Learned and Unlearned Behaviors

Unlearned Behaviors

• Instincts and reflexes are innate, not learned
• Reflexes are automatic, involuntary responses to stimuli and involve primitive parts of the central nervous system like the brainstem
• Examples of reflexes include the pupillary light reflex, startle reflex, withdrawal reflex, and scratch reflex
• Instincts are innate drives leading to specific behavior patterns
• Instincts are more complex than reflexes, involve movement of the whole organism, and higher brain centers, such as sexual activity and migration

What is Learning?

• Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge resulting from experience
• Learning involves conscious and unconscious processes
• Types of learning include habituation, sensitization, classical and operant conditioning

Classical Conditioning

• Classical conditioning involves associating stimuli to anticipate events
• Pavlov's research on dogs' digestive systems led to the discovery of classical conditioning
• Organisms have unconditioned (unlearned) and conditioned (learned) responses to the environment
• A neutral stimulus (NS) doesn't initially elicit a specific response
• An unconditioned stimulus (UCS) naturally triggers a response and becomes the conditioned stimulus (CS) after acquisition
• An unconditioned response (UCR) is a natural, automatic reaction to the UCS, which becomes the CR after acquisition
• For example, a dog salivates (UCR) in response to food (UCS)
• Initially, the dog doesn't salivate in response to a bell (NS), but after pairing the bell (NS) with food (UCS), the bell (CS) causes salivation (CR)
• Extinction is when the conditioned response decreases and eventually disappears
• Spontaneous recovery is when the conditioned response reappears
• The renewal effect is when the response reappears when brought back to the original environment
• Stimulus generalization happens when stimuli similar to the original conditioned stimulus produce the same response, for example, fear of all dogs after being conditioned to fear one dog
• Stimulus discrimination happens when there are two sufficiently distinct stimuli where one triggers a conditioned response, but the other doesn't, for example, recognizing different alarm sounds
• Classical conditioning can explain fetishes, where sexual attraction develops to nonliving things through association
• Conditioned taste aversion can develop after only one trial, even with long delays, showing little generalization, and demonstrating biological preparedness to learn certain associations

Operant Conditioning

• Organisms learn to associate a behavior and its consequences, which can be reinforcement or punishment
• The law of effect states that rewarded behaviors are more likely to occur, while punished behaviors are less likely to occur
• Positive reinforcement is when something is added to increase the likelihood of a behavior, for example, high grades, paychecks, praise
• Negative reinforcement is when something is removed to increase the likelihood of a behavior, for example, a beeping sound stops when a seatbelt is worn
• Positive punishment is when something is added to decrease the likelihood of a behavior, for example, scolding students
• Negative punishment is when something is removed to decrease the likelihood of a behavior, for example, confiscating a toy
• Punishment may not be effective because it only indicates what not to do, creates anxiety, may encourage subversive behavior, and can model aggressive behavior
• Stimulus discrimination involves distinguishing between stimuli
• Stimulus generalization involves generalizing responses to similar stimuli
• Biological influences limit what behaviors can be learned through reinforcement, with evolutionary predispositions affecting fear responses and instinctive drift causing animals to revert to innate behaviors

Schedules of Reinforcement

• Continuous reinforcement involves reinforcing a behavior every time it occurs, leading to faster learning but faster extinction
• Partial reinforcement involves occasional reinforcement, leading to slower extinction and better maintenance
• Partial reinforcement schedules can be fixed or variable and based on intervals or ratios
• Fixed interval reinforcement happens at predictable time intervals, for example, medication taken at set times
• Variable interval reinforcement happens at unpredictable time intervals, for example, checking Facebook
• Fixed ratio reinforcement happens after a predictable number of responses, for example, factory workers paid per item
• Variable ratio reinforcement happens after an unpredictable number of responses, for example, getting a big tip

Cognitive Approaches to Learning

• Learning isn't solely due to operant and classical conditioning, as unseen mental processes play a role
• Latent learning occurs without immediate reinforcement and becomes apparent only when there's a reason to use it, developing cognitive maps
• Observational learning involves learning by watching others, including paying attention, remembering the behavior, reproducing the action, and being motivated to carry it out
• Both negative and positive behaviors can be learned through observation
• Media violence can lower inhibitions, distort understanding, and desensitize individuals to violence

