PSYC 340 1st Edition Lecture 2 Nature of Learning and Historical Precedents What you missed last class… Syllabus and how to succeed in class I. Learning is an evolutionary advantage A. Combined with innate knowledge II. Nature vs. Nurture III. Why do we study simpler creatures? IntroductionI. What is learning? A. The acquisition of information through “experience”1. Experience does not have to be conscious! 2. Moth moving towards a light – innate and maladaptive; no learning B. Are words arbitrary? 1. Nature - Language is biologically constrained by frequency of sound and “gymnastics” of mouth 2. Nurture – Constrained by phonemes learned in infancy a. May not be able to learn how to make a certain sound because you didn’t learn it when you acquired language i. Some people cannot roll their r’s Learning v. MemoryI. Learning is the process used to store and acquire information, while memory is the retention of the information over time II. Like two sides of a coin, you cannot have one without the otherIII. Remember how learning doesn’t have to be conscious? Neither does memory! These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.IV. Learning is a kind of neural plasticity change:A. Can be altered by development, traumatic brain injury, experience…B. Focusing on how experience affects neuralplasticity Common Criteria for Learning I. The behavioral modification depends on a form of neural plasticity II. Behavioral modification depends on the organism’s experimental history III. Behavioral modification outlasts/extends beyond the environmental contingencies used to induce it; experience has a lasting effect on performance A. “Lasting”- has a fuzzy definition; not a particular time, but most can figure out what is relatively “lasting” (see figure above)Approaches to the Study of Learning I. Forms of explanation A. Efficient cause - environmental conditions 1. When the behavior is observed 2. This cause must be determined first! B. Formal cause - model the process 1. Create a mathematical model/map in order to emulate the process 2. Anchors what you are studying in the concrete C. Material cause – underlying neurobiological processes 1. Amygdala, hippocampus, etc. D. Final cause – WHY? 1. Why does the behavior occur?2. The bunny that freezes when in danger survives because it can avoid detection – this is an adaptive advantageHistory (see figure below) I. Starts with Plato (nativism) and Aristotle (empiricism) II. Critical question: How do we come to know? Or, how does our brain work? A. Early philosophers 1. Plato/nativism a. All knowledge is innate, but experience brings it out 2. Aristotle/empiricism a. All knowledge is acquiredb. Leads to the paradox that we must have the innate knowledge on how to learn? B. More recent philosophical developments 1. Descartes (1588-1679) a.
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