7.3 Biology, Cognition, and Learning

Nicole's parents are often inconsistent in terms of their behaviors and what they say. For example, they often tell Nicole how important it is to be polite, but are not very polite themselves when it comes to letting other people off airplanes or giving up seats in public buses. How would one expect this contradiction to impact Nicole's behavior?

She will act rudely but talk about how important it is to be polite.

What is intrinsic motivation?

a desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake

In using operant conditioning principles to train animals to perform tricks, Keller and Marian Breland found that:

an animal's inborn or instinctive behavior patterns could interfere with the operant conditioning of new behaviors.

Ten-year-old Maggie continually interrupts her teacher with jokes that make her fellow students laugh. The attention from the other students is an example of:

an extrinsic reward

What is observational learning?

learning by observing others; cognition supports it

What is latent learning?

learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it

Evaluate the traditional learning theories—namely, classical and operant conditioning—in light of the biopsychosocial model. It is MOST accurate to say that traditional learning theories _____ influences.

neglected sociocultural

Ever since she foolishly drank too much tequila at a rock concert and vomited all over her best friend, Erin becomes nauseous at the smell or taste of tequila. In this example, the conditioned stimulus is _____ and the conditioned response is _____.

the smell or taste of tequila; nausea

What is the impact of prosocial modeling and of antisocial modeling?

Children tend to imitate what the model does, whether the behavior being modeled is prosocial or antisocial. If a model's actions and words are inconsistent, children may imitate the hypocrisy they observe.

How did Garcia and Koelling's taste-aversion studies help disprove Gregory Kimble's early claim that "just about any activity of which the organism is capable can be conditioned . . . to any stimulus that the organism can perceive"?

Garica and Koelling demonstrated that rats may learn an aversion to tastes, on which their survival depends, but not to sights or sounds.

What did John Garcia find in his studies of taste aversion?

He found that if the sickened rats as late as several hours after tasting a particular novel flavor, the rats thereafter avoided that flavor. This appeared to violate the widely held belief that for conditioning to occur, the US must immediately follow the CS. The sickened rats developed aversions to tastes but not to sights or sounds. This contradicted the behaviorists' idea that any perceivable stimulus could serve as a CS.

How do cognitive processes affect classical and operant conditioning?

In classical conditioning, animals may learn what to expect a US and may be aware of the link between stimuli and responses. In operant conditioning, cognitive mapping and latent learning research demonstrate the importance of cognitive processes in learning.

Jason's parents and older friends all drive over the speed limit, but they advise him not to. Juan's parents and friends drive within the speed limit, but they say nothing to deter him from speeding. Will Jason or Juan be more likely to speed?

Jason; Observational learning studies suggest that children tend to do as others do and say what they day

what are the biological and cognitive influences for classical conditioning?

Natural predispositions constrain what stimuli and responses can easily be associated; Organisms develop an expectation that a CS signals the arrival of a US

what was meant by science fiction writer Robert Heinlein statements, "Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig"

Nature constrains each species' capacity for operant conditioning. We most easily learn and retain behaviors that reflect our biological predispositions. "Biological constraints predispose organisms to learn associations that are naturally adaptive."

what are the biological and cognitive influences for operant conditioning?

Organisms most easily learn behaviors similar to their natural behaviors; unnatural behaviors instinctively drift back toward natural ones; Organisms developed an expectation that a response will be reinforced or punished; they also exhibit latent learning, without reinforcement.

How may observational learning be enabled by neural mirroring?

Our brain's frontal lobes have a demonstrated ability to mirror the activity of another's brain, which may enable imitation and observational learning. Some scientists argue that mirror neurons are responsible for this ability, while others attribute it to distributed brain networks.

Seventeen-year-old Ricky has had his driver's license for less than a year. Ricky absolutely loves driving any car. His love of driving gave him the idea of getting a job delivering pizza 25 hours a week. After Ricky has the job for 6 months, one can predict that:

Ricky's love of driving would decrease.

Instinctive drift and latent learning are examples of what important idea?

The success of operant conditioning is affected not just by environmental cues, but also by biological and cognitive factors.

Tina's goal is to raise children who enjoy playing musical instruments. Given what is known about observational learning, which strategy would be recommended to her?

Tina should play her own musical instrument in front of her children.

Baby May is 12 months of age. Which statement is an example of the MOST sophisticated ability of which May is probably capable?

When her mother turns to look at the television screen, May can also turn and look at the screen.

what did learning researcher Gregory Kimble proclaimed?

"Just about any activity of which the organism is capable can be conditioned and ... these responses can be conditioned to any stimulus that the organism can perceive". Twenty-five years later, he humbly acknowledged that "half a thousand" scientific reports had proven him wrong.

Match the examples (I-V) to the appropriate underlying learning principle (a-e): 1.Knowing the way from your bed to the bathroom in the dark 2. Your little brother getting in a fight after watching a violent action movie 3. Salivating when you smell brownies in the oven 4. Disliking the taste of chili after becoming violently sick a few hours after eating chili 5. Your dog racing to greet you on your arrival home A. Classical conditioning B. Operant conditioning C. Latent learning D. Observational learning E. Biological predisposition

1C 2D 3A 4E 5B

How do biological constraints affect classical and operant conditioning?

An animal's capacity for conditioning is limited by biological constraints, so some associations are easier to learn. Each species learns behaviors that aid its survival. Our preparedness to associate a CS with a US that follows predictably and immediately is often (but not always) adaptive. During operant training, animals may display instinctive drift by reverting to biologically predisposed patterns.

