Psych 100 1H Focus Questions Chapter 4 pg 115 end Class 8 9 13 2013 1 How does operant condition teach animals when a response will be rewarded and when to expect a certain reward What does this tell us about animals concept understanding and ability to track the relative value of rewards a When a stimuli occurs inside a situation animals will expect reward not in home situation or others just inside Skinner Box When thirsty vs hungry won t press lever for dry food because they know the response the lever will give b Shift in response rate shows animal is constantly out to do better Particular response leads to less reinforcement animal spend less time 2 Describe Groos s theory of the evolutionary function of animals play and the evidence supporting this theory How can we apply this theory to humans a Primary purpose of play is to provide a means for animals to practice instincts species typical behaviors Animals must learn to use their instincts play provides that practice b Young animals play more species of animals that have the most to learn play the most young animals play most at skills they need to learn play involves much repetition play is challenging c Humans have as many instincts as other mammals less rigid more modifiable by experience Basic mammalian drive to play was elaborated upon by natural selection to include imitation Motivated to play in specific activities 3 How does exploration differ from play What did Tolman s classic experiment with rats tell us about how animals acquire useful information through exploration a Exploration is a category of play Information learning b Rats in mazes explore all of mazes alleys Rats 3 conditions NO ALL SOME some improved dramatically just as much as all c Rewards affect DO not LEARN Latent learning spatial layout in first 10 trials addition of reward affected behavior 4 Describe the process of observational learning How does this relate to cultural transmission and gaze following a Learning by watching others Kittens more quick to push lever if mother done so vs normal kittens b Skills and rituals are passed on as young generation observes elders Reflexive action helps understand what other person is thinking about or talking about Human infants look at whatever caregiver is looking at Helps learn language 5 What is food aversion learning and how does it differ from classical conditioning What is food preference learning What is the relationship between these two types of learning and observational learning a Rats become ill after eating novel tasting food avoid that food Optimal delay between conditioned and unconditioned stimuli Classical conditioning any kind of stimulus can serve food aversion the stimulus must be a distinctive taste or smell b Deprived of a mineral or vitamin learn to prefer flavor of new c Learn to eat from each other Children will taste new food if they food saw adult eat it first 6 Describe and give an example of fear related learning imprinting and specialized place learning abilities a Biologically predisposed to acquire fear of situations and objects that pose threat to evolutionary ancestors Rhesus monkeys are not afraid of snakes but easily learn to fear them Monkeys from laboratory do not react fearfully until saw a monkey that was wild do so b Can get separated from mother have to recognize her Newly hatched chicks never see mother follow first to see Would not switch to following a real mother after c Remembering specific locations that have biological significance Nutcrackers bury food in thousands of different sites they return during the winter when food is needed Memory of visual landmarks near the sight
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