Memory Defined

• Memory is the process of encoding, storing, and retrieving information
• Memory is not static and can change over time
• The brain often fills in gaps to make sense of the world, which can lead to errors

Three-Stage Model of Memory

• Memory consists of three different types that vary in span and duration
• Information must pass through all stages to be remembered: Sensory memory → Short-term memory (STM) → Long-term memory (LTM)

Sensory Memory

• Sensory memory involves the storage of brief sensory events
• Each sense has its own sensory memory with a very brief duration
• Iconic memory is the visual system and lasts less than 1 second
• Echoic memory is auditory and lasts 2-3 seconds
• It is a snapshot that stores sensory information
• Unless transferred, the information is lost, but it is high precision

Short-Term Memory (STM)

• STM is a limited capacity memory system where information is retained for about 30 seconds unless rehearsed
• Its capacity is 7 +/- 2 items
• STMs are either discarded or stored in LTM
• Chunking can extend STM capacity by organizing information into smaller, meaningful groups
• Rehearsal transfers information from STM to LTM
• Maintenance rehearsal involves repeating stimuli in the same form
• Elaborative rehearsal involves considering and organizing information, linking it in a meaningful way, which is more effective for transfer
• Focus on understanding rather than memorization
• Working memory is a set of active, temporary memory stores that actively manipulate and rehearse information, involving a central executive processor for reasoning and decision-making
• Working memory acts as a mental whiteboard

Long-Term Memory (LTM)

• LTM is the continuous storage of information that can last decades or a lifetime
• It has no limit, similar to a computer's hard drive
• Anterograde amnesia (inability to form new memories) vs. retrograde amnesia (loss of memory for events prior to trauma) demonstrates the distinction from STM

Types of Long-Term Memory

• Declarative (Explicit) Memory involves conscious recollection of information
• Semantic memory involves general knowledge, for example, knowing who the prime minister is
• Episodic memory involves recollection of events in our lives, for example, a first kiss
• Non-declarative (Implicit) Memory involves memory that affects behavior without conscious recollection
• Procedural memory involves memory for how to do things, for example, tying shoes
• Priming involves activation of stored information to help remember/identify new information faster

Neuroscience of Memory

• Memory traces are distributed throughout the brain
• The Hippocampus plays a role in memory consolidation (initial encoding)
• Damage to the hippocampus leads to the inability to process new declarative memories
• The Amygdala is heavily involved with memories involving emotion, for example, traumatic experiences, phobias
• Long-term potentiation happens when neural pathways become easily excited during learning
• Synapses between neurons increase, and dendrites branch out (neurons that fire together, wire together)

Forgetting

• Encoding failures happen because one must first attend to information to encode it
• Most events are never encoded
• The self-reference effect shows we have better memory for information related to us
• Stress reduces the accuracy of eyewitness recall and correct identification
• Retrieval failure includes decay (fading over time) and interference Retroactive interference happens when new information hampers previously learned information
• Proactive interference happens when earlier learning interferes with new learning
• Amnesia is the loss of long-term memory due to disease, trauma, or psychological trauma
• Anterograde amnesia is the inability to remember new information after the point of trauma and often affects the hippocampus
• Retrograde amnesia is the loss of memory for events before the trauma

Retrieving Memories

• Retrieval is the act of getting information out of memory storage and back into conscious awareness
• Recall involves accessing information without cues, for example, short answer tests
• Recognition involves identifying previously learned information after encountering it again, for example, multiple-choice questions
• The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon involves retrieval failures where we are sure we know information but can't remember it, sometimes aided by cues
• The levels of processing theory states that the depth of information processing during exposure is critical
• Shallow processing involves processing by physical and sensory aspects
• Deepest processing involves analyzing information in terms of meaning and relating it to existing knowledge
• Encoding specificity means remembering better when retrieval conditions are similar to encoding conditions
• Context-dependent learning means learning like students tested in their usual classroom do better
• State-dependent learning exists, for example, with Alcoholism
• A flashbulb memory is a record of an atypical, unusual event with strong emotional associations, which is easily retrieved but not necessarily accurate

