Ch 1 - Intro/History

Learning

relatively permanent/enduring change in behavior resulting from experience

• sticks aroud even w/o practice

• ex → always knowing how to rie a bike from declarative memory

Behaviors

things organisms do that we can observe & measure

Behavior Potentiality

the capacity for an organism to exhibit a range of behaviors in response to different stimuli or situations.

• behavior can be new, or not changing much (improving → narrowing/trimming)

• ability to do it may have dec

T/F: Behavioral changes might not be conscious or readily apparent

True, changes in behavior can occur without the individual being aware of them

• can come from experiences you did or external effects

Classical Conditioning

associates some stim w/ an innate response/behavior

• all factors are known, pairing = learning

• pair __& __ = __

• ex → bell:food → salivation

Operant Conditioning

strengthens/weakens some behavior by providing a consequence

• behavior …___….. consequence

• ex → lever pressed → receive food

When did the nature vs nurture debate begin?

argument goes back at least to the Greeks, arguments continue

What is a struggle seen in the nature vs nurture debate?

understanding what organisms do while considering our own internal mental state

• to what extent this is shared w/ other organisms

• metacognition → thinking about thinking

Plato

believed all knowledge was present/innate in the soul, revealed by self-reflection

• nativism → nature

Aristotle

argued that knowledge was gained through experience

• empiricism → nurture, foundation for behavioral analysis

Aristotle’s 4 Laws of Association

law of: similarity, contrast, frequency

Law of Similarity

similar things are easy to associate

• law of association in Aristotelian Empiricism

Law of Contrast

opposites are easy to associate

• law of association in Aristotelian Empiricism

Law of Contiguity

things physically close together are easy to associate

• law of association in Aristotelian Empiricism

Law of Frequency

things that occur together are often easy to associate

• law of association in Aristotelian Empiricism

• most associated w/ class cond/animals

• want a response to occur w/ behavior in moment

Mind/Body Dualism

Descartes argued that human behavior was composed of reflex/nature & intentional/logical/nurture

• meld the body & mind/soul

• thought pineal gland was the seat of the soul, @ midline, link for body/mind

John Locke

argued that all beings were born as a blank state/tabula rasa, everything was learned

• X consider reflexes & built-in behaviors

Wundt & Tichener

promoted structuralism, introspective study of the basics of cognition

• metacognition/thinking hard about it → left something to be desired

How is structuralism linked to neuroscience?

idea of behavior & cognition being built by small units being built on one another is key to neuroscience

Basic Unit of Behavior

neuron

• does/doesn’t respond/fire an action potential = basis of behavior

William James

proposed behavior as an adaptive feature

• improved repro fitness → goal-directed things

• viewed in lens of evolution

John B Watson

argued that thinking about thinking was silly

• should be interested only in recording what happens/objectivity

• animals → X know what they’re thinking, can only record what they do

• inherent bias w/ it, X be objective

Behavioralism

Watson, turned psychology into a real science

• treat behavior like any other natural science

• observe inputs & outputs objectively

Mentalism

thinking about thinking

Methodological Behaviorism

Watson, only care about inputs and outputs

• X care about what’s going on inside, only acknowledge it & X quantify it in a meaningful way

• What’s happening in the organism’s mind is an unknowable black box

• inspired by Pavlov, stim-response theory

Neobehavioralism

Hull, can acknowledge cognition even w/o measuring it

• ex- withhold food= see an effect that can associate w/ hunger

• theories focused on S-R relationship, everything built on it

  • R can be S for another, input to trigger another one

  • X consider free will & previous experience/hustory

Goal-Oriented Organisms

organisms do things for a reason → get food, find mates, or enjoyable

• have internal goals, fun or necessary

• Tolman → consider whys of behavior, what they want to acheive

• observe organisms solving problems

How did Tolman change how rewards were used?

moving into operant world, what animal got out of it/hypothesized target

• move away from Pavlovian mindset

Social/Cognitive Learning Theory

Bandura, believed that thoughts/feelings can be root cause of behavior

• modified by enviro/things we did

• CBT for humans

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

relies on relationships of thoughts/feelings & behaviors

• made possible through Bandura & Social/Cognitive Learning Theory

• internal state can be altered un/consciously

• try to use to improve

Radical Behaviorism

BF Skinner, thought Bandura was allowing too much mentalism into things

• thoughts & feelings are behaviors, just private, can be altered

• internal state can be changed/influenced

• can take actions to change our enviro & behavior