
29
What is the significance of the cat playing the piano video?
It illustrates that cognitive processes in animals can be misinterpreted.
30
What did Clever Hans the horse demonstrate about animal cognition?
Animals can learn complex responses to cues from their handlers.
31
What is the general process approach in comparative psychology?
Studying universal challenges faced by different species to learn about cognition.
32
What are some universal challenges that all animal species face?
* Finding food
* Avoiding predators
* Finding a mate
33
What is associative learning?
Learning through forming associations between events or stimuli.
34
What is Pavlovian conditioning?
A type of associative learning where an animal learns to connect two events.
35
What is an example of Pavlovian conditioning?
Pavlov's dogs learning to associate the ringing of a bell with food.
36
What are the components of Pavlovian conditioning?
* Stimulus (S)
* Outcome (O)
37
What is operant conditioning?
A type of associative learning where an animal learns the relationship between its behavior and the consequences.
38
What is an example of operant conditioning?
A rat pressing a lever to receive food in a Skinner box.
39
What is the difference between classical conditioning and operant conditioning?
* In classical conditioning, the experimenter controls when events happen
* In operant conditioning, the animal decides when to perform its behavior
40
In classical conditioning, what is the response described as?
Elicited by the stimulus.
41
In operant conditioning, what is the response described as?
Emitted in the absence of any external stimulus.
42
What is the role of stimuli in operant conditioning?
They can serve as cues for the animal about which behaviors to perform.
43
What is operant conditioning?
A learning process where behaviors are modified based on consequences or rewards.
44
What are occasion setters?
Cues that indicate the type of occasion and the relevant behaviors to engage in.
45
In the party scenario, what does the tuxedo indicate?
It indicates the type of party and appropriate behaviors.
46
In the party scenario, what does the costume indicate?
It indicates a different type of party and likely different behaviors.
47
What is the stimulus (S), response (R), and outcome (O) in Pavlov's dog scenario?
S: Research assistant, R: Wagging tail, O: Going to the lab for food.
48
What is the definition of learning in the context of evolution?
The ability of animals to change their responses to adapt to new situations.
49
What is associative learning?
The process by which animals form associations between mental representations of key events.
50
How can we observe learning in animals?
By observing changes in behavior through careful experiments.
51
What does cognition refer to?
A set of mental processes in the brain.
52
What is anthropomorphism?
Assuming that animals are just like humans.
53
What does Darwin's mental continuity argument state?
Animal and human psychology is similar because of our shared evolutionary past.
54
In Jimmy's pizza scenario, what is his internal hunger for specific things?
Stimulus.
55
In Jimmy's pizza scenario, what is ordering the pizza?
Response.
56
In Jimmy's pizza scenario, what is the pizza itself?
Outcome.
57
What type of learning is exemplified in Jimmy's pizza scenario?
Operant.
58
In Joey the rabbit's operant box, what is the flashing light?
Stimulus.
59
In Joey the rabbit's operant box, what is the electric shock?
Outcome.
60
In Joey the rabbit's operant box, what is Joey freezing?
Response.
61
What type of learning is exemplified in Joey's scenario?
Classical.
62
In The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique, first published in 1959, Russell and Burch proposed the concept of the Three Rs. The
The Three Rs stand for Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement. Over the past 40 years the Three Rs have become widely accepted ethical principles, and are now embedded in the conduct of animal-based science in Canada and throughout many countries in the world.
Replacement refers to methods which avoid or replace the use of animals in an area where animals would otherwise have been used. This includes both absolute replacements (i.e., replacing animals with inanimate systems, such as computer programs) and relative replacements (i.e., replacing more sentient animals, such as vertebrates, with animals that current interpretation of scientific evidence indicate have a significantly lower potential for pain perception, such as some invertebrates).
Reduction refers to any strategy that will result in fewer animals being used to obtain sufficient data to answer the research question, or in maximizing the information obtained per animal and thus potentially limiting or avoiding the subsequent use of additional animals, without compromising animal welfare.
Refinement refers to the modification of husbandry or experimental procedures to minimize pain and distress, and to enhance the welfare of an animal used in science from the time it is born until its death.
63
64
The other basic paradigm is the result of Thorndike’s and Skinner’s research. It is now called instrumental conditioning or operant conditioning. This kind of learning is also very important in behavior because
as we have already seen
65
I will often refer to classical conditioning as S-O learning because the organism behaves as if it learns to associate an S and an O (see Chapter 3).
66
In many ways
operant conditioning is a similar affair. In this case
67
At a simple level
classical and operant conditioning boil down to S-O and R-O learning. Both kinds of learning can occur whenever an organism encounters a biologically significant event or outcome (O).