Memory as Reconstructive

• Memory is reconstructive
• People forget and memories change over time, influenced by cognitive "hardware" (stereotypes, schema, scripts) and post-event information
• Schemas/scripts are organized knowledge structures or mental models used to "fill in the gaps"
• Memory may be distorted to conform
• Suggestibility means misinformation from external sources leads to false memories
• Memories are fragile and vulnerable to suggestion
• The misinformation effect happens when post-event information alters or becomes incorporated into the original memory
• False memories can be implanted, including traumatic ones
• Eyewitness misidentification is a leading cause of wrongful convictions

Language

• Language is the communication of information through symbols arranged according to rules
• Language is central to communication and closely tied to how we think and understand the world
• Language develops without formal instruction and follows similar patterns cross-culturally
• Phonemes are categories of sound our vocal apparatus produces
• English has 26 letters but 40-45 phonemes
• Languages vary in the number of phonemes they use
• Morphemes are the smallest unit of meaning in a language
• Most morphemes are words, but some modify the meaning of other words
• Syntax is the set of rules by which we construct a sentence
• Different languages have different syntaxes
• Language Acquisition proficiency is maximal early in life
• Being deprived of language during a critical period impedes the ability to fully acquire and use language

Language Acquisition Stages

• Babbling starts from 3 months to 1 year
• Initially, babies babble all sounds but later specialize in their own language
• Words & Phrases happen around age 1 to 2
• Children combine words to create simple two-word phrases
• By age 2, they have ~50 vocabulary words, and 6 months later, several hundred
• Sentences are produced around age 3
• Children make plurals and use past tense but overgeneralize
• Children acquire all basic rules by age 5

Theories of Language Acquisition

• Learning-theory follows principles of reinforcement & conditioning
• Nativist says children are born with basic knowledge of language, a "language organ" or language acquisition device
• Interactionist involves being pre-programmed with hardware and developing software through exposure & environment
• Linguistic relativity (Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis) states that the language we speak influences how we think, understand, & perceive the world
• Examples include egocentric vs. geocentric perspectives and time perception
• The Guugu Yimithirr language uses cardinal directions instead of left or right

Thinking

• Thinking is the manipulation of mental representations of information
• Top-down processes streamline cognitive functioning by utilizing pre-existing knowledge to fill in the gaps, reducing cognitive effort, and speeding up processing
• Concepts are knowledge and ideas about a set of objects, actions, and characteristics that share core properties
• Prototypes are best or most typical example of a concept

Reasoning/Problem Solving

• An algorithm is a rule that, if applied appropriately, guarantees a solution to the problem
• Algorithms only work for well-defined problems and can be time-consuming
• A heuristic is a general problem-solving framework (shortcuts, rules of thumb)
• Heuristics are useful because it is impossible to always consider all information, reduce mental effort, simplify decision-making, and are often correct
• The representativeness heuristic involves basing judgments on similarity to an abstract ideal, expectation, or stereotype
• Base rate fallacy means base rates aren’t sufficiently taken into account
• The availability Heuristic involves basing estimates of frequency or probability on the ease with which examples come to mind
• The anchoring Heuristic involves relying on a single piece of information (the anchor) to inform decision-making
• Framing is the way a question/statement is formulated which can influence decision-making

Obstacles to Problem Solving

• Mental sets involve becoming stuck in a specific problem-solving strategy and inhibiting our ability to generate alternatives
• Functional fixedness involves difficulty conceptualizing that an object typically used for one purpose can be used for another

Other Biases That Lead to Errors in Judgment and Decision-Making

• Hindsight bias is the tendency to overestimate how well we could have predicted something after it has already occurred
• Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information that supports a person’s prior beliefs
• Tunnel vision is focusing on information that supports a particular point of view

