psych of learning

PART 1

1.    What is procedural learning?  Give an example.

Procedural learning = learning skills or habits through practice; usually unconscious.
Example: Learning to ride a bike.

2.    What are the primary rules of association?  Which has been most prominent in considerations of associations?

3.     ·  Contiguity (events close in time are associated)

4.     ·  Similarity (things alike are associated)

5.     ·  Contrast (things opposite are associated)
Most prominent: Contiguity.

3. How can the conditions under which information is acquired can be explored?

By systematically manipulating the stimuli, context, and timing during learning and observing how these factors affect memory and performance.

4. Why is learning defined in terms of the mechanisms of behavior rather than by a behavior change itself?

Because a behavior change could result from factors other than learning (e.g., fatigue, motivation, drugs). Mechanisms show the internal process responsible for lasting change.

5. Describe Hermann Ebbinghaus’ research.  What did it test?

He studied memory using nonsense syllables. He tested how quickly material is learned and forgotten → producing the forgetting curve.

6.  The concept of hedonism as the control for voluntary behavior was proposed by which philosopher?

Thomas Hobbes.

7.  What are the forms of elicited behavior?  Be prepared to describe each,

·  Reflexes: Automatic responses (e.g., knee jerk).

·  Modal Action Patterns (MAPs): Species-typical sequences (e.g., spider web-building).

8. What is the pathway of the neural signal in a reflex arc?

Stimulus → Sensory neuron → Interneuron (spinal cord) → Motor neuron → Response.

9. Define and describe a modal action pattern.

Innate, species-specific sequence of behavior triggered by a stimulus.
Example: Courtship dance in birds.

10.  Behaviors such as foraging for food in animals and cooking food in humans are classified as what?

Appetitive behaviors (goal-oriented, preparatory).

11.  Why are elicited behaviors interesting to researchers studying learning?

They show how behavior changes through habituation, sensitization, and conditioning, revealing basic learning processes.

12. Be prepared to define and describe habituation.

A decrease in response to a repeated, harmless stimulus.
Example: Stop noticing a clock ticking after a while.

13.  Pavlov’s study of classical conditioning began as an extension of his work on what?

Digestive reflexes (salivation in dogs).

14.  What is object learning?  Be prepared to give an example of object learning behavior.

·  Learning associations between two stimuli (e.g., light predicts food).

·  Example: A dog learns that a bell (CS) predicts food (US)

15.  What is conditioned suppression?  Be prepared to give an example.

·  When a conditioned stimulus (CS) suppresses ongoing behavior.

·  Example: A rat stops pressing a lever for food when a tone previously paired with shock is played.

16.  What is trace conditioning?  What is simultaneous conditioning?  Be prepared to give an example.

Trace conditioning: CS ends before US begins.

·       Example: Tone plays, ends, then food is delivered.

Simultaneous conditioning: CS and US occur at the same time.

·       Example: Tone and food presented together.

17.  What is the latent-inhibition effect?  Give an example.

·  Pre-exposure to a neutral stimulus slows later conditioning with it.

·  Example: Dog hears tone many times with no food → later learns tone-food pairing slower.

18.   Increasing CS or US intensity has what effect(s)?

Increases conditioning strength, speed, and resistance to extinction.

19.  Be prepared to define and give an example of  higher-order conditioning.

·  A CS becomes associated with a new neutral stimulus.

·  Example: Bell → food. Later, light → bell → food. Light becomes a CS.

20.   Research into the role of the US in determining the nature of the CR suggests what?

The US determines the form of the conditioned response (CR).

21.  Be prepared to define and give examples of S-S learning  & S-R learning.

·  S-S: CS evokes a mental representation of US.

·       Example: Bell makes dog think of food → salivation.

·  S-R: CS directly triggers the response.

·       Example: Bell directly triggers salivation without “thinking” of food.

22.  How might a researcher determine whether conditioned responding is due to S-S or S-R learning?

·  Devalue the US (e.g., food paired with illness).

·  If CR decreases → S-S learning. If CR continues → S-R learning.

23.  The cats in Thorndike’s puzzle boxes were able to escape more quickly over successive trials. Thorndike interpreted this performance change to reflect what?

Faster escapes showed trial-and-error learning → Law of Effect (responses followed by satisfaction are strengthened).

24.  Each of two stimuli fully predicts the presentation of a food pellet when presented alone. When the two stimuli are presented together followed by a food pellet, the associative value does what?

Associative value does not double; total strength is shared/limited (blocking/overshadowing effects).

25.  The stimulus substitution model emphasizes what idea?

CS becomes a substitute for the US and elicits the same type of response.