Final Study Ch 1-3

·       Natural Selection

The process by which living organisms adapt to their environment over time by means of preferred traits being passed on through reproduction

Environmental change can affect the natural selection process like

§  Climate change – e.g. ice age

§  Predatory patterns – e.g. peppered moths during industrial revolution

§  Disease – e.g. Native Americans experience with smallpox carried by Europeans

  Reflexes

  A relationship between a specific event and a simple response to that event

§  e.g. – puff of air, blinking

    Modal Action Patterns

   Series of related acts found in all members of a species

§  e.g. – mating call/dance of male peacocks

General Behavior Traits

tendency that is strongly influenced by genes§  e.g. – aggressive personality

  Mutations

abrupt changes in genes

Hybridization

– cross breeding of closely related species

·       Behavior

anything a person/animal does that can be measured

  Learning

change in behavior due to changes in the environment

Exclusions to learning:

changes due to drugs, injury, aging or disease

habituation 

§  A reduction in the intensity or probability of a response with repeated exposure to a stimulus

§  e.g. – living under the train tracks and not noticing every time train passes by

Sensitization

– inverse of habituation

§  An increase in the intensity or probability of a response with repeated exposure to a stimulus§  e.g. – hypersensitivity to movement while hunting

    The natural science approach

o All natural phenomena are caused; things don’t “just happen”

o   Causes precede their effects; you can reach in the past to change behavior

o   The causes of natural events include only natural phenomena; excludes explanations related to acts of god, psychic energies, spirits, and other mysterious forces

o   The simplest explanation that fits the data is best; requires the fewest assumptions and extraneous variables

Change in topography

(the form of behavior)

Change in intensity

the force of behavior

Change in speed

how fast or slow behavior occurs

Reduced latency

(time that passes before a behavior occurs

Changes in rate

(number of occurrences per unit of time)

Increase in fluency

(correct responses per unit of time); Combination of error and rate

Anecdote

first or second hand accounts of personal experiences

§  e.g.- “popular wisdom” such as going outside with wet hair, you’ll catch a cold

Case Studies

detailed study/description of a single case

§  e.g. – documentary of wrongly convicted felon(s)

Descriptive Studies

: study in which researchers attempt to describe a group by obtaining data from its members

§  e.g – study detailing parents’ satisfaction and students’ progress with after school tutoring program offered by NYC DOE

Experimental Studies

: a study in which researcher measures one or more independent variables on one or more dependent variables

§  e.g.- medical research on the effectiveness of a vaccine

  Independent variable:

Manipulated by the researcher (treatment)

Dependent variable

Variables that vary freely (what is being measured)

   Unconditioned Reflexes

o   Inborn

o   Same for all members of a species

o   Permanent

o   Typically related to survival

o   Unconditioned Stimulus (US)  Unconditioned Response (UR)

                                         Meat   Salivation

  Conditioned Reflexes

o   Not present at birth

o   Acquired through experiences

o   Unique to the individual

o   Change over time

o   Conditioned Stimulus (CS)  Conditioned Response (CR)

                                        Bell  Salivation

Pairing

a process by which conditional stimulus regularly precedes an unconditional stimulus

o   Conditioned Stimulus(CS)Unconditioned Stimulus(US)Unconditioned Response(UR)                                               

Bell                            Meat                                          Salivation

  Key Factors of Pavlovian Conditioning

o   Behavior involves a reflex

o   Conditioned stimulus and Unconditioned stimulus pairing occurs regardless of what the individuals response is

Advertising

§  US (Michael Jordan)  UR (athletic abilities)

§  US (Michael Jordan) + NS (Jordan Sneakers)  UR (athletic abilities)

§  CS (Jordan Sneakers)  CR (athletic abilities)

Test Trials

Intermittently present CS alone (no US) and do you still get the CR?

Latency

The time between the presentation of CS and the CR

  Intensity:

The more established the CS / CR pairing the stronger the CR

Pseudoconditioning

Occurs when a NS closely follows or is presented at the same time as an US, creating a perceived elicited CR

Overshadowing

When two stimuli are presented at the same time, one will produce a more effective CR due to intensity

Blocking:

One stimulus effects the ability of another stimulus from becoming a CS due to prior experience

  Extinction:

The process by which a conditioned stimulus (CS) is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus (US) which weakens the conditional response (CR)

§  Spontaneous Recovery

re-emergence of a previously extinguished conditioned response

Extinction Burst

sudden increase in the rate of behavior during the early stages of the extinction process