Test 1

Question 1

Why study learning?

Answer 1

to provide insight into ways in which long lasting changes in behavior occur as a result of experience
→ understanding how experience changes behavior informs us about
Psychological disorders
Evolution of cognition
Functions of the CNS
Constructing AI - how intelligence evolves

Question 2

Learning can be:

Answer 2

The acquisition of new behaviors
Ex. driving
A change in the frequency of previous behaviors
Could be an increase or decrease
Ex. exercise

Question 3

Rene Descartes (1596-1650)

Answer 3

Pre-Descartes, all human behavior was considered free will
Descartes observed many behaviors seemed involuntary
Unable to abandon free will, he maintained some behaviors were voluntary
Thus, dualism - behaviors that we have conscious control over while having many behaviors that are involuntary

Question 4

Reflex

Answer 4

involuntary behaviors that consist of automatic reactions to external stimuli

Question 5

John Locke (1632-1704)

Answer 5

Took umbrage with “free will”
Believed all ideas were acquired through experience after birth (Tabula Rasa - clean slate)

Question 6

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)

Answer 6

Accepted voluntary vs involuntary but believed that the mind operated predictably
Hedonism - the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain

Question 7

Empiricists believed

Answer 7

Empiricists believed all ideas originate from sense experience

Question 8

Complex ideas form as

Answer 8

Complex ideas form as simple sensations combine by associations

Question 9

I.M. Sechenov (1829-1905)

Answer 9

“A small speck of dust can produce a large sneeze”
Complex behaviors can be formed by subconscious stimuli
Believed no behavior was truly voluntary

Question 10

Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)

Answer 10

Demonstrated not all reflexes are innate
Strong associations can create new and lasting behavior

Question 11

Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

Answer 11

Expanded upon the human/non-human overlap
Proposed evolution of physical and mental traits

Question 12

But what is intelligence?

Answer 12

Romanes - the ability “to make adjustments, or modify old ones, in accordance with the results of its own individual experiences”

Question 13

Learning

Answer 13

an enduring change in the mechanisms of behavior involving specific stimuli and/or responses that results from prior experience with those or similar stimuli and responses

Question 14

Material cause

Answer 14

physical changes in the brain that mediate learning

Question 15

Formal cause

Answer 15

theories of learning at the behavioral level

Question 16

Efficient cause

Answer 16

the training procedure with specific stimuli and responses that cause a behavioral change - cause and effect

Question 17

Final cause

Answer 17

evolutionary mechanisms that contribute to the organism’s reproductive fitness

Question 18

Stimulus

Answer 18

an agent, action, or condition that elicits a physiological or psychological response

Question 19

Response

Answer 19

a unit of behavior; a discrete and usually recurring segment of behavior

Question 20

Elicited behavior

Answer 20

behavior that occurs in response to specific environmental stimuli

Question 21

Important characteristics of MAPs:

Answer 21

Unique to a species (usually)
All species members show the behavior
Not the result of prior learning
Behavior occurs in rigid order
Triggered by a specific stimulus (sign stimulus)

Question 22

Sign stimulus

Answer 22

the specific features required to elicit a MAP

Question 23

Supernormal stimulus

Answer 23

an unusually effective sign stimulus based on preferred properties

Question 24

Appetitive behaviors:

Answer 24

Early part of the sequence
Behaviorally flexible
Easy to modify

Question 25

Consummatory behaviors:

Answer 25

End component of the sequence Often species-specific Difficult to alter

Question 26

Habituation

Answer 26

decreased response with repeated stimulation

Question 27

Sensitization

Answer 27

increased response with repeated stimulation

Question 28

Bashinski takeaway

Answer 28

Elicited behavior changed as a function of experience but the condition determines the trajectory ( in 12 x 12 there is some sensitization)

Question 29

Why habituate? Why sensitize?

Answer 29

To organize and focus behaviors based on stimulus relevance

Question 30

Spontaneous recovery

Answer 30

partial restoration of response with the same stimulus after time has passed

Question 31

Dishabituation

Answer 31

restoration of response by a strong extraneous, surprising stimulus

Question 32

Primary process

Answer 32

elicited directly by an arousing stimulus - efficient

Question 33

Opponent process

Answer 33

elicited indirectly by the primary process - inefficient