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Lecture on the psychology of learning and reflexes by Peggy Andover...

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Lecture 1 

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09/05/2017

Psychology of learning  “change is the only constant” o how do species deal with environmental change?  Some don't respond (die out) and others adapt Change within species  What ends up lasting o Natural selection  Change as an adaption to the environment 

If there’s no change in the environment, there’s no

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change in the species Produces innate forms of behavior that help the organism adapt to the environment  1) reflexes  2) modal action patterns  3) general behavior traits

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1) Reflexes (NOT A BEHAVIOR)  relationship between a specific event and a simple response to that event o ex. Flinching when someone throws something at you  

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general purpose is to avoid injury and obtain/use food (rooting reflex in babies) topographically consistent within a species o look the same within a species o form/frequency/strength/duration (appear and go away)

2) Modal action patterns (aka fixed action patterns)  used to be called instincts  series of unorganized behaviors (usually reflex like) in 

response to an event (releaser) contribute to the survival of the species

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developed to help species live/survive

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difference between reflex and MAP is that this is a complex chain of events o ex: Cats when they get scared (hissing/open mouth/arched

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back/ hair standing) very strong genetic basis little variability within individuals/species/situation reliably elicited by a releaser (generally poses a threat) o housecat and street cat elicit same response

Are there Modal Action Patterns in humans?  Most researchers say we don't  Not consistent across the species because of culture o Ex. Things like maternal actions within humans aren’t the

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same as maternal actions within chimps or someone in USA vs France 3) General Behavior Traits  tendency to engage in a certain type of behavior (ex. Shy,   

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anxious, aggressive, risk taking) different traits within each species occur in a wide variety of situations behaviors associated with a single trait can vary o ex: Anxious  sweaty palms, controlling, fidgety, antisocial, easily scared, no eye contact, passive, high strung, over talkative)  very different within people can be affected by natural selection o ex. Aggression  willing to push people aside to advance and strive how can they naturally select? o Situational  some groups are aggressive some are not o As society evolves  different aspects of aggression factor in

some out So why doesn't natural selection explain all behavior change?  Natural selection is just TOO SLOW and cant see changes in 

behaviors overnight unless something catastrophic happens Factors that can speed up natural selection:

o 1) mutations: 3 arms o 2) hybridization: 2 species that are close that we cross o 3) different location of genes on a chromosome   

if behavior isn’t changed though natural selection what changes it? o LEARNING

Learning:  A change in behavior due to EXPERIENCE  What is behavior? o Anything that any organism does that can be measured o What about thoughts/emotions (not observable)?  Behaviorist don't think they are 

What is an experience? o Any kind of physical change in environment or something in the environment that can affect behavior  Stimulus can be internal (embarrassing thought can

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change behavior) or external Learning is not changes in behavior due to injury, drugs, aging, illness o brain injury  emotional labile due to it cry all the time, not

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an instance of learning The most basic types of learning  1) HABITUATION: decreases in the intensity or likelihood of a reflex response due to repeated presentation of the stimulus o ex. Putting on clothes and forgetting that you are wearing them o if we paid attention to everything then we wouldn't be able to 

pay attention to changes 2) SENSITIZATION: increase in the intensity or likelihood of a reflex response due to repeated presentation of the stimulus (or stimuli in the same class) o ex. First time you hear “um” and then you hear every single time after o because we have this repeated stimulus were going to have an over reflexive response to it o could see sensitization to repeated shock

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Habituation vs Sensitization o Habituation  Decrease in strength of behavior  Short-term (getting dressed and feeling clothes) or  

long-term (living next to a busy street) Usually low-intensity stimuli Stimulus-specific generalization  Similar stimuli and similar response to that 

stimulus Ex. Scared of shots… similar response to sewing

needle, tattoo machine etc etc o Sensitization  Increase in strength of behavior  Short-term (particular stimulus or similar ones)  Usually high-intensity stimuli  

Non-specific generalization  Not stimulus specific

09/05/2017 

09/05/2017 ...