Motivation

• Motivation involves factors that direct and energize the behavior of humans and other organisms
• Motivation includes biological, cognitive, and social aspects and seeks to explain the energy guiding behaviors

Major Approaches to Motivation

• Instinct
• Drive reduction
• Arousal
• Incentive
• Cognitive
• Hierarchy of needs

Instinct Approaches

• Instincts are unlearned patterns of behavior that are biologically determined
• Issues with this approach include psychologists disagreeing on primary instincts; it doesn't explain why specific behaviors appear in a species; human behavior is largely learned, not instinctual

Drive-Reduction Approach

• Behavior is motivated by the need to reduce internal tension caused by unmet biological needs
• Primary drives are related to biological needs like hunger, thirst, and sleep
• Secondary drives are brought about by prior experience and learning, such as the need for knowledge, financial well-being, and personal achievement
• This approach overemphasizes biological needs and doesn't account for non-homeostatic behaviors like curiosity

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

• Primary needs must be satisfied before higher-order needs
• The base includes basic needs like food and water

Arousal Approaches

• We strive to maintain certain levels of stimulation and activity, increasing or reducing them as necessary
• People vary in their optimal arousal levels

Incentive Approach

• Motivation stems from the desire to obtain valued external goals or incentives
• This explains why we may succumb to incentives even without internal cues

Cognitive Approaches

• Motivation is based on people’s thoughts, expectations, and goals
• Intrinsic motivation is driven by internal rewards or personal satisfaction
• Extrinsic motivation is driven by external rewards or pressures
• The overjustification effect happens when excessive external rewards for an already intrinsically motivating activity can reduce intrinsic motivation

Hunger

• Glucose levels are monitored by the hypothalamus
• Ghrelin increases eating
• Leptin signals satiety
• Insulin regulates satiety and food intake
• Sight, smell, and stress play a role
• Cultural preferences, habits, social norms, and food-related cues influence eating behaviors
• Portion sizes and eating habits vary across cultures
• Hunger is influenced by psychological and social factors, group dynamics, body ideals, and cultural norms
• Obesity is linked to an abundance of low-cost, high-fat meals, habits of eating high-calorie foods on the run, and a rise in energy-saving devices

Social Motives

• The need for achievement is the desire to accomplish goals by setting high standards and striving to meet them
• The need for affiliation is the desire to have positive interactions with others and be in close, friendly relationships

Emotions

• Emotions are mental states or feelings associated with our evaluation of our experiences
• Emotions involve arousal, facial and body changes, brain activation, cognitive appraisals, subjective feelings, and tendencies toward action, all shaped by cultural rules

Components of Emotion

• Cognitive (subjective conscious experience)
• Physiological (bodily arousal)
• Behavioral (overt expressions)
• The amygdala links sensory input to emotional and behavioral responses

Functions of Emotions

• Prepare us for action
• Shape our future behavior
• Help us to interact more effectively with others

Labelling Emotions

• Basic emotions include happiness, anger, fear, sadness, and disgust

Emotional Expression

• Darwin believed emotional expression was shaped through evolution
• Major emotional expressions appear to be universal
• Microexpressions occur in a fraction of a second and may reveal concealed emotions

Culture & Expressions

• Culture influences what people feel and how they express emotions
• Cultural display rules influence the expression of emotions in public

Theories of Emotion

• These explore the relationship between physical responses and subjective feelings
• The James-Lange Theory states that the body reacts first, then emotion is felt based on that reaction
• The Cannon-Bard Theory states that emotions and physiological reactions occur simultaneously
• The Schachter-Singer Two-Factory Theory states that emotions arise from physiological arousal and cognitive interpretation
• The Facial Feedback Hypothesis states that facial muscles send messages to the brain about the emotion being expressed
• The Theory of Constructed Emotion states that emotions are concepts constructed by our brains based on previous experiences and cultural context

Happiness

• Is linked to mastery, many minor pleasures, extraversion, self-esteem, individualism, close relationships, and maintaining goals
• Is weakly correlated with physical attractiveness and intelligence

