History

learning

the acquisition of information through experience

not necessarily conscious

change has to be a result of experience, not natural developments

memory

the retention of learned information over time

plasticity

a consequence of development, injury, or experience

changes going on in your brain / nervous system

Plato

nativism and the doctrine of anamnesis

collective memory of human knowledge

nativism

all learning is a recollection therefore all knowledge is innate

learning is remembering

Aristotle

early empiricism, all knowledge is acquired

came up with the 3 laws of association and the law of frequency

Descartes

dualism, physical and non-physical

only some parts of human can be studied

dualism

unextended substance (non-physical): soul, free will, does not abide by scientific rules

extended substance (physical): body, abides by scientific rules

materialists

argued that our mind may be “machine”

suggest we can derive the laws of the mind

Lloyd Morgan

argues that we shouldn’t come to complex conclusions if a simpler conclusion exists, specifically for animal behavior

law of similarity

the experience or recall of one object will elicit the recall of things similar to that object

law of contrast

the experience or recall of one object will elicit the recall of opposite things

law of contiguity

the experience or recall of one object will elicit the recall of things that were originally experienced alongside the object

law of frequency

the more frequently two things are experienced together, the more likely it will be that the experience or recall of one will stimulate the recall of the second

john locke

all knowledge is acquired, tabula rasa

knowledge is built up through the association of ideas

tabula rasa

the mind is a blank slate

principles of association

contiguity, repetition (david hartley)

mental mechanics, emotional vividness (james mill)

mental chemistry (john stuart mill)

Charles Darwin

natural selection - traits that enable a species’ survival and reproductive success become more common in a population over generations

functionalism

functionalism

behaviors follow the rules of natural selection

further, learning follows the rules of natural selection

Edward Titchener

student of Wundt, systematic introspection and structuralism

all thoughts can be broken down into sensation

sensations

categorized with 4 properties - intensity, quality, duration, and extent

structuralism

all thoughts can be broken down into basic elements called sensations, which are categorized by 4 properties

Edward Thorndike

opposed anthropomorphic interpretations

proposed that animals learn through trial and error

puzzle box experiment with cats

law of effect

if a response in the presence of a stimulus is followed by a satisfying (appetitive) event, the association between the stimulus and the response is strengthened

if the response is followed by an annoying (aversive) event, the association is weakened

combines classical and operant conditioning

John Watson

extreme empiricism, little albert experiment, behaviorism

learning is S-R in nature

sought to formulate behavioral laws to predict and control behavior

Clark Hull

animal performance =/= learning, behavior is motivated by drives

learning can occur without performance in the absence of motivation and behavior can be predicted mathematically

excitatory potential (sEr)

the likelihood / probability that an organism will respond to a stimulus

stimulus intensity dynamism (V)

some stimuli will have greater influence on behavior than others

drive strength (D)

a hungrier animal will be more motivated to perform than a satiated animal

incentive motivation (K)

magnitude of the goal

an animal will be more motivated by a pile of food than by a single pellet

incentive delay (J)

the delay before the animal is allowed to seek the goal

an animal will be more motivated if it has been denied the ability to seek the goal for a longer time

habit strength (sHr)

depends on contiguity and reinforcement

the more likely you are to do thinks without thinking the more likely they are to be performed

conditioned inhibition (sIr)

an S-R link that interferes with performing the target response

formed as Ir fades

memory of fatigue

reactive inhibition (Ir)

analogous to fatigue

drive state, fades with time

any negative consequence that comes with an action

random error (sOr)

impossible to fully eliminate confounding variables

reaction threshold (sLr)

the smallest amount of reinforcement that will produce learning

Edward Tolman

argued that animals could form associations between neutral stimuli (latent learning) without emotional valiance

assumed reinforcement affects performance, learning occurs when contiguity is present

Tolman’s Maze

placed three groups of rats, one with a food reward, one without, and one with food reward only after day 11

the rats with food reward after day 11 still had learned the maze, even though they weren’t being rewarded before (cognitive map)

operant behavior

does not require eliciting stimulus

strengthened via R-O conditioning

measured through rate of responding

mediational neo-behaviorism

permitted the idea of intervening variables

unobservable, mentalistic variables that can be operationally defined

radical neo-behaviorism

developed from skinner

no unobservable variables allowed

continuous reinforcement

1:1 ratio of behavior:reward

reward a desired behavior every single time it happens

fixed ratio

reward is given only after a specific number of times the behavior is performed

variable ratio

reward is given after an unpredictable, average number of responses

fixed interval

rewards the first correct response only after a set, predictable amount of time has passed

variable interval

a behavior is rewarded after an unpredictable, changing amount of time has passed