Learning and Adaptation

Learning and Adaptation

• Learning is a process where experience changes behavior or capabilities (knowing how). Performance is "doing"
• Measure learning by observing actual changes in performance.
• Behaviorism focuses on directly observable events, relating learning solely to these events.
• Ethology focuses on animal behavior in natural environments, examining the functional purpose of the behavior.
• Biology, cognitive, and cultural factors influence personal adaptation. Species adaptation involves natural selection and adaptations passed through genes. Culture includes norms and beliefs, skills, social behaviors, and preferences.
• Habituation is a decrease in response strength to repeated stimuli. We become less responsive to constant stimuli, like clothing against our skin.
• Sensitization is an increase in the strength of a response to repeated stimuli, like a startling noise resulting in a more intense startle response with multiple presentations.
• Classical conditioning involves associating one stimulus with another, creating a response to the associated stimulus. An example might be associating a song with a pleasant event, leading to the song eliciting a happy response.

Classical Conditioning

• Pavlov studied salivary responses in dogs, noting a natural response (salivation) to food.
• Learning is observed in associating a neutral stimulus (e.g. a tone) with a naturally occurring stimulus (e.g. food), producing a conditioned response (e.g. salivation to the tone).
• Acquisition is the period when an association is being learned.
• Different pairings (short delay, trace, simultaneous) of the conditioned stimulus (CS) and unconditioned stimulus (UCS) have different optimal learning outcomes.
• Extinction occurs when the CS is repeatedly presented without the UCS, weakening the conditioned response.
• Spontaneous recovery is the reappearance of a previously extinguished conditioned response after a period of time.
• Generalization is responding to stimuli similar to the CS, and discrimination is responding only to the specific CS.

Operant Conditioning

• Operant conditioning focuses on emitted behavior, where consequences shape the likelihood of repeated behavior.
• Reinforcement strengthens a response by presenting a desirable stimulus or removing an undesirable one (e.g. food, praise).
• Primary reinforcers satisfy basic needs, while secondary reinforcers gain their value through association with primary reinforcers.
• Negative reinforcement strengthens a response by removing an adverse stimulus.
• Operant extinction weakens a response by not reinforcing the behavior.
• Positive punishment weakens a response by presenting an aversive stimulus, and negative punishment weakens a response through the removal of a desirable stimulus.
• Skinner's analysis of operant behavior involves antecedents, behaviors, and consequences.

Schedules of Reinforcement

• Reinforcement schedules vary, with fixed-ratio (FR) schedules providing reinforcement after a set number of responses, and variable-ratio (VR) schedules offering reinforcement after a varying number.
• Fixed-interval (FI) schedules provide reinforcement after specific time intervals, while variable-interval (VI) schedules offer reinforcement at unpredictable time intervals.
• Continuous reinforcement leads to quick learning but rapid extinction, while intermittent reinforcement leads to greater resistance to extinction.

Content Theories of Motivation

• Motivation theories explain the reasons behind behavior.
• Maslow's hierarchy of needs includes physiological, safety, affiliation, esteem, and self-actualization.
• Alderfer's ERG theory simplifies Maslow's hierarchy into existence, relatedness, and growth needs.

Process Theories of Motivation

• Process theories focus on the mechanisms of how needs translate into behavior.
• Reinforcement theory suggests that behaviors followed by positive consequences are more likely to be repeated.
• Expectancy theory considers effort, performance, and outcome valuation in motivation, with expectancies influencing the likelihood of taking action for reward.
• Equity theory describes situations where individuals strive for balance between their inputs and outputs compared to referents.
• Goal-setting theory recognizes that specific and challenging goals can motivate behavior.

Theories of Emotion

• Emotion theories explain how emotional feelings are triggered and experienced.
• James-Lange theory suggests that emotional feelings arise from bodily arousal.
• Cannon-Bard theory proposes that the thalamus triggers both emotional feelings and bodily arousal simultaneously.
• Schachter's two-factor theory postulates that emotional experience is a result of both bodily arousal and cognitive appraisal.

Explore the concepts of learning and adaptation through various psychological frameworks. This quiz covers behaviorism, ethology, and the roles of biology and culture in learning. Test your understanding of habits, sensitization, and classical conditioning in behavior.