PS/NE234

Exam 1

Learning

Process that results in a lasting change of behavior/capabilities

Operant conditioning

voluntary behaviors are strengthened or weakened by consequences

classical conditioning 

unconscious process where an automatic response is associated with a specific stimulus 

Aristotle 

Associationism. 3 principles of association:

contiguity: experiences near each other in space and time.

frequency: experiences repeated together.

similarity: experiences similar to each other.

Plato

nativism. skills and talents are innate - could sort by them after birth.

rene decartes

dualism. mind vs body. knowledge is innate and through your ability to think. senses are not to be trusted

john locke

empiricism. tabula rasa - we’re born without any innate knowledge. all habits and skills formed through experience

behavioral perspective

all psychology can be analyzed through behavior

Charles darwin

evolution: species change over time and all existing species are descendants of common ancestors

natural selection: heritable traits which provide reproductive advantages become more common in a population

William James - first modern behaviorist

rules of mind. experience links ideas in the mind through physical neuronal connections. an idea spreads along links, retrieving a complex episode

nativism vs empiricism

are we shaped by experience or fixed at birth

associationism 

founded by aristotle and built on by locke and james. contiguity, frequency, and similarity are guiding principles for forming complex ideas. 

Herman Ebbinghaus - experimental psychologist

empirically collected data, experimentally manipulated an independent variable to observe the outcome on a dependent variable. quantitatively expressed observations 

exponential forgetting curve

herman ebbinhaus - rapid initial forgetting, progressively less with time

ivan pavlov - behaviorism

used classical conditioning to experimentally test laws on association

John watson - radical behaviorist

little albert study - classical conditioning and generalization

little albert study

john watson - conditioned fear of rats and fuzzy white objects (generalization) by associating loud noise

Edward Thorndike’s law of effect

behaviors followed by satisfying consequences are more likely to reoccur 

B.F. Skinner - Behaviorist

operant conditioning. ABC: Antecedent, behavior, consequence. alter a or c to change a behavior

clark hull - behaviorist

developed a mathematic model to quantify learning. S-R Testing and drive reduction hypothesis

Drive reduction hypothesis

Clark Hull theory on reinforcement. all behavior is in hopes of returning to homeostasis.

Stimulus Response (S-R) learning 

Clark Hull - modeled internal (motivation level of stimulus) and external (strength of stimulus) properties in his equations. external properties - behaviorist, internal properties - cognitivist

key behaviorist figures

John watson, clark hull, edward thorndike

edward tolman - father of cognitive psychology

to understand behavior, you need to understand the purpose. all behavior is goal oriented

latent learning - tolman

learning and performane occur at different times. rewards motivate performance not learning.

latent learning - bandura

4 steps to observational learning

1) attention to initial behavior

2) retention of behavior

3) physical reproduction of behavior

4) motivation - latent learning will present itself when the motivation to do so arises

william estes - cognitive approach

S-R relationships aren’t so straightforward because stimuli are complex in nature. Stimulus sampling theory

gordan bower - cognitive approach 

mathematic psychologist. one step learning

one step learning

gordon bower - learning happens in one step once insight is achieved. group average appears gradual

george miller - cognitive approach

magic number 7, digit span tests

david rumelhart - cognitive approach

connectionist model

connectionist model

cognitive processing occurs along a system of processing units called nodes. networks are called connectionist models. information is coded as an activation pattern distributed across nodes (distributed representation)

key figures of the cognitive approach

• W.K. Estes: stimuli sampling theory. Learning is random and variable 

• Gordon Bower: Mathematical Psychologist. Insight: believed learning happened in one step and defined it as achieving insight. Group average vs single individual

• George Miller: magic number 7 - digit span short term memory 

  • David Rumelhart: cognition is a connection of nodes