Learning & Cognition Exam 1

Learning

-recognize patterns

-receiving information

-grow & obtain new things

-conscious act of getting information

Learning Definition

A relatively permanent change in behavior as a result of practice or experience (Lachmann, 1997)

3 parts of learning

Long-term, mental representations, result experience

Long-term

-not a brief, transitory use of information

-doesn’t last forever

Mental representations

Internal cognitive symbol that represents external reality

Result of experience

Doesn’t result from maturation, fatigue, or onset of illness (physical or mental)

Does behavior always demonstrate learning?

Behavior reflects but doesn’t always demonstrate learning

When does learning occur?

1. performing a completely new behavior

2. changing an existing behavior or responding differently to a particular stimulus

4 different ways existing behavior responds differently

1. Frequency (how often you respond)

2. Speed (how fast you can respond)

3. Intensity

4. Complexity

Nativism

Knowledge is inborn

Empiricism

Knowledge is acquired through experience

Structuralism and Functionalism

-late 1800s

-introspectiion: look inside yourself and describe what you’re thinking

Behaviorism

-early 1900s; Skinner & Pavlov

-must be able to obtain or measure learning through behavior (responses) and events (stimuli) that precede/cause behavior

Social Learning Theory

-Bandura

-learning occurs as people watch others behave

Cognitive Psychology

-behavior alone cannot give a complete picture of learning

-examine/test human thought processes (cognition)

Social-Cognitive theory

Social learning theorists incorporated cognitive processes into their explanations of learning

Sociocultural theory

Focus on how a society’s adults and cultural creations enhance cognition and pass wisdom to children

Western perspective (sociocultural theory)

-self/individualistic

-intelligence= innate

-stable

-struggle indicates weakness

Eastern perspective (sociocultural theory)

-family oriented/collectivist

-intelligence: what you do, not who you are

-malleable

-focuses on persistence

Technology and learning

-emotion connected to learning helps you remember it more

-Alzheimer’s patients brain looks similar to the brain of a multi-tasker

-Pros of technology: accessibility, tools (spellcheck, correcting, etc), practice/organize, time saver

-Cons of technology: can’t think critically, distraction

New Generation of Learners want…

Learning styles, fact or fiction?

Fiction!

Frontal lobe

active during attentional, motivational, and emotional proceses

Hippocampus

binds together new information from other regions to create and consolidate memories

Amygdala

-instrumental in emotional memory

-emotional powerhouse of the brain

-fight, flight, or freeze (for survival, threat, traumatic memory)

Preservation of brain function

Cerebrum

-largest

-learning

-senses

-speech

Cerebellum

-connected to brain stem

-coordinates muscle movement

Brain stem

-movement

-audiotory information

-visual information

-vital functions (ex: breathing)

Diencephalon

-regulate neurochemicals

-instincts

Blood-brain barrier

protective

Neurons

messages travel through the nervous system via electrical and chemical transmissions

Astrocytes

-star shaped glial cells that outnumber neurons

-have control over what neurons do and don’t do (brain glue)

Mirror neurons

send messages about how to behave and respond in appropriate part of the brain

Neuroplasticity

-experiences recognize neural pathways in the brain

-includes different processes that take place through a lifetime

2 conditions under which neuroplasticity occurs

1. normal brain development

2. Reappropriation

   -serves as an adaptive mechanism to compensate for lost function and/or to maximize remaining functions

Synaptic pruning

-as we age, old neural connections are deleted

-eliminates weaker synaptic contacts

-strengthens existing contacts

How do neuroplasticity and synaptic pruning impact the process of learning?

What 3 factors influence brain development?

heredity, environmental, experience

Heredity

guides cell migration, synaptogenesis, myelination

Environmental

-nutrition affects neuron production & myelination

-toxins & alcohol during pregnancy may lead to problems

Experience

-family environment

-skills change the size & development of the brain

Why does learning a second language enhance neural development?

Sleep is necessary for what? Explain,

1. memory formation

2. memory consolidation

Left-brain vs right-brain and laterality of function (is this correct that we are either right brained or left brained)?

No!

Historical characteristics of right brain

Historical characteristics of left brain

What are the 4 knowledge emotions?

1. surprise: hijacking emotion

2. interest: creates motivation, novelty matters; intrinsically motivated

3. confusion: unfamiliar & hard, easy to spot; can turn to overwhelming and demotivate you

4. awe: sense of wonder, getting chills, openness to experience, vast

Behaviorism

-philosophy of the science of human behavior

-early pioneers: Pavlov, Thorndike, Watson

Operant conditioning

Classical conditioning

Uncontrolled stimulus

Uncontrolled response

Conditioned stimulus

Conditioned response

Little Albert experience

Sidetracking

-avoid cues that produce the unwanted response

-ex: jog while on vacation

Fatigue

-present stimulus so often the response is impossible

-ex: smoke until you’re sick

Threshold

-present stimulus in increasing increments

-ex: gradually increase dose of veggies to a child

Incompatiable response

-incompatiable response is substituted

-ex:

Counterconditioning

-”Little Peter”

-had a fear of rabbits

-given candy while rabbits were presented at a distance

-rabbit was placed slightly close to Peter over time

-candy > rabbits (candy motivated him more than the fear)

Step 1 (counterconditioning)

Seek a new response that is incompatiable with a conditioned stimulus is chosen

Step 2 (counterconditioning)

Identify stimulus that elicits incompatiable response

Step 3 (counterconditioning)

-stimulus that elicits the new response is presented

-the conditioned stimulus is gradually introduced into the situation

Systematic desensitization

Aims to remove fear response of a phobia, and gradually substitute relaxation response to the conditioned stimulus

Implosive/immersion therapy

Making a person “stare down” his/her fear until the phobia vanishes

Classical

-responses are reflexive and controlled by a preceding stimulus

-increase a response by pairing a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus

Operant

-responses are usually voluntary and are controlled by their consequences

-increase a response by using reinforcement or punishment

How did Skinner’s life affect his theories?

Positive

to add something (good or bad)

Negative

to take something away (good or bad)

The basics

Shaping through successive approximations

3 conditions

A= Antecedent

B= Behavior

C= Consequence

Operant conditioning is…

shaping behavior with the use of reinforcement and punishment

Fixed ratio

Variable Ratio

Fixed internal

Variable interval