How much do you know about Learning and Memory?

Behaviorism and Classical Conditioning

• The chapter discusses the conflict between structuralists and behaviorists in early psychology.

• Behaviorists rejected studying mental events and instead advocated for studying behavior and its external circumstances.

• Behaviorists believed that external events in the environment are the true causes of behavior, as thoughts are influenced by these events.

• Jacques Loeb argued that animal behavior should be understood as a response to external stimuli, not will or purpose.

• Behaviorists aim to explain behavior, including learning, through stimulus-response associations.

• Pavlov made an important observation that led to his groundbreaking work on classical conditioning.

• Classical conditioning is the process by which an organism learns a new association between a neutral stimulus and a stimulus that already elicits a reflexive response.

• Pavlov conducted experiments using dogs and measured salivation as a response.

• Classical conditioning can explain the phenomenon of drug tolerance.

• Shepard Siegel conducted experiments that confirmed classical conditioning during drug injections.

• Research on classical conditioning of drug tolerance has led to applications in addiction treatment.

• Classical conditioning involves processes such as extinction, spontaneous recovery, stimulus generalization, and discrimination.Learning and Conditioning

• Pavlov's theory of classical conditioning involves the development of a connection in the brain between a conditioned stimulus (CS) and an unconditioned stimulus (UCS).

• During conditioning, connections develop between the representations of the CS and UCS in the brain, leading to the CS exciting the CS center and ultimately producing the unconditioned response (UCR).

• Later studies contradicted the idea that conditioning simply transfers the response from one stimulus to another, as rats conditioned with a shock as the UCS treated the CS as a danger signal.

• The frequency and predictability of the CS-UCS pairing play important roles in the strength of conditioning, and the CS needs to be a good predictor of the UCS for strong conditioning to occur.

• In operant conditioning, behavior is changed by providing a reinforcer after a response, and Edward L. Thorndike's experiments with cats in puzzle boxes helped revolutionize the study of animal learning.

• Reinforcers can be primary (inherently reinforcing) or secondary (learned associations), and punishment decreases the probability of a response.

• Quick and certain punishment is more effective than delayed or uncertain punishment, and alternatives to punishment may be more effective in influencing behavior.

• Secondary reinforcers become reinforcing through learned associations that bring about positive consequences, and punishment can involve the presentation of something aversive or the removal of something desired.

• The law of effect states that responses accompanied or closely followed by satisfaction will be learned associations, and the disequilibrium principle of reinforcement states that preventing an activity produces disequilibrium and the opportunity to engage in that activity again serves as reinforcement.

• Stimulus generalization occurs when reinforcement for a response in the presence of one stimulus leads to the same response in the presence of a similar stimulus, and stimulus discrimination involves reinforcement for responding to one stimulus and not another.

• Discrimination can be influenced by discriminative stimuli, which signal the appropriate behaviors that will lead to reinforcement, punishment, or neither.

• Environmental determinism, the idea that complete control of the environment could shape a child's future, was proposed by John B. Watson, but ethical considerations make it challenging to conduct such experiments.Operant Conditioning: Shaping, Chaining, and Schedules of Reinforcement

• Operant conditioning involves modifying behavior through reinforcement or punishment.

• Stimulus control refers to the ability of a specific stimulus to influence and guide responses.

• B.F. Skinner was a prominent behaviorist known for his research in operant conditioning and reinforcement histories.

• Skinner used an operant conditioning chamber, also known as a Skinner box, to measure and define behavior.

• Shaping is a technique used to establish a new response by reinforcing successive approximations to the desired behavior.

• Chaining is a procedure used to train animals or humans to perform a sequence of actions.

• There are four main schedules of intermittent reinforcement: fixed ratio, fixed interval, variable ratio, and variable interval.

• Continuous reinforcement is the simplest procedure in operant conditioning where every correct response is reinforced.

• Consequent reinforcement under different schedules of reinforcement leads to different behaviors.

• Operant conditioning has been used in applied behavior analysis or behavior modification to influence and shape people's behavior.

• Conditioned taste aversion refers to associating a food with illness and developing an aversion to that food.

• Learning is influenced by predisposition, and animals are more likely to learn associations that are biologically prepared.Overview of Learning and Memory

• Hermann Ebbinghaus developed an approach to study memory by teaching new material and measuring memory after various delays using lists of nonsense syllables.

• Memory is not a binary state and exists on a continuum, and different methods of testing memory include free recall, cued recall, recognition, savings, and implicit memory.

• Free recall is a simple method used by researchers to assess memory by asking individuals to produce a response from memory, such as providing a summary or answering an open-ended question.

• Cued recall is a method that improves accuracy in remembering information by providing significant hints or cues about the material.

• Recognition is a method used to test memory, where individuals select the correct item from a set of options, and it typically results in higher accuracy than recall.

• The savings method, also known as the relearning method, detects weak memories by comparing the speed of original learning to the speed of relearning.

• Implicit memory refers to memory influences on behavior or speech without conscious awareness of the memory's influence, and it is characterized by its subtle and unnoted effects on behavior or speech.

• Procedural memories refer to memories of how to do something, such as walking or using chopsticks, and are a type of implicit memory.

• Birds adjust their songs in response to competing noises, such as those found in suburban neighborhoods, which indicates learning rather than genetic changes.

• Humans learn from each other rather than relying solely on trial and error, and social learning is a form of operant conditioning that is typically faster and more efficient than learning independently from scratch.

• Vicarious reinforcement, where one learns from the positive experiences of others, influences decision-making and behavior.

• Providing diverse role models can inspire individuals to believe in their own potential and strive for success.