I) Excursion through the history of the psychology of learningA) Classification of Life1) Updated by Carl Linnaeus2) Charles Darwina) Foundation for understanding the similarities and differences across lifeb) Understanding of the different types of life-forms across the globe and the similarities between themc) Idea of natural selectioni) Definition: difference in reproduction of classes of entities that differ in one or more hereditary traitsii) Phenotypic variability: behavioral traits may varyiii) Heritability: offspring inherit parent’s traitsiv) Differential reproduction (fitness advantage): members of a population with one level of a trait will bear more offspring than members of the population with a different level of that traitd) “Nevertheless the difference in mind between man and higher animals, great as it is, certainly is one of degree and not kind”II) Comparative analysis of behaviorA) Psychology is the study of behaviorB) Behavior is produced by physiological mechanismsC) These mechanisms have been selected by past environmentsD) Evolution by natural selection explains the continuity and diversity in behavior among species1) This allows scientists to use animal models to study human behavior because many of the mechanism of behavior are shared among a wide range of species2) Elementary forms of learning in rats (and mice because of the genetic manipulations that are possible), pigeons, and humans seem to operate via the same mechanisms and processesa) Evidence for this homologyi) Body structure regulatory genes conserved across the Animal kingdomii) Homology of circadian clockBiochemical mechanism that oscillates with a period of 24 hoursBasic molecular mechanism of the biological clock have been defined in many different types of creaturesGenes involved in clock are conserved in most creaturesiii) Exploratory behavior and novelty seekingNeurotransmitter differences that relate to exploratory in honey bees match neurotransmitters that relate to novelty seeking in humansiv) Conserved cellular/molecular pathways of learningUse of sea slugsIII) Iceberg metaphor of human behaviorA) Conscious behavior is only 10%B) The other 90% are1) Instrumental conditioning2) Pavlovian conditioning3) Sensitization4) Habituation5) Modal action patterns6) Kinesis7) Taxis8) ReflexesIV) Methodological investigation of behaviorA) Psychology1) Experimental: Causes inferred from well-controlled experimental manipulation: focus more on questions of mechanisms of behavior rather than function2) General process approach: Explain the greatest variance of observable phenomena with the smallest number of general laws or principles3) Reductionist: break molar behavior into elemental processesB) Biology1) Observationala) Ethology: the study of animals in their natural environmentsi) Focus on the function of a behavior rather than mechanisms2) Adaptationist approach: Explains species-specific behavior in terms of unique histories of natural selection3) Reductionist and holistica) Elementar processes  ecosystemsC) The two are mutually informative and equally usefulV) LearningA) Enduring change in the mechanisms of behavior involving specific stimuli and/or responses that results from prior experience with those or similar stimuli and responsesB) NOT changes in behavior due to1) Fatigue2) Changing stimulus conditions3) Physiological/motivational fluctuations4) MaturationC) The process1) Information enters the system (exteroceptively as well as interoceptively)2) Short term acquisition is either stored or not3) If it is stored it can be retrieved and used to make a decision at a later date4) This can be influenced bya) Motivationb) Stimulationc) Affectd) Arousale) AttentionD) Different Mechanistic levels1) Psychologicala) Determinant of performancei) Learning factorsStimulus response strengthii) Contextual variablesSensory/perception detectionMotivationMotor controlMemory retrievalAttention2) Neurobiological3) Neurochemical4) Cell-molecularVI) How to study learningA) Science: causality is studied through controlled experimentationB) Compare effect of manipulation to putative cause against a control condition lacking the manipulationC) Groups1) Experimental group- receives critical manipulation2) Control group- receives all the same treatment as experimental group except for the manipulationD) Theory: a set of assumptions that interrelate observable tasksE) Intervening variable- a working variable, not necessarily real1) Example: hunger- it is real (sort of), but is it relevant as a psychological entity?a) Hours since last meal  hunger  amount of food eaten at next opportunity2) Other examplesa) Thirstb) Learningc) Intelligenced) Motivatione) memoryF) Hypothetical construct- the essence of something that really exists; has properties that have not yet been empirically determined1) Example: association- a rat as an association between an auditory tone and the presence of food2) Other examplesa) Representationb) Mental imagec) expectations04/05/2012I) Excursion through the history of the psychology of learningA) Classification of Life1) Updated by Carl Linnaeus2) Charles Darwina) Foundation for understanding the similarities and differences across lifeb) Understanding of the different types of life-forms across the globe and the similarities between themc) Idea of natural selectioni) Definition: difference in reproduction of classes of entities thatdiffer in one or more hereditary traitsii) Phenotypic variability: behavioral traits may varyiii) Heritability: offspring inherit parent’s traitsiv) Differential reproduction (fitness advantage): members of a population with one level of a trait will bear more offspring than members of the population with a different level of that traitd) “Nevertheless the difference in mind between man and higher animals, great as it is, certainly is one of degree and not kind”II) Comparative analysis of behaviorA) Psychology is the study of behaviorB) Behavior is produced by physiological mechanismsC) These mechanisms have been selected by past environmentsD) Evolution by natural selection explains the continuity and diversity in behavior among species1) This allows scientists to use animal models to study human behaviorbecause many of the mechanism of behavior are shared among a wide range of species2) Elementary forms of learning in rats (and mice because of the genetic manipulations that are possible), pigeons, and humans seem to operate via the