Chapter 1 Notes: Basic Concepts and Definitions

What is Learning?

  • Learning is harder to answer than it seems; it involves acquiring information about the world through formal instruction and through interactions with the environment that change our behavior.

  • Plays a key role in complex behaviors and disorders in humans.

  • The philosophical definition: learning is the process of accumulating knowledge

Forms of Knowledge and Types of Knowledge

  • “Knowledge is internally stored information about the world and about how things work”

  • Two forms of knowledge:

    • Declarative/Explicit: attributes, past events, general information, meaning of concepts, significance of things - not gonna be focused on much

    • Procedural/Implicit: skilled actions, cognitive abilities (know-how and know-that are differentiated in some accounts - the DOING memory) - main course focus, involves muscle memory, need experience trying it. Anything that we can see displayed and that we can mimic is considered procedural, a change particularly.

Definitions of Learning

  • Philosophical definition: Learning is the process of accumulating knowledge; “knowledge is internally stored information about the world and how things work.”

  • Question raised: What exactly is knowledge?

  • Key distinction: Knowing that (declarative) vs knowing how (procedural) – implicit vs explicit knowledge.

Biological Definition

  • Learning is a biological process that facilitates adaptation to one’s environment. We want to turn the chaos of our environment into predictability, better chances of survival.

  • Biology dictates learning (e.g., as organisms mature, they are capable of learning more and more); experience alters biology (e.g., when you learn, neurons fire and synaptic connections strengthen, brain changes, epigenetics - your experience changes you and your offspring, good mothers tend to have had a good mother, offspring of addicts are more likely to get addicted)

Psychological Definition

  • Learning is the acquisition of a new behavior due to exposure to a similar situation in the past.

  • Behavior is any observable activity of an organism that can be measured.

  • The activity may be in response to internal or external stimuli, or how we internalize the environment (what we perceive to be existing without it actually existing)

Problems with the Psychological Definition

  • Problems with this definition:
    1) It does not always involve the acquisition of a new behavior (i.e., changes can be non-constructive or non-learning related).
    2) Changes in behavior may not always be due to learning.

  • Short-term factors that can affect performance but not learning:

    • Fatigue, changes in stimulus conditions, alterations in physiological/motivational state (e.g., feeding, defense, infant care, mating).

      • Example: presenting me with pizza, I will continue eating it until I eventually don’t (e.g., I am not hungry). Not because I learned to dislike pizza, but something else factored in.

  • Long-term considerations:

    • Maturation: due to physical or psychological development

      • Practice is not needed to improve

      • All learning requires some practice or experience specifically related to the acquired behaviour

    • Evolution: across generations due to reproductive success

      • Learning takes place more quickly within an individual’s lifetime

  • Display of behaviour doesn’t necessarily reflect when the behaviour was learnt

Performance vs Learning

  • Performance and learning are similar but not identical

    • Performance = observable actions

    • Learning can be behaviourally silent

  • Many factors can underlie performance:

    • Fear, hunger, thirst, exhaustion, etc.

    • Contribute to whether a learned behaviour is observed

  • Control as many factors as possible to confirm that observed behaviour reflects learning (e.g., to claim learning occurred, it’s important to control factors so that observed behavior reflects learning rather than other states)

Behaviour Potential and Latent Learning

  • Learning involves a change in the potential for doing something

  • LATENT LEARNING

    • Behaviour is learned, but remains initially dormant

    • May be expressed in situations that are non-similar to those in which it was learned

    • Classic latent learning example: (Tolman and Honzik, 1930)

      • HNR, no learning (control group), hungry not rewarded, dumb group (no learning, not gien motivation to reach end of maze)

      • HR, hungry and rewarded, day after day improvement in performance, quicker maze rats, smart group that LEARNS via increase in performance (speed to get to end of maze)

      • HNR-R, hungry not rewarded then reward day 11, put in maze at start box, finally they get the reward at day 11, 12th day latency (e.g., time taken to get to the end) drops, they learned the maze before, but were only motivated to do so at the 11th day of deliverance that they became motivated to reach the reward. Floor effect, fast as they can consistently after day 11.