Nature vs. Nurture

• Developmental psychologists consider the interaction between nature (heredity) and nurture (environment) in influencing behavior
• Heredity refers to influences based on an individual's genetic makeup
• Environment includes influences from parents, siblings, family, friends, schooling, nutrition, and other experiences
• Genetic factors provide potential and place limitations
• Twin studies, especially those involving twins separated at birth, offer valuable insights into the relative influence of genetic and environmental factors
• Differences in identical twins' development are attributed to the environment
• Characteristics significantly influenced by genetics include physical, intellectual, and emotional traits
• Physical examples: Height, weight, tone of voice, blood pressure, tooth decay, athletic ability, firmness of handshake, and age of death
• Intellectual examples: Memory, intelligence, age of language acquisition, reading disability, and intellectual disability
• Emotional examples: Shyness, extraversion, emotionality, neuroticism, schizophrenia, anxiety, and alcoholism

Developmental Research Techniques

• Cross-sectional research compares people of different ages at the same point in time to identify differences between age groups
• Longitudinal research traces the behavior of one or more participants as they age to observe changes in behavior over time
• Sequential research examines a number of different age groups at several time points

Basics of Genetics

• Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes (46 total), with 23 coming from each parent
• Genes on these chromosomes contain instructions for traits and functions, such as sex, cognitive abilities, and personality
• DNA serves as the building block of genes

Prenatal Development

• The age of viability for a fetus is around 22 weeks
• Exposure to stimuli like the "Cat in the Hat" prenatally can affect sound perception after birth

Teratogens

• Teratogens are substances or environmental factors that can harm a developing fetus, leading to growth problems, birth defects, or miscarriage
• Examples: alcohol (leading to FASD), tobacco (linked to low birth weight), viruses like Zika, bacteria/parasites, radiation, pollution, certain drugs, and Accutane
• The effects depend on the timing of exposure during development
• Maternal exposure to higher levels of fluoride has been associated with lower IQ scores in children
• Thalidomide, a drug formerly used to treat morning sickness, was highly teratogenic and caused limb malformations

Genetic Factors & Conditions

• Genetic factors can lead to conditions such as phenylketonuria (PKU), Tay-Sachs disease, and Down syndrome
• Down syndrome (trisomy 21) occurs in approximately 1 in 800 live births and is linked to an error in cell division resulting in an extra chromosome 21
• Risk factors for down syndrome include the mother's age being younger than 18 or older than 35

Infancy & Childhood

• Developmental milestones indicate when 50% of children can perform a skill, but this varies due to biological maturation, environmental exploration, and cultural differences
• Newborns prefer patterns with contours and edges and can imitate adult expressions, which provides a foundation for social interaction
• Humans are predisposed to protect and nurture babies, driven by "cuteness" (Kindchenschema) which activates the dopamine reward system

Attachment

• Attachment is the emotional bond between a child and caregiver, shown by seeking closeness and distress upon separation
• Early attachment studies by Konrad Lorenz focused on imprinting in goslings
• Harlow's Monkeys showed that infant monkeys preferred comfort over food, seeking contact with a cloth "mother" when afraid
• Bowlby's theory suggests infants are programmed to elicit caregiver responses, and caregivers are biologically programmed to respond
• Reciprocity strengthens attachment
• Ainsworth Strange Situation is used to identify attachment styles: secure, avoidant, ambivalent, and disorganized-disoriented
• Secure attachment: The child uses the mother as a home base to explore, is distressed when she leaves, and goes to her upon return
• Avoidant attachment: The child does not cry when the mother leaves and avoids her upon return
• Ambivalent attachment: The child is distressed when the mother leaves but is ambivalent upon her return
• Disorganized-disoriented attachment: The child shows inconsistent, contradictory behavior
• Secure attachment at age 1 is associated with better social and emotional competence, fewer psychological difficulties later in life, and more successful romantic relationships
• Criticisms of attachment theory include cultural variations, temperament, and shared genes between caregivers and infants

