Conditioning and Learning Exam 1 Study Guide Classical Conditioning Learning biological process that facilitates adaptation to the environment Finding new things Predicting important events Adjusting to changes Withholding behavior Learning can also be referred to as an enduring change in the mechanisms of behavior based on experiences with stimuli and or responses in the environment Types of learning Reflexes specific involuntary behavior that only and always happens in response to a specific stimulus Modal action patterns somewhat more complicated reflexes that are specific to a particular animal species Single stimulus learning the change in reflexive or modal responses after repeated performance Classical conditioning association of two environmental stimuli such that they both come to produce a similar response Operant conditioning probability of a behavior occurring in the future is based on stimulus that follows it Performance is influenced by Physiological state i e fatigue Motivational state i e hunger Learning is a change in the mechanisms of behavior Measured via a change in performance Experimental using the principles of the scientific method Identify causal variables that when experienced cause long term changes in behavior Observe behavior in situation with and without the presumed causal variable Naturalistic observation Is informative as it minimizes intrusion By definition cannot systematically manipulate the environment General Process Approach Look for uniformities among the diversity Identify general laws to predict and explain the organization of behavior Methodological implications o Any species can be studied o Any response can be studied Use of nonhuman animal in learning research Experiments in nonhuman animals enable more precise experimental control Elicited Behavior Reflexes Modal Action Patterns To elicit means to draw forth a response Behavior initiated by contact with something that stimulates it Behavior is pretty flexible but is constrained by limits of the organism Reflex the simplest form of elicited behavior A specific response that only and always occurs when elicited by a specific stimulus Consequences of neural organization in spinal cord reflex arc Reflex Examples brushes their cheek Rooting reflex infants will turn their heads toward something that Respiratory occlusion reflex infants will pull their head back wipe their faces and or cry if something blocks their nose or mouth Milk letdown reflex more milk will become available in the breast as more suckling occurs Modal action patterns complex than a reflex Response sequences particular to a specific species typically more Examples graylag geese roll eggs back into their nest Other birds feed common cuckoo chicks Eliciting stimuli modal action patterns Sign stimulus or releasing stimulus specific environmental features that generates the initiation of a modal action pattern Example what determines if a male quail will mate with a female quail Supra normal sign stimuli Herring gull chicks peck the red spot on parent s beak to induce regurgitation of food from parents that the chicks eat Sequential organization of behavior patterns Appetitive behavior o Brings the organism into contact with a stimulus o Can be further subdivided Consummatory behavior consummation o The culmination of a modal action pattern e g ingestion Single Stimulus Learning Sensitization Habituation Reflexes automatic and invariant Not always can be quite plastic Upon repeated stimulation response magnitude can increase or decrease based on situation Habituation and its features Habituation a decline in response magnitude that occurs with repeated presentation of a stimulus o Evident in virtually all species and situations Stimulus specific o Response will reinvigorate if the stimulus is altered or reoccur if there is a long delay between presentations Reliant on attention distracted from it Sensitization o Response will return to previous levels if responder is An increase in response magnitude that occurs in certain states of emotional arousal o Evident in virtually all species and situations Not as stimulus specific as habituation Adaptive features of sensitization and habituation Allows organisms to appropriately respond to what is and is not important at any given time in their environment Single stimulus Behavior Implications on Motivation Can habituation and sensitization affect emotional behavior Emotional responses are biphasic with a primary reaction followed by an opposite after reaction o Primary reaction becomes weaker with repetition o After reaction becomes stronger as primary becomes weaker Maintaining any system in a stable state requires that a disturbance that moves the system in one direction is countered by another that moves it in the opposite direction Emotional stability as a homeostatic process Opponent process theory of motivation Opponent processing in vision o We never experience colors such as greenish red or bluish yellow o When a red wavelength of light hits the eye Red receptors respond in an excitatory manner Green receptors respond in an inhibitory manner Example alcohol use Primary reaction relaxation disinhibition euphoria Opponent reaction agitation hangover disphoria Over time and repeated exposure o Habituation to the primary reaction drug tolerance occurs making drinking no longer as fun o Opponent reaction increases promoting more drinking to avoid bad feelings Example skydiving Why do people get addicted to skydiving Primary reaction holy crap I m falling from a plane fear Opponent reaction adrenaline surge evading death rush Can explain why processes that cause fear and pain are still repeated Classical Conditioning Events in the world do not occur in isolation Events are preceded by other stimuli Associations allow for predicative responses ways following certain stimuli Prediction of cause and effect relationships Classic classical conditioning paradigm Classical conditioning the process by which we learn to respond in certain Start with two stimuli One stimulus elicits a response unconditioned stimulus One stimulus elicits no response neutral stimulus Presentation of the two is paired closely in time Neutral stimulus beings to elicit a response similar to that which follows the unconditioned stimulus o New response conditioned response o No longer neutral stimulus conditioned stimulus o Unconditioned response remains Example Pavlov s dogs Little Albert and fear