Pioneering Concepts in Learning - Sept 26 Chapter 3 Part 2 PDF

PIONEERING CONCEPTS IN LEARNING  This Week's Learning Highlights Return to Understand Analyze Recognize Habits...

PIONEERING CONCEPTS IN LEARNING  This Week's Learning Highlights Return to Understand Analyze Recognize Habits The historical Analyze the Recognize the Consider how context of experimental significance of our body learns learning theories designs used by Ivan Pavlov's about habits by by exploring early researchers work and how a thinking about philosophical and to understand digestive where they scientific human physiologist reside in the viewpoints on behaviour became a BRAIN. the nature of through sensory, prominent figure knowledge. perceptual, and in psychology. cognitive perspectives. Wilhelm Wundt 1832 – 1920 Born in Germany Early school career was difficult & unsuccessful Fascinated by anatomy and the ‘mysteries of the brain’ while in college Structuralism Psychological Processes, as products of physiological actions in the brain Structuralism: The Beginnings of Scientific Psychology Introspectionism Structure of the mind could be understood by breaking it down into elementary parts  Structuralism Used the method of Introspectionism Sensations (sights, sounds, Structuralism tastes), Images (components of thoughts), and Affections (components of emotions) How Would a Structuralist Study Sensation & Perception? How Would a Structuralist Studypsychologist might In the laboratory setting, a structuralist Sensation & investigate the sensation and perception of a visual stimulus, Perception? such as a simple geometric shape like a triangle. The goal would be to break down the conscious experience of seeing this shape into its elemental components. How Would a Structuralist Study Sensation & Perception? Sensations: The psychologist would examine the basic sensory experiences associated with viewing the triangle, including the sensations of brightness, colour, and shape. Perceptions: They would also analyze how the mind organizes these sensations into a coherent perception of a triangle. This might involve studying how the mind combines lines and angles to recognize the shape. Introspection: The psychologist might use introspection, a method of self-observation and reporting, to gather data. Participants would be asked to describe their conscious experiences in as much detail as possible while looking at the triangle. They might report their sensations, thoughts, and feelings during this process. Elemental Analysis: Based on the introspective reports, the psychologist would attempt to identify the elementary mental processes involved in perceiving the triangle. For example, they might seek to understand how different sensations combine to create the perception of a particular colour or shape. Repetition and Comparison: The experiment might involve presenting the triangle repeatedly or comparing it to other shapes to understand how variations in stimuli influence conscious experience. While structuralism played a foundational role in the development of psychology as a science, it faced criticism for its reliance on introspection, which is subjective and difficult to standardize. James Mark Baldwin 1861-1934 Functionalism  Understand mental processes via the goal or purpose of those processes Cue (or Trigger) The cue is the first component of the habit loop and serves as a trigger or signal that initiates the habit. Cues can be internal or external. Internal cues might include emotions (e.g., stress, boredom) or physical sensations (e.g., hunger). External cues could be specific times of day, locations, people, or objects. Cues are essential because they prompt your brain to initiate a particular habit. They The Habit Loop Cue (Trigger).Your smartphone vibrates with a notification. This is the cue that initiates the habit loop. Routine (Behaviour).You pick up your smartphone, unlock it, and check the notification. This is the routine you've associated with the cue. Reward.You see a message from a friend, and your brain experiences a small dopamine release, giving you a sense of satisfaction and social connection. Over time, this habit loop becomes ingrained. Whenever your phone vibrates (cue), you automatically reach for it (routine) in anticipation of the reward. This cycle can become so automatic that you may not even consciously think about Early Psychophysics  Early Psychophysics Sensation Process through which the senses detect visual, auditory, and other sensory stimuli and transmit them to the brain Perception Process by which sensory information is actively organized Early Psychophysics  Absolute Threshold The difference between not being able to perceive a stimulus and being able to  For each individual there is a lower limit below which a stimulus will never be detected and an upper limit above which it will always be detected. There is a point at which the stimulus will be detected 50% of the time. This point is called the absolute threshold, although it is more approximate than  Early Psychophysics Difference Threshold The smallest increase or decrease in a physical stimulus that is required to produce the “just noticeable difference” (JND) in sensation that is detectable 50% of the time.  Early Psychophysics Psychophysicists tried to measure not only absolute thresholds but also what they called the differential threshold often referred to as the just noticeable difference (JND). JND = the least amount of change in stimulation that would be noticeable Max Weber concluded that JNDs are a constant proportion of a stimulus (i.e., Weber’s Law). A Graphical Portrayal of Weber’s Law A Graphical Portrayal of Weber’s Law How good are these theories? They tend to be clear and understandable They are relatively parsimonious These theories are highly practical