Parenting Styles

• Authoritarian parenting is rigid, punitive, with strict standards, leading to unsociable, unfriendly, and withdrawn children
• Permissive parenting is lax, inconsistent, and undemanding, resulting in immature, moody, dependent children with low self-control
• Uninvolved parenting is emotionally detached, providing only food, clothing, and shelter, leading to indifferent and rejecting behavior in children
• Authoritative parenting is firm, setting limits and goals, using reasoning, and encouraging independence, resulting in children with good social skills who are likeable, self-reliant, and independent
• Temperament, an innate disposition, affects parenting style
• Resiliency is the ability to overcome high-risk circumstances, with resilient children shaping their own environment

Psychosocial Development (Erikson)

• Erikson's theory outlines eight stages of development, each involving a crisis or conflict that must be resolved
• Trust vs. Mistrust (birth to 1.5 years): Infants develop trust or lack of trust based on interactions with caregivers
• Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt (1.5 to 3 years): Toddlers develop independence if encouraged, or shame and self-doubt if restricted
• Initiative vs. Guilt (3 to 6 years): Children experience conflict between independence and the negative results of their actions
• Industry vs. Inferiority (6 to 12 years): Children develop positive social interactions or feel socially inadequate
• Identity vs. Role Confusion (adolescence): Adolescents try to determine their identity, and confusion can lead to a lack of stable identity
• Intimacy vs. Isolation (post-adolescence to early 30s): Focus is on developing close relationships, and difficulty can result in loneliness
• Generativity vs. Stagnation (middle adulthood): Ability to contribute to family and community, with success leading to positive feelings about the continuity of life
• Ego-Integrity vs. Despair (late adulthood): Reviewing life's successes and failures, with success leading to a sense of accomplishment

Cognitive Development (Piaget)

• Piaget's theory suggests children pass through stages on their way to adult-like thinking and are motivated to match experiences with their beliefs (schemas)
• Assimilation involves incorporating new experiences into current understanding
• Accommodation involves adjusting or changing existing schemas based on new experiences
• Sensorimotor Stage (birth to 2 years): Understanding based on touching, chewing, manipulating, and developing object permanence
• Preoperational Stage (2 to 7 years): Development of language and symbolic thinking, but with egocentric thinking
• Concrete Operational Stage (7 to 12 years): Thinking more logically, overcoming egocentrism, and understanding the principle of conservation and reversibility, but with difficulty in abstract thought
• Formal Operational Stage (age 12 to adulthood): Development of logical and abstract thinking

Adolescence

• Adolescents understand that morality isn't black and white
• Kohlberg's stages of moral development:
  • Preconventional morality: Fear of punishment leads to obedience
  • Conventional morality: Focus on law and order
  • Postconventional morality: Values and laws are relative and can be changed
• Criticisms of Kohlberg's theory include overlooking educational and cultural influences, gender bias, inconsistency across situations, low correlation with moral behavior, and confounding with verbal intelligence
• Gender differences in morality: Women emphasize interpersonal relationships and social emotions (care-based), while men focus on justice and fairness
• Adolescents develop the ability to think abstractly and may experience adolescent egocentrism, including feeling like their insights are unique and thoughts exceptional
• Imaginary audience: The belief that they are the center of everyone's attention
• Personal fables: The belief that one's experiences are unique and shared by no one else
• Invincibility fable: Distorted perceptions of risk, feeling exempt from rules of probability
• During adolescence, emotion may outweigh logic due to the immaturity of brain areas that regulate impulse control

Adulthood

• Emerging adulthood (18-25): A transitional period where individuals are still determining their identity and career path
• Middle adulthood: Often perceived as the best years, with minor physical declines
• In middle adulthood, individuals may experience a midlife transition, questioning their lives
• In old age, fluid intelligence tends to decline, while crystallized intelligence remains stable or improves
• Memory change is not an inevitable part of aging, with deficits mainly limited to episodic memory
• Alzheimer's disease leads to a gradual and irreversible decline in cognitive abilities
• Prevention strategies include physical activity, cognitive engagement, a healthy diet, and social connection
• Gaming in late adulthood has been shown to improve cognitive skills such as task switching, short-term memory, and reasoning