The Study of Learning & Behavior: Part 1

Opening idea: Learning & behavior are studied as science, but there are questions about what counts as science and how seriously we should take it. The slide title hints at a tension: “Yes, it is science BUT…” suggesting a discussion about scientific rigor vs. intuition or everyday observations.

Prompt: Introduces a question about the nature of science, prompting a definition or framework for understanding science in the context of learning and behavior.

Formal definition: Science is the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation.
It builds and organizes knowledge as explanations and predictions about the world that are testable.
Core idea: Observation leads to explanations and testable predictions about how the world works.

Informal view: Science can be seen as fun or engaging.
Example given: A commercial showing people choosing to take stairs over an escalator because the stairs are transformed into a piano, making it fun to change behavior.
Real-world relevance: The “fun” framing is used as a behavioral intervention to combat obesity by encouraging physical activity.

The Study of Learning and Behavior uses the Natural Science Approach.
Focus: Description and understanding of natural phenomena (i.e., behavior).
Four (listed) assumptions of the natural science approach, though eight items are provided:
- Natural phenomena have causes
- Behaviors have a cause
- Causes precede their effects
- Behaviors occur following the event that causes it
- The causes of natural events include only natural phenomena
- The cause of behavior is something that is natural
- The simplest explanation that fits the data is best (Occam’s razor)
- Explanations of behavior that are simple tend to be the best explanations
Note: While framed as “four assumptions,” eight points are listed, emphasizing a naturalistic, parsimonious approach to explaining behavior.

Formal definition of behavior: The way in which an animal or person acts in response to a particular situation or stimulus.
Scientific definition of behavior: Anything an organism does that can be measured.
Ongoing question: What exactly are we measuring when we study behavior?
Core issue: Measurement validity and what constitutes a measurement in behavioral research.

Concept: Errors reflect entries into the “wrong” arm of a maze or incorrect responses.
Illustration: Differences in learning between healthy control mice and genetically altered mice modeling Alzheimer’s Disease (AD).
Example: First-time campus navigation vs. tenth-time navigation; a mouse model of AD shows reduced learning in an 8-arm radial maze.

Definition: Topography refers to the form of the behavior.
Example: A person tracing lines of a star in a mirror; trial 1 shows shaky/erratic performance, trial 15 shows substantial improvement.
Interpretation: Changes in topography indicate learning as the form of the response becomes more accurate or fluent.
Example analogue: Finding the light switch in your old bedroom vs. in your dorm room.
Source: Adapted from Kingsley & Garry, 1962, p.304.

Concept: Intensity measures the force or strength of a behavior.
Example: A rat depressing a lever with a force requirement; initial threshold 21 grams, later increased to 38 grams.
Interpretation: Increase in required force demonstrates changes in how strongly the behavior is performed as learning occurs.
Source: Hull, 1943, p. 305.
Real-world analogies: A child learning to open a bottle of water (progressing from familiar to new tasks) or hitting a tennis ball (from beginner to proficient).

Concept: Speed refers to the time it takes to perform a behavior.
Example: Rats running a maze to obtain a treat; over trials, the average time to complete the maze declines, indicating learning/proficiency.
Source: Tolman & Honzik, 1930.
Analogy: Your own experience—time to reach the library decreases with repeated attempts.

Concept: Latency is the delay before a response occurs after a stimulus or cue.
Example: Dogs salivating in response to a stimulus; early trials show a long delay, but latency decreases with more trials; by the 40th–50th trials, salivation occurs within a couple of seconds.
Source: Anrep, 1920.
Analogy: Getting out of bed when the alarm goes off; latency decreases after becoming accustomed to college life and tasks (e.g., improved motivation or reduced procrastination).

Concept: The cumulative record tracks how many units of a behavior occur over time (e.g., number of boards completed in Candy Crush or words per minute in a task).
Terminology: Time-based measure of change in rate of responding; often presented as a cumulative count over training time.
Note: Emphasizes long-term trends in the frequency of behavior rather than single-trial performance.

Concept: Fluency combines errors and rate to assess learning efficiency.
Definition: Correct responses per minute, adjusted for incorrect responses (i.e., not merely frequency but accuracy paired with speed).
Analogy / Example: Verbal learning assessment such as the Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT).
Interpretation: Fluency provides a composite measure that reflects both accuracy and speed.