Socio-cultural:Presence of othersCultural, societal, and family expectationsPeer/group influencesCompelling models (media)Research Methods:Descriptive: To observe and record behavior; no control over variables, single cases may be misleadingCase Studies: studies one person- not generalizableNaturalistic observations: researcher studies animal in its natural environment without obstructing or manipulating anythingSurveys/Interviews: broad viewCorrelation: To detect naturally occurring relationships; to asses how well one variable predicts another; does not look at causationCollect data on two or more variables, without manipulationPositive correlation: when one variable goes up, the other variable goes up alsoNegative correlation: variables are inversely related; one goes up, the other goes downExperimental: To explore cause and effectManipulate one or more factors, use random assignmentIndependent Variable: what the researcher is changingExperimental Group: gets the treatmentControl group: does not get the treatment (placebo)Dependent variable: what is being measured, what is dependent on the conditions of the experimentSensation and PerceptionBottom-Up Processing: Starts at sensory receptors and goes to higher levels of processingTop-Down Processing: Sensory input + experiences/expectations shape and lead to perceptionsSensation Perception process:Stimulus: physical eventReceptors: Assembled in organs transduction= converting sensations to a form that our brain can use; processing sensation information and changing it into signals the brain interprets as perceptionBrain: coding and decoding= “perception”Elements of PsychophysicsAbsolute Threshold: detection of weak stimulus 50% of the timeSubliminal Threshold: stimulus that is below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness but can still be detected some of the timeDifference Threshold: Minimum difference deeded to detect a difference between two stimuli ( a just noticeable difference).Signal Detection TheoryPredicts how/when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus amid background noise. Assumes no single absolute threshold and detection depends on: person’s experience, expectations, motivation, level of fatigue…Sensory Adaptation: diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant recurring stimuli. Detect change in the nature/intensity of stimuli (i.e. Band Aid effect- when you put on a band aid, you forget that it is there after a little while)Selective Attention: focusing conscious awareness to a particular stimulus; focus our awareness on only a limited aspect of all that we are capable of experiencing (i.e. cocktail party effect- listening in on one voice in a sea of voices)Perceptual OrganizationFigure and GroundOrganization of the visual field objects (figures) that stand out from their surroundings (ground)GroupingThe perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groupsProximity: grouping nearby figures togetherContinuity: perceive smooth continuous patterns rather than discontinuous onesClosure: fill in gaps to create a complete, whole objectDepth PerceptionBinocular Cues: distance cues that use both eyesRetinal disparity: images from the two eyes differ; the closer the object the larger the disparityConvergence: Neuromuscular cue; two eyes move inward for near objectsMonocular Cues: distance cues that don’t depend on two eyesRelative Size: smaller image looks like its further in the distanceInterposition: closer objects block distant objectsRelative clarity: atmospheric perspective; hazy objects seem more distantTexture: better texture definition seems closer, finer textures/no distinguishable texture seems furtherRelative height: higher objects seem more distantLinear Perspective: parallel lines appear to converge in the distance (i.e. train tracks)Learning and BehaviorAdaptation Through Experience:Behavioral definition: An enduring change in behaviorMust distinguish changes in behavior due to learning from those due to physical, physiological, and developmental changesCognitive definition: formation of a novel mental structure (that is indirectly manifest in behavior).In what ways do animals adapt?Directly change their behavior (without thought)Can change the cognitive processes that give rise to behavior (changing beliefs, thoughts, ideas, etc).Why is learning important:Sensitivity to relations in the environment is critical for survival and reproductive fitnessElicited Behavior / Non-associative LearningMost simple kind of learningSimple responses to the environment – patellar reflex, withdrawal/flexion reflexHabituation (opposite of sensitization): when a subject becomes increasingly unaffected by a stimuli (i.e. hermit crab exposed to picture of a hawk will hide the first time, but after a few times, response will decrease)Oldest type of learningDistinct from sensory adaptation and response fatigueFatigue is too when the subject is too tired to respondSensory adaptation is when a sense receptor is no longer in function- “stops working”Test against these other possibilities with dishabituation:Introduce something new into the environment, animal startles again; startle response – repeated exposure results in a decreased response; You get used to a response, but when you introduce something new into the environment, animal startles againAssociative Learning: Classical ConditioningAKA Pavlovian ConditioningUS/UCS: Unconditioned stimulus, biologically relevant; animal doesn’t need to learn to respond to this (food, sex)UR/UCR: Unconditioned response (salivating)CS: Conditioned stimulus (was originally a neutral stimulus, i.e. bell)CR: Conditioned response (looks the same as UR/UCR but now it is associated with CS) (salivating)Classical Conditioning- ControlsCS/US (unpaired)when CS happens, US does notUsed for shorter learning periodConcerns about this?- subjects might recognize patterns; thus only used for shorter learning periodRandom Control (Rascorla)the CS and US happen randomly with respect to each other. Sometimes there will be pairings, other not.Used for longer learning periodProcedures for Classical Conditioning- Experimental (from best to last)Short Delay: US happens immediately after CSLong Delay: CS is present for a longer amount of time before the US follows immediately afterTrace: there is a gap between CS and USSimultaneous: CS and US happen simultaneouslyBackward: US happens before the CSLast two are the worst because they don’t inform about the