Study Guide for COMM402 Spring 2012 Exam 3 FINAL EXAM Chapter 6 1 What is the general picture of adaptation and its relationship to communication a A person acts the world reacts and then the person needs or chooses to adapt to the world s response b Adaptively rational 2 What is the basic model of the chapter a P t 1 P t some increment 3 Understand the Alfred example a Reinforcement learning b c Through trial and error behavior becomes less random Initially random behavior finds reinforcement adapts to reinforcement 4 How could we model the increment What are the possible models and which one works a Constant increment model i Poor model ii Eventually get a probability larger than 1 b Constant proportion model i Represents how much the subject has yet to learn ii At each trial subject learns a constant proportion of what he has left to iii Produces an asymptotic curve where the behavior approaches a probability learn of 1 5 What are the assumptions of the various adaptation equations a Alternate behaviors are available b State of the individual is described by probabilities that add up to 1 c World responds differently to various behaviors d State of the world is described by various probabilities of various responses to e Set of possible events is a combination of possible behaviors crossed by possible each behavior world responses f Specify adaptation equations for each possible event 6 Make sure you understand the four adaptation equations a 4 events b L and reward c L and no reward d R and reward e R and no reward i PL t 1 PL t a 1 PL t i PL t 1 PL t b PL t i PR t 1 PR t a 1 PR t i PR t 1 PR t b PR t between them Are they related in some way a a is the rate of learning with reward b b is non reward rate of learning c not related in any specific way 7 What is a in the equations What is b in the equations What s the difference 8 Understand what expected probability is and know how to calculate the expected probabilities e g what is the expected probability of going left after trial 2 in the Alfred example Also understand the implications for expected probability a Have a collection of subjects we want to model b Randomness in their behaviors initially c EP multiply the probabilities for each option across tree then multiply by the matching value of probability then added to get TOTAL EXPECTED VALUE 9 What factors may affect a and b in the adaptation equations a Ability of the subject to draw inferences Individual differences i b Motivations i Rewards that are highly valuable ii Extreme depravation of any kind c Novelty i Familiarity or lack thereof with the subject 10 Understand different reward schedules consistent single probability double probability and patterned a Consistent reward is always in the same place b Single Probability reward only depends on one party c Double probability reward depends on two parties d Patterned 0 reward schedule follows a pattern crack the pattern and you can get rewarded 100 of the time 11 Understand the graph on page 291 and related creativity example 12 What are the three possible kinds of theories a Magic Theories cannot be proved wrong because any possible observation can be made to fit the theory b Perfect theories can be proved wrong but is so good that it is almost always c correct Imperfect theories can be proved wrong and is proved wrong makes erroneous predictions 13 What s superstitious learning How is superstition different from adaption What is a benign world What is a malevolent world How do we model superstitious learning a Environment is indifferent to a person s behavior b Dispenses reward and non reward on some basis other than a person s behavior c Individual continues to behave as if the environment is responsive d Benign world rewarded either way regardless of chosen behavior i Falsely believe you are controlling the reward ii Suffer from insufficiently explored options e Malevolent world unresponsively non rewarding regardless of a person s i Probability will oscillate around 0 5 keep trying 14 If Alfred starts at PL 0 50 where does he end up after a lot of trials in a benign world or behavior in a malevolent world a Benign close to 1 0 b Malevolent 0 5 15 Understand textbook examples of superstitious learning e g hair dye adopting personality traits and successful executives 16 What is mutual learning Understand joint event and how to calculate probabilities of joint events a When other people are learning about us as well reward schedule is not passive i Also called mutual accommodation b For each person write out possible events c Create a dual equation table to find nidividual probabilities d To get probability of joint event multiply the individual probabilities 17 Understand the mating example Henry Mildred and the table on page 310 18 How do you calculate the expected probabilities of a person s choice in mutual adaptation Hint Know where the numbers on page 311 and page 312 come from 19 Study the hunting model What are the differences and similarities between the mating model and the hunting model a Hunting mutual adaptation but what is reward for one person is non reward for b Mating mutual adaptation but reward is same either mutual attraction or the other mutual avoidance 20 Know where the numbers on page 319 come from 1 What classic book began the study of diffusion in our field and why it that book Chapter 7 important a 2 Be familiar with the five assumptions of diffusion models discussed in the chapter and summarized on page 351 of your text a CONTACT There must be some sort of contact connection or relative exposure b TRANSMISSION Object of diffusion must be transmitted by someone who between individuals already has the information c ACCEPTANCE Transmission of object of diffusion must be accepted d YOU HAVE IT OR NOT either have information or you do not e NEVER LOSE IT once have information you continue to have it indefinitely 3 Be able to explain why some assumptions may not apply to diffusion in real world situations e g simplifications made for mathematical reasons a Sometimes will get a fraction of a person b Don t necessarily accept the info c Might lose the info over time 4 What is a relevant communication link a Depends for the object of diffusion i Rumors news friendships or ordinary contact patterns in daily routine ii Fads mass media 5 What is an agent of diffusion What is an object of diffusion a Agent the one doing the diffusing b Object the thing that is being diffused 6 What kinds of