68
One difference between classical and operant conditioning is what the animal appears to learn: In classical conditioning
the animal mainly learns about stimuli; in operant conditioning
69
Again
the distinction is largely academic. Outside the laboratory
70
71
Relations between S
R
72
the idea that any situation involving biologically significant events or outcomes (O) involves an opportunity to associate O with both behavior (R) and with stimuli (S) present in the environment. We study S-O learning
as well as its effects on behavior
73
Figure 1.18A also illustrates two other links besides R-O and S-O. In one
we learn that stimuli actually signal an association between a behav- ior and a significant event. That is what S’s connection with the R-O as- sociation portrays. For the foraging crow (Figure 1.18B)
74
In the 1600s, philosophers began to wonder whether humans are ma- chines that operate according to scientific laws. Descartes’s distinction between mind and body held
that only the body is controlled by such laws. Specifically, the human body (and all animal behavior) is controlled by reflex action.
75
Later philosophers suggested that even the mind is governed by scientific laws. The British Empiricists (e.g., Locke and Hume) argued that
the mind is a tabula rasa at first, with knowledge being written on it by experience. Complex ideas are built up from simple associations, following several laws of association. Rationalists (e.g., Kant) differed from the Empiricists in supposing that the mind is not initially empty, but starts with certain a priori assumptions with which it actively molds experience.
76
Meanwhile, in the 1800s, biologists were beginning to learn more about the physiology of reflexes and reflex action. According to thinkers like Sechenov,
even human thoughts could be understood as reflexes of the brain. By the turn of the 20th century, all this set the stage for Pavlov’s pioneering work on learned “psychic” reflexes. Processes of major sig- nificance could now be studied with conditioning experiments.
77
In the mid-1800s, Darwin’s theory of evolution emphasized that humans and animals
are alike. The early comparative psychologists began to study one of its most astonishing implications: that even the human mind has evolved. To do so, they studied the behavior of animals
in an attempt to identify the cognitive processes that they possess. Ultimately, parsimonious principles won out. Thorndike’s experiments on cat intelligence led to the conclusion that learning could generally be understood by knowing how reinforcers stamp in S-R associations. Thorndike’s work also encouraged interest in conditioning experiments.
78
Watson rescued psychology from the morass of introspection by pro- posing behavior as its subject matter. The main advantage of studying behavior is that
everyone can see it; the facts therefore do not merely depend on what the most powerful people believe or introspect. Wat- son was also empiricistic and saw a central role for learning. Like others before and after him, he also saw the reflex as an abstract thing so that learned reflexes in animal conditioning experiments were directly relevant to the reflexes he saw in humans in the real world.
79
At least two forms of behaviorism emerged after Watson.
Skinner’s radical behaviorism set out to study the empirical relationships between observable events, such as stimuli and responses. This approach identified two types of behavior: respondents, which are behaviors elicited by events that precede them, and operants, which are behaviors that are controlled by their consequences.
80
In contrast, Tolman’s operational behaviorism uses unobservable theoretical constructs (or “intervening variables”) to help explain behavior. These constructs are useful provided they are
carefully anchored to things that can be manipulated and measured objectively. The main idea of operational behaviorism—that unobservable constructs are use- ful and scientifically valid if they are systematically linked to behavioral output—is accepted today by most parts of scientific psychology.
81
Modern Learning Theory accepts an overarching framework that can be used to analyze any example of human or animal behavior.
Behaviors (R) typically occur in the presence of stimuli (S) and precede significant events or outcomes (O), like reinforcers. Several possible relations can be learned between S, R, and O, and each can occur and play a power- ful role. S-O learning is studied with the methods of classical condition- ing, which, as we will see in later chapters, has many surprising features and consequences. R-O learning is studied with the methods of operant conditioning and is also fundamentally important. S may also signal the R-O relation, may be connected directly with R, or may motivate be- havior based on the R-O relation. In this book, we will consider what we know about each of these kinds of learning and their interrelationships.
82
acquisition curve
The phase in a learning experiment in which the subject is first learning a behavior or contingency.
83
mental continuity
84
foraging
the behavior of searching for and consuming food – is a nearly universal challenge (except for a few species, like parasites, who just live on their food). For some species this will mean hunting other animals, for others it means finding just the right plant, but the goal of the behavior is the same in all cases.
85
operant/insturmental conditionng
86
operant
87
elicitation
88
emmission
89
occasion setter
First, consider operant conditioning. Is it really true that the animal emits behavior in the absence of any stimulus? After all, the rat can only press the lever when there is a lever there to press. So, the presence of the lever might serve as a stimulus, or cue, that there is food to be had. Or the rat might learn that food is available whenever it is in a specific cage or room. All these things are stimuli that tell the rat which kinds of behaviors are relevant at the moment. We call these cues occasion setters, because they tell you what kind of occasion this is (much more on those in Lesson 6).
90
Note several key differences between the classical and the operant examples:
In classical conditioning, we (the experimenters) control when both events (S and O) happen. In operant conditioning, the animal decides when it will perform R, which will then trigger O.
In classical conditioning, the animal forms an association between S and O. In operant conditioning, it forms an association between R and O.
In classical conditioning, the first thing that happens is an event in the world (S), and then the animal responds to it (for example, Pavlov’s dogs started salivating). In operant conditioning, the animal’s response (R) is the first thing that happens, before any external event. For this reason, we say that the response in classical conditioning is elicited (by the S) and the response in operant conditioning is emitted (in the absence of any external stimulus).