The Behaviourist Definition

  • Modified to reflect findings like latent learning:

  • Learning is a relatively long-lasting change in the mechanism of behaviour, or behavioural potential, that occurs as a result of practice or experience

  • Limits the role for cognitive processes

    • Which is fine, since much of our behavior is habitual

    • Our focus is on implicit learning for this course anyway

  • A refined, long-lasting change in the mechanism of behavior (or behavior potential) due to practice or experience.

  • Acknowledges latent learning and habitual behavior.

  • Emphasizes learning as a relatively stable change rather than short-term performance.

  • Limits the role of cognitive processes in explaining learning.

Naturalistic vs. Experimental Observations

  • Naturalistic observations:

    • Observing and measuring behaviour as it occurs in natural settings

    • No manipulations or interventions from the observer occur

    • Can only provide descriptive information about behaviour

    • Cannot establish a cause-and-effect relationship

  • Experimental Observations:

    • Measuring behaviour under specific conditions

    • Specifically designed to test particular factors or variables

    • The only way to reach a causal conclusion

  • If learning can be evidenced through changes in behaviour, then we should be able to understand the principles that govern learning by examining behaviour

    • Key Issue: Can rules/principles be understood through naturalistic observation or are empirical studies required?

How Do We Study Learning?

  • If learning can be evidenced via changes in behavior, we should aim to understand governing principles by examining behavior.

  • Key issue: Are principles discoverable via naturalistic observation, or do empirical, controlled studies are required?

Ex: Why Do People Smoke?

  • (Illustrative example used to motivate questions about learning and behavior change.)

Ex: Will Rats “Smoke”?

  • Subjects: male Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 20) with jugular vein catheterization.

  • Nicotine solution delivered directly into bloodstream.

  • Experimental design (skinner box, two levers):

    • Left lever = ACTIVE (nicotine delivered when pressed)

    • Right lever = INACTIVE

    • Group 1: Experimental group, receives nicotine

    • Group 2: Control group, receives saline

  • Results and conclusions were used to illustrate learning as a causal variable in behavior.

  • What we would want are low responses for right lever in both groups, and low response for left lever in control group and high in experimental group, the differentiation between these two would mean that they are doing it for the nicotine, rules out for the most part other explanations

The Fundamental Learning Expt

  • Learning is a causal variable and cannot be observed directly.

  • To conclude that learning has occurred, we must be sure that the observed change in behaviour was due to the experimental manipulations

  • Must compare participants with and without experience under otherwise identical circumstances (e.g., compare participants with and without the relevant training under otherwise identical conditions)

  • Variables:

    • IV (Independent Variable): the specific training experience

    • DV (Dependent Variable): the resultant change in behavior

The Fundamental Learning Expt (Designs)

  • IV must involve at least two conditions:

    • Experimental condition: relevant experience or training

    • Control condition: no relevant experience or training, with all other factors held constant

  • Learning is inferred by comparing these two conditions (between-group design).

  • EX: One group of dogs trained with bell, control group without the bell

    • They are the same group, but different ONLY in respects to the learned behaviour…

    • Ideal to control for compounds, so that we don’t deal with ambiguity… the dreaded a word… alternative explanation for results. We want to come out the experiment with only one plausible explanation

The Control Problem

  • Control Problems:

    • Cannot use naturalistic observations

      • Naturalistic observations won’t control for causality, how it happens requires artificial lab circumstances because otherwise not enough control and therefore ambiguity in experiment, which is bad

      • Female rat sexual behaviour experiment — ambiguity, bedding messed with hormonal levels, another rat experiment where researcher man vs. woman — difference in pheromone

    • The control procedure must be designed with care

  • Challenges with controls and inference:
    1) Naturalistic observations cannot isolate training histories and experiences.
    2) Control procedures must be carefully designed for different training procedures.
    3) Learning can only be inferred by comparing control vs. experimental conditions; this is a between-group design when using separate groups.

Single-Case Experimental Designs

  • Misleading name: typically involves several individuals, but results are shown for individuals rather than group averages; lacks an explicit control group.

  • Especially useful in translational research, trying to apply stuff to clinical therapy (ex., given specific circumstances, this is how you can help someone with addiction)

Single-Case Designs: Baselines and Evaluation

  • Baseline data: observe individuals over time before training.

  • Compare post-training performance to baseline to evaluate learning.

  • Without training, performance would remain at baseline.

  • Results can be translated into clinical practice.

The Rules of Association

  • Primary rules (Hobbes and Aristotle):

    • 1) Contiguity: If two events repeatedly occur together in space or time, they will become associated.

