PS101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Tabula Rasa, B. F. Skinner, Classical Conditioning
Psychology Oct 6
October 18 7-8:30
N1002
Multiple choice and short answer
Chapters 1, 2 and Appendix B
Lateralization
What specific area of the brain is responsible for comprehension of language?
a) Broca’s Area
b) Frontal Lobe
c) Wernicke’s Area
d) Occipital Lobe
*Hippocampus responsible for memory
*Acetylcholine neurotransmitter responsible for movement
Learning
● What is learning?
o Process by which experience produces a relatively enduring change in behaviour
or capabilities (knowing how)
o E.g. racoons playing basketball
Behaviourism
● Focused on how organisms learn
● Examined processes by which experience influences behaviour
● Discovered laws of learning that apply to virtually all organisms
● E.g. ducks imprinting
● Treated organism as tabula rasa (blank slate)
● Explained learning solely in terms of directly observable events
● Avoid unobservable mental states
Behaviourism and Learning
● Classical
○ Aka Pavlovian or Respondent
● Operant
○ Aka Skinnerian or Instrumental
Conditioning
● Learning is a product of events that occur in our environment
Classical Conditioning
● Based on internal responses to naturally occurring stimuli
● Premise: some things we encounter in the world naturally elicit a response in us
● Learning
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Document Summary
What specific area of the brain is responsible for comprehension of language: broca"s area, frontal lobe, wernicke"s area, occipital lobe. What is learning: process by which experience produces a relatively enduring change in behaviour or capabilities (knowing how, e. g. racoons playing basketball. Examined processes by which experience influences behaviour. Discovered laws of learning that apply to virtually all organisms. Treated organism as tabula rasa (blank slate) Explained learning solely in terms of directly observable events. Learning is a product of events that occur in our environment. Based on internal responses to naturally occurring stimuli. Premise: some things we encounter in the world naturally elicit a response in us. When we pair things that don"t have a value, or have a different value, with naturally occurring pairings, the value free or differently valued item will come to take on a new meaning. Stimulus that elicits a reflexive or innate, unconditioned response without prior learning.
