Prediction of behaviorCopyright 2011 Fall 2011 PSYCHOLOGY 110 PROFESSOR MINOR SET #1 September, 22 2011 FUNDAMENTALS OF LEARNING: BASIC CONCEPTS Prediction of behavior A. Source of variance II. Def. of learning A. Common sense B. Scientific III. Heuristics A. Clark Hull B. Neisser vs. Garcia C. Systems Analyses D. Evolution IV. Structure of Behavior A. Reactions B. Actions I. Source of variance One example of this would be picking a trait and mapping it to find the distribution. Like IQ: Variance = genes + environment + (g*e) + error GE on phenotype: Associative  Learned Nonassociative  unlearned (like aging effects) How do you learn: think of a problem.. then: “take naps” The “little man” in your head (homunculus) tells us how to do things while we nap… it’s unconscious II. What is learning? A. Common sense definition: process of acquiring, storing, and utilizing knowledge To test this you would have to set up an experiment. Step one for this could be manipulating the environment. People didn’t do that for a long time, they would just sit around and think about how they think William James: wrote a number of books on psychology, even though he never did an experiment. He had really good insights. Edward Thorndike was his student. He started experimental psychology in this country. B. Scientific Definition: Thorndike and James came up with it --Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior as a result of experience --this is done through experience/ interactions with the environment - Behavior is how we measure learning Non-associative: not learned Associative: learning: Experience: Thorndike says we need to vary experience and study the changes in behavior. He argues that there are only 3 FUNDAMENTAL TYPES OF EXPERIENCE 1. Present you with a stimulus and record the behavior --habituation and sensitization S 2. Present you with a sequence of stimuli --classical (Pavlovian) conditioning S1-S2 3. Wait until you respond and then present a stimulus that relies on that response --instrumental (Thorndikian) conditioning R-S* 2 CATEGORIES OF BEHAVIOR 1. Reactions- innate behaviors, encoded in genome…. UNLEARNED Innate behaviors, you get them when you get your genes, some aren’t expressed right away and some disappear 2. Actions- LEARNED REACTIONS (simple to complex) 1. Kinesis- non directed motor movement Ex. wood louse (aka rolly pollies): light and a decrease in humidity stimulate them to move, dark and humid places inhibit movement… so they end up under rocks2. Taxis- directional movement Ex. worms: see light and go the other way (negative photo taxis). Plants have positive photo taxis 3. Reflex 2 Sensory afferent Motor efferent 4. Action Pattern: Complex Ex. Herring Gull: The female has a red spot on the bottom of her beak.. this is the sign stimulus for the baby herring gull who once they see it will peck at it.. the baby pecking at it is the sign stimulus for the mother to vomit into the baby’s mouth…… Action patterns are also seen in mating rituals 5. Actions: flexible neural learning system… Behavior is LEARNED (can be adapted within our lifetime) Ex. Learning to drive a manual car Three types of actions: 1. Instrumental conditioning (R-S): learning the consequences of your behavior Some action = some consequence and you will change your response based on if you like that consequence or not Ex. rats pressing a bar for food. 2. Internalized Actions: -probably limited to higher primates and humans… you can assess the outcome of something -you don’t have to try it out to figure out what something does 3. Habits: similar to action patterns… (unconscious) happen because something occurred repeatedly with a consistent outcome Ex. When a red light comes on while you are driving you stop History Heuristics: A w- Clark Hulay of looking at a problem: l: telephone analogy: o The brain worked like a telephone, in a telephone the crank would send a signal to the operator who would them connect your node to the node you wanted to talk to… the brain is a big switch board with nodes of knowledge… you gain associations between nodes In the late 1960’s – early 1970’s psychology broke in two: - Neisser got a computer (when they were still very new) and thought t e human brhat a computer was a good model of how thain worked. o This was the start of cognitive psychology - Garcia (who used to be at UCLA) disagreed with this. He said that it is a on. The brain is a “biologi behavior ll biological and comes from evolutical organ” which evolved to control o This was the start of psychobiology The experiment then is to do one of those and record the behavior change. Then you can see how you acquire/ store/ use information The biological organ is divided up: Information Acquisition System Output is Motivation/ Emotion System Behavior Production System Information acquisition is the cognitive system where you perceive the world (pure learning.. if we could isolate it) Motivational emotional will affect how you respond to a stimulus Behavior production is how your nervous system makes behavioral output END OF LECTURE****************************September 27, 2011 Evolution of Intelligent Behavior (ppt. on blackboard website) If Darwin was right then our ancestors were submissive and psychotic… because otherwise they never would have left the trees to go to the savanna where there were predators and no food Evolution of Man: Anthropods split into monkeys and hominoids  Hominoids—hominids—homo sapiens  We lost hair from running around savanna hot and sweaty  are bipedal  Aquatic Ape Theory o If we were wading around in water it would make sense that we were hairless and bipedal.. and have a lot of fat (even as babies) o Our fat is bonded to our skin not muscle like other species o We need omega-3 fatty acid or we get neurodegenerative disease o We can hold our breath and can swim (and love water)  Others can’t o Our hair pattern is closest to dolphins  Ardipithecus ramidus: Lucy (picture is wrong.. her nose should be facing down.. noses turned down for swimming, otherwise you