      • Dog associated bell with food due to contiguity in pavlov exp.

    • 2) Similarity: Association forms if two things are similar.

    • 3) Contrast: Association forms if two things are different.

      • Does not hold up nearly as well according to modern research

      • More difficult to link things that are different (like bell and food)

  • Secondary rules (Brown, 1778–1820):
    1) Intensity of sensations/events
    2) Recency of association
    3) Frequency of events being paired

  • Ebbinghaus: empirical study of associations.

Experimental Psychology – Core Concepts

  • Definitions:

    • Empirical: based on collected data.

    • Experimental: manipulation of an IV to observe effects on a DV.

    • Quantitative: observations expressed numerically.

  • Key figures: Hermann Ebbinghaus (memory studies).

Ebbinghaus: Experimental Psychology in Action

  • Used himself as a test subject

  • Studied lists of nonsense words (e.g., BAP, KEP, DAK)

  • Studied list, manipulated how much time before recall, and did it over and over again while manipulating time to learn in

  • Design elements:

    • Learn a list (form a memory)

    • Delay

    • Test memory

    • Relearn the same list

    • Compare time to learn initially vs. relearn later

  • Dependent variable: savings in relearning.

  • Significance: demonstrated how time, practice, and spacing affect memory across species.

Ebbinghaus: Forgetting Curve

  • Found rapid initial forgetting that gradually slows over time.

  • Exponential forgetting curve: forgetting occurs quickly at first, then levels off with time and practice.

  • Key takeaway: time, practice, spacing influence memory across the animal kingdom.

Nonhuman Participants in Learning Research

  • Advantages of lab animals:
    1) Knowledge and control over prior learning experiences
    2) Precision and control over learning environment and procedures
    3) Ability to observe the same individuals under identical conditions across trials
    4) Knowledge of and control over genetics
    5) Control over extraneous motivational variables
    6) Minimize the role of language
    7) Minimize effort due to please/displease by the experimenter

Animal Models of Behaviour

  • Animal models do not perfectly mimic human behavior but reveal similarities in relevant features and functions.

  • Example in smoking research:

    • Interested in nicotine

    • No interest in food consumption, housing , species

Animal Models and Broader Impact

  • Animal models have driven drug discovery and understanding of addiction.

  • They help explore:

    • Pharmacological agents that alleviate or enhance behavior

    • Side effects (short- and long-term)

    • Potential for overdose risks

  • They contribute to foundational concepts in machine learning (e.g., how associations are formed in programming).

Methodological Considerations in Learning Research

  • Key points:
    1) Learning is an experimental science: identify causal variables and how prior experience causes long-term changes in behavior.
    2) General Process Approach: seek common learning processes that operate similarly across species; discover general laws governing learning.

    • Processes that operate in much the same way in different animals

    • General laws with which to organize and explain the diversity of events in the universe

    • Can lead to general laws of learning

  • Implication: General rules of learning may be discovered by studying any species or response system that exhibits learning.

What Constitutes a Good Animal Model?

  • Construct Validity (similar causal mechanisms): we can gain insight into human behaviour from animal models if causal factors governing the behaviour are similar.

  • Criterion Validity: Extent to which laboratory animal bheaviour induced by an experimental manipulation predicts human behaviour in the real world

  • Important caveat: no species perfectly mirrors humans (e.g., rat ≠ monkey ≠ dog ≠ human).

Choosing the Right Model System

  • Levels of investigation include:

    • Whole organism

    • Neural circuits & neurotransmitters

    • Neurons and synapses

    • Neural system or network

    • Molecular, cellular, & genetic levels

    • Learning mechanism

    • Behavior/Psychology

Using Nonhuman Animals: Considerations and Benefits

  • Considerations:

    • Humane and ethical treatment of animals

  • Practical advantages:

    • Control over prior experience

    • Often known full genetic sequence

    • Animals do not guess the goals of the experiment or adjust behavior to expectation

  • Empirical advantages:

    • Address questions about human behavior that cannot be studied directly in humans

    • Study neurobiological substrates of learning and memory

NEXT TIME: CHAPTER 2 THE SUBSTRATE FOR LEARNING: UNCONDITIONED BEHAVIOUR

  • Preview of upcoming content to connect to Chapter 1 foundations.