PSYC 100 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Empiricism, Robert A. Rescorla, Stimulus Control

• School: Queen's University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 100
• Professor: Jordan Poppenk

Document Summary

Learning: can be defined as a more-or-less permanent change in behaviour or behavioural potential that results from experience. More-or-less permanent: by requiring some degree of performance, our operational definition distinguishes learning from changes that occur for other reasons while will taking into account the fact that we sometimes forget. By example: if you learn a second language and learn it a second time, it will be easier to learn the second time. Change in behaviour: a change in an already existing behaviour, going from an awake state to a sleeping state in a familiar room is easier than falling asleep in a strange room. This is a type of learning or behaviour potential: learning through observation, by example learning how to cook by watching a cooking show. Resulting from experience: learning through past event. Our operational definition is learning as permanent changes in behaviour or behavioural potential resulting from experience. Two camps formed in the 17th century-the nativists and empiricists.