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PSY 445: Learning & Memory Chapter 1: Introduction

PSY 445: Learning & Memory Chapter 1: Introduction

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Page 1: PSY 445: Learning & Memory Chapter 1: Introduction

PSY 445: Learning & Memory

Chapter 1: Introduction

Page 2: PSY 445: Learning & Memory Chapter 1: Introduction

Origins of the Study of Learning

Epistemology Evolution Contemporary Influences

Page 3: PSY 445: Learning & Memory Chapter 1: Introduction

Epistemology

The branch of philosophy concerned with the theory of knowledge, which seeks to inform us how we can know the world

What distinguishes true knowledge from false knowledge?

Page 4: PSY 445: Learning & Memory Chapter 1: Introduction

Evolution

Charles’s Darwin’s idea of how organisms change of generations in order to better adapt to the environment they are exposed to

Evolutionary PsychologyThese psychologists study ways in which adaptation and natural selection are connected with mental processesMen and women by nature must differ in their optimal mating behaviorsWomen must be highly selective because they are biologically limited in the number of children they can bear and raise in a lifetimeMen can father an unlimited number of children and ensure their reproductive success by inseminating many women

Page 5: PSY 445: Learning & Memory Chapter 1: Introduction

Contemporary Influences

Biological Preparedness The idea that people and animals are inherently

inclined to form associations between certain stimuli and responses

This concept plays an important role in learning, particularly in understanding the classical conditioning processSome associations form easily because we are

predisposed to form such connections, while other associations are much more difficult to form because we are not naturally predisposed to form them

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Are all these phobias biologically innate?

To have a fear of:

Clowns Darkness Planes Heights Guns Open spaces The # 13 or the # 666 Bacteria Strangers

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Definition of Learning

Learning A relatively permanent change in behavior

brought about by experience

Distinguishes between maturation and experience

Distinguishes between short-term changes in performance and actual learning

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Behavior Repertoire

All behaviors that might be performed Potential vs. actual changes in behavior

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Behavior Repertoire

Bandura, Ross, & Ross (1963)ProcedurePhase 1

Pre-schoolers were divided into two groups and put into two separate rooms and allowed to play with "attractive" toys while “Bobo” an unattractive inflatable, adult-sized, egg-shaped balloon creature (the kind that bounces back after it's been knocked down) sat by itself at the far end of the rooms

The “Bobo" Doll Experiment

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Behavior Repertoire

ProcedurePhase 2

Group 1: While playing with the attractive toys the children witnessed adults enter the room and start beating the daylights out of the clown

Group2: While playing with the attractive toys the children witnessed adults enter the room and play nicely with Bobo

Phase 3 The attractive toys were

taken away from each group

Bandura, Ross, & Ross (1963)

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Behavior Repertoire

ResultsChildren modeled violent behavior and even added to itPicked up toy weapons, etc.

Bandura, Ross, & Ross (1963)

Page 12: PSY 445: Learning & Memory Chapter 1: Introduction

Behavior Repertoire

ProcedureIn the 1965, version kids watched films of adults beating on Bobo – but each had different endings…Film 1:

Adult praised and rewarded with candy and soda by another adult who was heard saying, “You’re a strong champion”

Film 2: Adult is scolded by another adult, “You’re very bad” or

“Hey there, you big bully, you quit picking on that clown” Bandura (1965)

Bobo Doll Replication

Page 13: PSY 445: Learning & Memory Chapter 1: Introduction

Behavior Repertoire

ResultsInitial difference between groupsThis difference disappeared when incentives were offered

InterpretationAggressive behaviors had entered the behavior repertoire of each group; even though they were not initially displayed by the scolded group Bandura (1965)

Bobo Doll Replication

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Some caveats in the study of learning…

Inseparable interplay between biology and environment Attribution of behavior changes to a specific cause is difficult Interaction of the two makes interpretation difficult

Learning and Maturation Distinction The two seem to coexist and interact with one another Difficult to tell where one leaves off and the other begins

Gesell & Thompson (1929)Procedure Infant twins (one practiced stair climbing; the other no practice) ; 4

weeks Week 5 both practicedResults No difference by the end of Week 5 Interpretation Maturation not learning

Page 15: PSY 445: Learning & Memory Chapter 1: Introduction

The Learning/Performance Distinction

There is not always a one-to-one correspondence between what the organism knows and what the organism does

Tolman & Honzik (1930)

Procedure Took three groups of rats and had them run a maze

Group 1: Reinforced every time they found their way out of the maze (food box) for several days

Group 2: Never reinforced (no food at the end) Group 3: Reinforced only after several days into

the experiment

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The Learning/Performance Distinction

Tolman & Honzik (1930)Results Group 3 began running just as fast as Group 1 InterpretationGroup 3 had the behavior repertoire However, learning remained latent at first

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The relationship between learning and memory…

Learning Acquiring knowledge or behavior

Memory Retaining or recalling the knowledge or

behavior

Acquisition Retention

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The relationship between learning and memory…

Measurement Learning

Learning Curve Memory

Forgetting Curve

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The relationship between learning and memory…

Keppel (1964)

ProcedureDistributed practice (spacing of study trials) vs. massed practice (study trials in succession)

ResultsMassed practice was better for learning (acquisition)Spacing was better memory (retention)

Results

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More Issues…

Schmidt & Bjork (1992) Measured differently but there is a

connection They argue that the effectiveness of learning

is revealed by the level of retention shown

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Basic and Applied Research

Basic Research An interest in understanding the

fundamental processes of learning and memory

Applied Research Relevant to solving specific practical

problems

Page 22: PSY 445: Learning & Memory Chapter 1: Introduction

Common sense and common knowledge…

Houston (1983)Procedure & ResultsAcademic setting: UCLA undergrads given real world situations involving learning principles; students correctly predicted 75% of theseNaturalistic setting: people in a park were given the same real world situations and correctly predicted 75% of these Interpretation: We may be teaching the obvious; all you need is common sense

Page 23: PSY 445: Learning & Memory Chapter 1: Introduction

Common sense and common knowledge…

Klatzky (1984)Memory Myths

Distorted beliefs about amnesia – always a loss of one’s identity; happens a lot

Memory can be improved by training Hypnosis is effective in uncovering

hidden memories that are otherwise inaccessible

Forgetting is a weakness

Page 24: PSY 445: Learning & Memory Chapter 1: Introduction

Conceptual approaches to the study of learning…

The Functional ApproachStudies how learning and remembering aid survivalThe Behavioral ApproachEmphasizes the relationship between observable behaviors and the antecedent stimuli that precede the behavior as well as the consequences that follow the behavior

Page 25: PSY 445: Learning & Memory Chapter 1: Introduction

Conceptual approaches to the study of learning…

The Cognitive ApproachProposes that an organism is said to form an internal representation that is used as the basis for further processing or for guiding behaviorInformation-processing approach to the mindComputer models are usedThe Neuroscience ApproachThis approach seeks to determine the underlying biological basis for learning and memory

Page 26: PSY 445: Learning & Memory Chapter 1: Introduction

Credits

Some slides of this presentation prepared with the help of the following websites: www.health.bcu.ac.uk/webmodules/.../Epistemology.ppt http://cmweb.pvschools.net/[email protected]/

FOV2-0003C700/FOV2-0003D488/AP%20Psy%20Ch3.ppt?FCItemID=S02351D01&Plugin=Box#349,17,Sexuality Why do women’s and men’s sexuality differ?

http://psychology.about.com/od/bindex/g/biological-preparedness.htm

stmaryspsyweb.files.wordpress.com/.../biological-explanations...

www.pathiggins.net/psychweb/w2learninghig.ppt