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Psychology of Learning EXP4404

Psychology of Learning EXP4404. Chapter 1: Learning to Change Dr. Steve. Topics Covered. Natural Selection Mutations Reflexes Sensitization vs. Habituation Modal Action Patterns Releasers General Behavior Traits Limits of Natural Selection Learning Nature/Nurture Learning/Instinct.

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Psychology of Learning EXP4404

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  1. Psychology of LearningEXP4404 Chapter 1: Learning to Change Dr. Steve

  2. Topics Covered • Natural Selection • Mutations • Reflexes • Sensitization vs. Habituation • Modal Action Patterns • Releasers • General Behavior Traits • Limits of Natural Selection • Learning • Nature/Nurture • Learning/Instinct

  3. Natural Selection • Natural Selection • Adaptive forms of behavior include: • Reflexes • Modal Action Patterns • General Behavior Traits

  4. Natural Selection • Characteristics “selected” for may eventually become maladaptive. • Sickle-shaped red blood cells in Africans • Wings on Walking Stick” • Coloration of Peppered Moths

  5. Natural Selection • Mutations • If occurs in reproductive cells may be passed on to offspring • Most are not adaptive and die out with generation • 2-headed turtle • White alligator • 8-legged frogs

  6. Natural Selection • Reflexes • Simple nervous reactions which can be modified in that they may be triggered by different stimuli through learning. • Grasping • Rooting • Sucking • Eye blink • Pupillary • Vomit • Patellar Reflex Arc

  7. Natural Selection • Reflexes • Sensitization • Buzzing mosquito • Gun fire • Habituation • Touching sea anemone • Wet pull-up diaper • Strong cologne

  8. Natural Selection Sensitization vs. Habituation

  9. Natural Selection Sensitization vs. Habituation • Sensitize or Habituate? • Screaming baby in movie theater? • Communication in married couples? • Florida State war chant? • Watch chime? • Florida heat and humidity? • Tabasco sauce? • State Troopers on I-10?

  10. Natural Selection • Modal Action Patterns • AKA: Fixed action patterns, species-specific behavior, species-typical behavior, instincts • Complex behavior, difficult to change • Cat arches back, hisses, and flicks tail (fend off enemies) • Migration of geese in V-formation (cope with elements) • Woodpeckers peck holes in trees (procure food) • Wide receiver does end zone dance (show off) 

  11. Natural Selection • Releasers • Male stickleback fish attacks red underbelly • If you were a stickleback fish, which object would you attack?

  12. Natural Selection • General Behavior Traits • More variable than Modal Action Patterns • Levels of introversion, aggression, anxiety, general activity, and sexual practices • Behavior traits may be genetically linked to physical characteristics so that when one is selected, so is the other • Dog breeding – dogs bred for certain physical traits often have similar temperament (e.g., small nippy dogs) • Traits adaptive at one time, may become maladaptive • Agoraphobia protected gatherers from predators

  13. Limits of Natural Selection • Natural selection cannot aid survival when environment changes abruptly • Asteroid theory of dinosaur extinction • Endangered polar bears due to global warming • Introduction of new species into ecosystems (iguana) • Overhunting/fishing (buffalo, passenger pigeon) • Man-made challenges (armadillo’s jump when approached)

  14. Learning • Learning defined as:

  15. Learning • Behavior • Experience • Stimuli • Humans cannot detect x-rays; bees can • Humans cannot detect sounds higher than 20,000 Hz; dogs can • Response • Glandular secretions – stomach acid, tears, saliva • Muscle actions – walking, talking, gestures

  16. Learning • Why is the ability to learn “selected” for? • It allows organisms to adapt to abruptly changing environments (whereas other changes do not) • Taste aversions – develop a distaste for something that makes you sick (e.g., certain BBQ restaurant) • Batesian mimicry – Survival based on mimicking other organisms. Birds learn to avoid eating viceroy butterflies because they look like the poisonous and foul tasting monarch (this taste aversion benefits both bird and viceroy)

  17. Story of the Bombardier Beetle vs. the Mouse Learning or MAP (instinct)? Learning

  18. Learning • Nature vs. Nurture, or Nature via Nurture? • Which is more important in changing behavior? • Harlow – monkeys raised in isolation did not learn mating skills. • Kuo – 45% of cats raised without mothers did not learn how to hunt. • Hart & Risley – Children with parents that talked to them more, later scored higher on tests of intelligence.

  19. Learning • Learning or Instinct? • Eaglet flies for the first time? • Faun runs from predator? • Human baby walks? • Human baby swims? • Owlet hunts for first time? • Robin builds nest for first time? • Songbird sings? • Puppy digs holes in yard? • Kitten uses litter box? • Toddler uses potty?

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