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Learning > Unit 1: introduction to the psychology of learning > Flashcards

Unit 1: introduction to the psychology of learning Flashcards

1
Q

Why should we understand behaviour?

A

our quality of life depends on the actions of ourselves and others

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2
Q

What does behaviour result from?

A

complex interaction between genetics and environment

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3
Q

How is evidence of learning achieved?

A

observing a change in behaviour

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4
Q

Is behaviour only determined by learning?

A

no, there are other factors influencing our performance

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5
Q

Which are the aspects that most definitions of learning include?

A

enduring change in mechanisms of behaviour
involving specific stimuli/ responses
result from prior experience with similar stimuli

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6
Q

What must any systematic effort to understand behaviour consider and why?

A

what we learn
why we learn it
-> many aspects of behaviour are results of learning

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7
Q

What is the main purpose of learning?

A

adaptation to the environment
-> physiological processes don’t take care of all adaptive functions, and even those that do can be improved
-> need to learn to find new food sources

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8
Q

What does the integrity of life depend on?

A

successfully achieving number of biological functions

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9
Q

Why do birds have to be able to recognise their children?

A

offer care for children
enhances ability to care for own offspring

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10
Q

What is included in learning?

A

acquisition of new behaviour
decrease or loss of previously common response

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11
Q

Does all learning require specialised training?

A

no, we can also learn without an expert teaching us
-> interaction with social and physical environment

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12
Q

How do animals normally learn?

A

trial and error

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13
Q

Phobia

A

learnt fear response to objects/ situations

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14
Q

Learning in drug abuse

A

difficulty resisting automatically triggered impulses to use substance
-> learnt associating of drug + positive effect

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15
Q

Is accumulating knowledge and making connections with previous information also learning?

A

yes

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16
Q

What is the difference between performance and learning?

A

performance: action at a particular moment, can be measured and observed
learning: change in mechanisms of behaviour, making connections with previous information

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17
Q

Why are changes in behaviour due to fatigue not associated with learning?

A

too short-lived
behaviour returns to normal after resting

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18
Q

Why are changes in behaviour due to maturation not associated with learning?

A

child being able to reach food on shelf due to growth isnt learnt

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19
Q

Related to biology, which other concepts are not related to learning?

A

physiology and motivational states
administration of some drugs
Hormonal states

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20
Q

Where do theoretical approaches to the study of learning have their roots and why?

A

the philosophy of descartes
before him
-> behaviour voluntary, determined by free will and not automatic

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21
Q

What did Descartes claim and which concept did he come up with to combine free will and automatic reactions?

A

many things are automatic reactions to external stimuli
Dualisitc view: cartesian dualism

22
Q

What are reflexes?

A

automatic and involuntary responses to external stimuli
mediated by NS without conscious effort

23
Q

How do reflexes work? (from beginning to end)

A

Stimulus that triggers reflex response
-> sensory receptor detects stimulus and changes inf to electrical signal
-> Afferent nerve: signal from receptor to CNS
-> Integration centre: Brain or spinal cord processes inf and determines response
-> efferent nerve: signals from CNS to effector organs to produce response

24
Q

What is a reflex arc and what does it consist of?

A

basic mechanism underlying most reflexes
components:
Stimulus
Sense organ
Brain/Spinal cord
Muscles
Behaviour (involuntary)

25
Q

What is voluntary behaviour?

A

independent of external reflexes
conscious and deliberate with clear intention and conscious decision-making

26
Q

What’s the pineal gland?

A

endocrine gland regulating circadian rhythm by producing melatonin
for descartes: seat of the soul -> gateway to body and mind, site of their interaction

27
Q

How does the mind initiate voluntary behaviour?

A

by tracking and correcting involuntary behaviour

28
Q

Why did Descartes assume that animals only had access to involuntary behaviours?

A

nonhuman animal behaviours are reflexive responses to external stimuli

29
Q

Which 2 intellectual traditions did cartesian dualism stimulate?

A

mentalism
reflexology

30
Q

Mentalism

A

concerned with workings of the mind

31
Q

Reflexology

A

concerned with reflexive behaviour

32
Q

Nativism

A

Descartes
people are born with innate ideas
existent in all humans independant of personal experience
examples:
concept of god and self, shortest distance between two points is a straight line, basic axioms of geometry

33
Q

Empiricism

A

John Locke
all ideas aqcuired directly or indirectly through experiences after birth
humans born with mind as tabula rasa (blank slate, no preconceptions)
-> inf encountered only through experience

34
Q

What did Hobbes suggest?

A

agreed with empiricism
voluntary behaviour governed by hedonism

35
Q

Hedonism

A

pleasure and paint as ultimate determinants of human behaviour
people act in pursuit of pleasure and avoidance of pain
-> behaviour controlled by positive and negative consequences

36
Q

What did british empiricists focus on and why?

A

associations
-> combine simple sensations into more complex ideas

37
Q

What exactly is an association?

A

the connection between the representation of two events
-> first event activates representation of second one

38
Q

ideas

A

originate from experience
simple ideas are combined into more complex ones via association

39
Q

Who established primary rules and which ones are there?

A

Aristotle
Contiguity: most important, things repeatedly occuring together in space and time become associated
Similarity
Contrast

40
Q

Are all primary rules true?

A

no, contrast isn’t backed up by contemporary research

41
Q

Secondary rules

A

intensity
frequency

42
Q

What were the results of forming associations in the nonsense syllable experiment?

A

strenth of associations improves with training
material with meaning remembered 10x easier
the closer on the list the stronger the association
forward association > backward association

43
Q

What is the relationship between stimuli and responses?

A

stimuli dont always directly elicit responses
responses dont always reflect stimulus strength
-> weak stimulus can cause strong response

44
Q

What did Sechenov describe?

A

stimuli can also elicit inhibition after punishment
Complex forms of behavior are reflexive responses to stimuli too weak to notice

45
Q

What did Pavlov discover?

A

not all reflexes are innate
you can create new ones through association

46
Q

What are the primary fields of research on nonhuman animals?

A

Comparative psychology (evolution of mind)
Functional neurology (how NS works)
Developing animal models (study behaviour)
-> dominate contemporary research in learning

47
Q

What did Darwin discover?

A

Human mind as product of evolution
man descended from lower form
animals are capable of imitation, curiosity, memory and attention

48
Q

Nervism

A

all principle physiological functions are governed by NS
-> learning processes have origin in NS

49
Q

What are the advantages of using nonhuman animals to gain information about human behaviour?

A

more easily controlled
less expensive
simpler processes

50
Q

Issues of using animals in research

A

ethical treatment
ethical dilemma: is it justified?

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