PSCL 353 final exam (4th section)

observational learning

change in behavior due to monitoring of events involving other individuals (usually conspecifics)

contagion behavior

predisposed tendencies to match specific behaviors of conspecifics, such as mobbing (antipredator) behavior or social eating (a bird that has its fill will resume eating upon seeing another bird eating); Tolman, 1964

Marler’s template model of birdsong

template model of song learning; born with crude template of song apropriate for species

1) young birds memorize songs that fit their template

2) young bird attempts singing, matching vocal movements to sounds

3) bird learns when to sing songs, appropriate context for each

Bobo doll experiments

modeling of aggressive behavior; children watch others attack dolls —> leads children to behave aggressively to dolls as well; moral judgment in children; observational learning and overcoming fear

phonotactic rules

rules restricting the combination and ordering of sounds in a particular language

overimitation

copying of casually irrelevant actions (Hoehl et al., 2019)

mirror neurons

a type of brain cell that respond equally when an individual performs an action and when the individual witnesses someone else perform the same action

homing pigeons and spatial learning

can return to their loft on the same day that they are released some 600 miles away; retracing outward route, landmarks, sun and clock hypothesis, sensitivity to magnetic field

spatial learning can be based on multiple sources of information

route learning

knowing a sequence of routes, directions, or paths through a spatial environment. In contrast to a cognitive map, the representation of route knowlege is sequential, point--to-point, and habit-like

survey learning

acquired through latent learning (learning without reinforcement that may not be expressed until reinforcement is available)

place vs. response studies

Train animals to make a turn for food, then place them at a different starting point in a T-maze

Rats, like humans and homing pigeons, are flexible in the knowledge they use.

Morris water maze

Rats placed in pool of clouded water and have to find platform

Rats learn to find the platform when starting at different places

Radial-arm maze

eight arms radiating from a central platform; performance can be based on both landmarks and cognitive map

cognitive maps

the mental representation of a spatial environment is analogous to a map, placing specific objects, places, and routes in context with the surrounding area

declarative knowledge

memory or knowledge that can be consciously recalled and reported. includes semantic memory and episodic memory. Also known as explicit memory, because memory is explicitly questioned.

procedural knowledge

our store of knowledge of how to do things. This includes perceptual, motor, and cognitive skills; “knowing how to”

episodic memory

one’s own, individual, personal memories. Episodic memories contain temporal and contextual information about when and where the events occurred. Some of our autobiographical memories are episodic.

semantic memory

our store of general knowledge; generic knowledge that most of us share. is like dictionary knowledge

pursuit rotor task

keeping a stylus on a fixed point on a rotating disk

mirror drawing task

following the outline of an object where all visual guidance is through a mirror

power law

performance increases as a function of the logarithm of the number of repetitions (practice trials); performance = KR^x

knowledge of results

feedback concerning the success or accuracy of a response that is given to the participant during or after practice

summary of knowledge of results

acquisition was better with more feedback but retention two days later was better with less feedback. can lad to better retention of skills that immediate knowledge of results

self-guidance hypothesis

key to motor skills is learning how to guide movements yourself and remembering how to do this without feedback; Schmidt et al. 1989

implicit learning

improvement in the performance of cognitive, motor, or perceptual skill that develops with training, independent of conscious awarenss of specific details of the tasks

artificial grammar task

memory of sequences is better when they are consistent with rule than when they aren’t; exposure to sequences leads to correct classification of new sequences; performance stays above chance when grammar is applied to new letters

implicit learning

Hebb effect

memory span is greater for a list that is repeated throughout the experiment

serial reaction time procedure

focus is on gradual formation and strengthening of complex series of associations not reliant on conscious awareness

repetition priming

implicit memory

most commonly in words completion or perceptual identification

the study of the effects of a previous presentation of a stimuluse

nomothetic

effort to find general laws

idiographic

effort to specify unique and subjective experiences

mnemonist

an individual with exceptionally good memories

hyperthymesia

highly superior autobiographical memory

selective breeding

having a male and female of similar ability mate over several generations

heritability

the proprtion of variance in a trait that is due to heredity in a particular population

genome wide association study

impossible to find single genes that have more than a negligible relationship with complex traits like intelligence or learning

polygenic score

represents the genetic contribution to a particular trait; calculated by adding up the weights for all of the genetic sequences

validity

extent to which a test measures what is supposed to measure

predictive validity

seeing whether the test correlates with another relevant criterion

reliability

degree of consistency with which a test measures on attribute

test-retest

measuring reliability by administering test twice and correlating the two sets of scores

alternate forms

measuring reliability by having subjects take two different forms of a test similar in content and level of difficulty

split-half

measuring reliability by correlating score on half of the questions with score on the other half

psychometric approaches to intelligence

an attempt to understand the nature of intelligence by studying the pattern of results obtained on intelligence tests

g

general factor of intelligence: mental attribute hypothesized to contribute to performance on all intellectual tasks

fluid intelligence

reasoning with materials and operations that are new

crystallized intelligecne

the application of acquired knowledge and skills in familiar ways

CHC model of intelligence

the most influential contemporary psychometric model created by Cattell, Horn, and Carroll

3 levels: narrow factors, broad abilities, general ability (g)

process overlap theory of intelligence

there is no true general factor, but the positive intercorrelations arise because tasks draw from a large number of domain-general executive processes

letter-comparison task

when shown two letters, have to indicate if the letters are the same or different

responding “same” is faster when cases are identical (A A)

Flynn effect

worldwide increase in IQ scores over recent decades, at a rate of 3 points per decade

trace conditioning

CS starts and ends after 300 ms; 450 ms later, US occurs

delay conditioning

US occurs 750 ms after CS starts