PSY 3103 Midterm: Learning and Conditioning Review
24 Oct 2016
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Learning and Conditioning Review:
Chapter 1:
Behaviour: Is an activity of an organism that can be observed or somehow measured
The activity may be internal or external and may or may not be visible to others
Learning: Is a relatively permanent change in behaviour that results from some type of experience
Example: Reading text is an example of behaviour and any lasting change in your behaviour as a
result of reading this text is an example of learning. The change does not have to be immediate, in
some cases the change may not be evident until a long period later
Classical conditioning: The process by which certain inborn behaviours come to be produced in new
situations (reflexive or involuntary responses) Ex. Salivation to food
Pavlov example: Bell + Food = salivation; Bell = salivation
Classical conditioning underlies many of out emotional responses, like and dislikes and it can lead to the
development of debilitating fears and powerful feelings of sexual attraction
Operant conditions: Involves the strengthening or weakening of a behaviour as a result of its
consequence's. Often voluntary or goal oriented behaviours.
Example: a rat that has learned to press a lever to obtain food
Lever- food pellet
The effect: Likelihood of lever pressing increases, the rat is more likely to press the lever again
when they are rewarded with food by doing so (Strengthen future occurrences)
Or that of a smile from a compliment or a passing grade from studying
Observational learning: Observation of a models behaviour facilitates the development of similar
behaviour in an observer
Fixed action patterns: non-learned, inherited behaviour patterns
Historical background: Aristotle vs. Plato
Nativist: "Plato"
• Plato believed that everything we know is inborn (residing in our soul), thus learning is simply a
process of inner reflection to uncover the knowledge that already exists within us
• Nature: This perspective assumes that a persons abilities and behavioural tendencies are largely
inborn
Empiricist: "Aristotle"
• Aristotle believed that knowledge is not inborn, but instead is acquired through experience
• Nurture: This perspective assumes that a persons abilities and tendencies are mostly learned
Aristotle suggested that ideas come from the connection of four laws of association:
1. The law of similarity:
o Events that are similar to each other are readily associated
o Example: cars and trucks are readily associated because they are similar in appearance
and function, we group them together as automobiles
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o These similarities enable us to learn to view things as being of a larger category of objects
2. The Law of Contrast:
o Events that are opposite from each other are also readily associated
o Example: on a word association test, the word black often brings to mind the word white
or an evening at work might remind you of a nice evening at home not working
3. The Law of Contiguity:
o Events that occur in close proximity are readily associated with each other.
o Example: A child quickly learns to associate thunder with lightening because the sound of
thunder soon follows the flash of lightening
o Spatial proximity because it seems like they are coming from the same direction
4. The Law of Frequency;
o The more frequently two items occur together, the more strongly they are associated
o Example: You will be more strongly associated with a friend with a certain perfume the
more frequently you smell that perfume upon meeting her
o Using flash cards to remember a definition of a word
Descartes: Mind-Body Dualism and the Reflex
" I think therefore I am"
He claimed that on one hand we have a body that functions like a machine and produces involuntary
reflexive behaviour in response to external stimulation (Such as sneezing as a result to dust), and on the
other hand we have a mind that has free will and produces behaviours the we regard to as voluntary
(choosing what to eat for dinner)
Notion of Mind-Body Dualism: Holds that some human behaviour s are reflexes that are automatically
elicited by external stimulation, while other behaviours are freely chosen and controlled by the mind
• Animals behaviour is completely reflexive
The British Empiricists:
• He assumed, like Plato, that some of the ideas are contained within it are inborn
• The British empiricist argued that almost all knowledge is a function of experience
• Example: John Locke proposed that a newborns mind is a blank slate (Tabula rasa)
• They also believed that the conscious mind is composed of a finite set of basic elements (Specific
colors, smells, etc.)
Structuralism: The Experimental Study of Human Consciousness
• Wilhelm Wundt: Proposed using the scientific method to investigate the issue
Structuralism: holds that it is possible to determine the structure of the mind by identifying the basic
elements that compose it
Introspection: the subject in an experiment attempts to accurately describe his or her conscious
thoughts, emotions, and sensory experiences, lead to behaviourism
Functionalism: The Study of the Adaptive Mind
William James: The founder of American Psychology, helped establish Functionalism
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Functionalism: assumes that the mind evolved to help us adapt to the world around us and that the
focus of psychology should be the study of those adaptive processes
• This proposition was partially derived from Darwin's theory of Evolution, which proposes that
adaptive characteristics that enable a species to survive and reproduce tend to increase in
frequency across generations while non-adaptive characteristics tend to die out
• Learning as an adaptive process
• They believed that humans evolve the same way that animals do
• E.B Thorndike and John B. Watson were students of functionalist psychologists
The Theory of Evolution: Humans as Animals
• Charles Darwin: humans change in response to environmental pressures
Natural selection: Is the concept that individuals or species that are capable of adapting to
environmental pressure are more likely to survive and reproduce than those that cannot adapt
• Three main components to natural selection:
1. Traits vary: both within a species and between species
2. Many traits are beritable: meaning that they have a genetic basis and can be inherited by
offspring
3. Organisms must compete for limited resources
• Some individuals will acquire more resources than others based on certain inherited traits that
give them an advantage, they are therefore better able to survive
• Survival of the fittest
• Successful individuals are more likely to have offspring's who are more likely to survive and
reproduce
• Therefore, individuals with the least successful trait decrease
Evolutionary adaptation: a trait that evolves as a result of natural selection
The ability to learn is a particularly important evolutionary adaptation
Behaviourism: The study of Observable Behaviour
• John B. Watson: objective was to make psychology a purely objective science, based on only
observable behaviour and the environmental events that surround it
Behaviourism: Is a natural science approach to psychology that focuses on the study of environmental
influences on observable behaviour
Law of parsimony: Holds that simpler explanations for a phenomenon are generally preferable to more
complex explanations
Morgan's Canon: Version of this law that strongly influences Watson; argued that whenever
possible one should interpret and animals behaviour in terms of lower, more primitive process
than humans
Five Schools of Behaviourism:
1. Watson's Methodological Behaviourism:
o Originally proposed by Watson
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Document Summary
Behaviour: is an activity of an organism that can be observed or somehow measured. The activity may be internal or external and may or may not be visible to others. Learning: is a relatively permanent change in behaviour that results from some type of experience. Example: reading text is an example of behaviour and any lasting change in your behaviour as a result of reading this text is an example of learning. The change does not have to be immediate, in some cases the change may not be evident until a long period later. Classical conditioning: the process by which certain inborn behaviours come to be produced in new situations (reflexive or involuntary responses) ex. Pavlov example: bell + food = salivation; bell = salivation. Classical conditioning underlies many of out emotional responses, like and dislikes and it can lead to the development of debilitating fears and powerful feelings of sexual attraction.
