9.0 NON-ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING.

NON-ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING.

NON-ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING

• LEARNED BEHAVIOR

LEARNED BEHAVIOR

• Related to individual’s experiences.

• Acquisition by learning.

Two types of LEARNED BEHAVIOR

• NON-ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING

• ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING

Examples of ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING

• CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

• INSTRUMENTAL CONDITIONING

Examples of NON-ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING

• HABITUATION

• SENSITIZATION

INNATE BEHAVIOR 

• Automatic & involuntary.

• Shared by members within the same species.

Examples of INNATE BEHAVIOR 

• REFLEX

• MODAL ACTION PATTERNS

• IMPRINTING

NON-ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING is the learning of

• Simplest form of learning.

• Implies the presentation of one stimulus, more or less isolated, repeated times.

• After the stimulus, repetition, behaviour, changes (learning happens).

Habituation

• The decline in response that occurs after the repeated stimulus presentation

• conserved behavioural process

Herbivore

• Animals that were better habituated to certain stimuli were better able to survive

Habituation → Salivation of lemon

• The hedonic value decreased as well.

HABITUATION Characteristics

• Selects information

• Stimulus specific

• Habituation can be easily reversed

• Spontaneous recovery

• Re-learning

Selects information

• ignores irrelevant information (e.g.: we can read and ignore repeated noises)

Stimulus specific

• the decrease in responding is specific to the habituated stimulus

Habituation can be easily reversed by

• changing the stimulus (e.g.: if the noise changes, we pay attention to it)

Spontaneous recovery

• After habituation, if the stimulus is not presented for a period of time, the response will recover when the stimulus is presented again.

Re-learning

• further habituation processes will be faster

HABITUATION of salivation in response to a taste stimulus

• lemon 10th trial

• lime 11th trial

Dimensions influencing habituation:

• Intensity

• Frequency

• Complexity

Intensity

• The more the intense of the stimulus → the slower the habituation process to that stimulus (e.g.: It is easier to habituate to a quiet noise than to a loud noise).

Frequency

• Higher frequency of presentation of the stimulus → faster habituation process.

Complexity

• The habituation process is faster when the stimulus involved is a simple one than when responding to complex stimulus.

Processes different from habituation

• Sensory adaptation

• Motor fatigue

Sensory adaptation

• Sensory receptors change their sensitivity to the stimulus.

• Sensory receptors become exposed to stimuli for a prolonged period → they lose their ability to respond and develop a diminished sensitivity to the stimulus.

• Sensory adaptation occurs with all of our senses e.g: our hands adjust to cold or hot water.

Motor fatigue

• Occurs if the muscles involved become incapacitated by fatigue.

• Our muscles are not longer able to response to the stimulus due to fatigue

• It is not a matter of habituation.

• Motor fatigue occurs at our muscles level e.g.: a muscle response to repeated electric shocks finally will end because the muscle is exhausted.

Habituation occurs within the 

•  Central Nervous System

motor fatigue & sensory adaptation occur

• Outside the CNS

Sensitization

• progressive amplification of a response after repeated administrations of a stimulus.

SENSITIZATION → key ideas

• not very adaptative to habituate to some stimuli → dangerous stimuli lead to sensitization responses

• usually occurs when our arousal level is high

• is generalized to similar stimulus

• not long lasting effects

Dimensions influencing sensitization

• Frequency

• Intensity

• Duration
  

Frequency of sensitization

• High frequency → less sensitization effect.

Intensity of sensitization

• The more the intense of the stimulus → more intensity in the sensitization response (e.g., the sensitization process is stronger to strong electric shocks than to weak electric shocks).

Duration of sensitization

• The longer the stimulus lasts the stronger the sensitization.

Habituation

• helps us to ignore irrelevant stimuli

• stimulus specific

Habituation is faster when

• less intensity, duration, & complexity of the stimulus

• more frequency of the stimulus

Sensitization

• increases our response to relevant (especially dangerous) stimuli

• generalizes to similar stimuli

Sensization is stronger when

• more intensity & duration of the stimulus

• less frequency of presentation of the stimulus

Non-associative learning:

• Habituation & sensitization involve learning about just one stimulus.

Dual-process theory (learning)

• the habituation & sensitization process are not mutually exclusive

• often both are activated at the same time

• observable behaviour is the sum of these two processes

Non-associative learning implies

• the repeated presence of one stimulus.

• There is no learning of association between two stimuli.

Habituation

• the decrease of response over time when a stimulus is presented repeatedly.

• Takes place within the CNS.

Sensory adaptation

• Receptors’ sensitivity to stimulus decreases.

• Takes place at the senses level.

Motor fatigue

• muscles are not longer able to respond to the stimulus.

• Takes place at the muscles level.

Sensitization

• Increase of response when a stimulus is repeatedly presented.

Dual process theory states

• that both processes can occur simultaneously and the observable response will reflect the sum of both of them