What did Albert Bandura's Bobo doll experiments demonstrate?

By watching models, we experience vicarious reinforcement or vicarious punishment, and we learn to anticipate a behavior's consequences in situations like those we are observing. We are especially likely to learn from people we perceive as similar to ourselves, or as successful, or as admirable.

Henry, a heavy smoker, is interested in quitting. Given what is known about the cognitive processes involved in classical conditioning, what is the MOST likely reason he still has trouble quitting after he is treated with a drug that induces nausea when he smokes a cigarette?

He realizes his nausea is due to the drug, not simply the cigarette.

Ray drank too much tequila last night. He spent much of this morning vomiting and nauseated. According to the principles of classical conditioning, how will Ray likely react today when he tastes or smells the tequila bottle that he drank out of last night?

He will find the scent and taste of tequila aversive.

What is extrinsic motivation?

a desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishment

What is taste aversion?

a learned avoidance of a particular food

what is a cognitive map?

a mental representation of the layout of one's environment; For example, after exploring a maze, rats acts as if they have learned cognitive map of it.

Ted is an adult with autism spectrum disorder who has difficulty empathizing with the feelings of others and inferring what emotions another person might be experiencing. Some theorists would speculate that this is because Ted has:

an impaired mirror neuron system.

what did Robert Rescorla and Allan Wagner show?

animals can learn the predictability of an event. the more predictable the association, the stronger the conditioned response. It's as if the animal learns an expectancy, an awareness of how likely it is that the US will occur.

According to observational learning theory, when children have _____ models, they imitate the negative behaviors they see around them. When children have _____ models, they imitate the helpful and positive behaviors they observe.

antisocial; prosocial

Evidence that cognitive processes play an important role in learning comes in part from studies in which rats running a maze develop ___________ a of the maze.

cognitive map

Road construction prevents a student from getting to campus using the route that he usually travels. He thinks about the situation for a moment and then comes up with a different route to take. To figure out this alternative route, he is using _____ to devise a different route.

cognitive map

An experimenter visits a preschool with a big box of markers and paper. The children are told that they can draw as many pictures as they want. The children enjoy the task very much. On another visit, the children were told that, for every picture they drew, they would earn a prize. Two weeks later when the experimenter returned, he offered up the markers and paper for play but said that no prizes would be given. The children played very little with the markers because:

excessive rewards can undermine intrinsic motivation.

Obi always gives his cats treats before he goes to work each morning. When he is gathering the things he takes to work, his cats begin to circle around him and cry. Robert Rescorla and Allan Wagner would say this is occurring because Obi's cats have developed a(n) _____ for the treats.

expectation

What are mirror neurons and why are they important?

frontal lobe neurons that some scientists believe fire when we perform certain actions or observe another doing so. The brain's mirroring of another's action may enable imitation and empathy; they argued that it provided a neural basis for everyday imitation and observational learning.

Juan easily taught his cat to jump through a hoop for the reward of food, but could not get his cat to fetch a ball and return the ball to him. The cat would chase the ball but use his paws to roll the ball so he could chase the ball again. The reason the cat had difficulties with fetching the ball was because of:

instinctive drift

Juan is taking advanced placement chemistry in high school because he loves science and is fascinated by chemistry experimentation. David is taking advanced placement chemistry because his guidance counselor told him he had to if he intended to apply to a premed program at a competitive university. Unlike David, Juan is motivated by _____ motivation.

intrinsic

If a parent wants to increase the amount of enjoyment and time a child reads books as opposed to playing video games, the parent will need to increase the _____ for reading.

intrinsic motivation

Ty's mother is frustrated that he will not spend the time on his schoolwork that he does practicing and playing baseball. Ty will spend hours practicing in the hot sun every summer day without a coach telling him to do so. Ty's dedication to baseball can be explained by:

intrinsic motivation.

Marcus is taking advanced placement chemistry in high school because he loves science and is fascinated by chemistry experimentation. Wade is taking advanced placement chemistry because his guidance counselor told him he had to if he intended to apply to a premed program at a competitive university. Marcus is motivated by _____, while Wade is motivated by _____.

intrinsic motivation; extrinsic motivation

Most experts agree that repeated viewing of media violence: makes all viewers significantly more aggressive. has little effect on viewers. is a risk factor for viewers' increased aggression. makes viewers angry and frustrated.

is a risk factor for viewers' increased aggression

Learning that occurs internally and is expressed behaviorally only when there is sufficient incentive to do so is called _____ learning.

latent

Cognitive maps are created through a process called:

latent learning

Rats that explored a maze without any reward were later able to run the maze as well as other rats that had received food rewards for running the maze. The rats that had learned without reinforcement demonstrated ___________ .

latent learning

Researchers often find it more challenging to train dolphins rather than dogs, even though dolphins are smarter. One of the reasons for this difficulty is that dolphins have _____ shared evolutionary heritage with humans than dogs, so they condition to stimuli that are different than what will affect dogs and humans.

less

Neil wants to complete several on-campus errands as efficiently as possible during a break between classes, so that he can spend at least a few minutes reviewing lecture notes. To plan his route, he consults a picture in his mind of the campus's layout. In terms of latent learning, Neil is using a cognitive:

map

what is the violence-viewing effect?

media violence can contribute to aggression. This effect may be prompted by imitation and desensitization. Correlation does not equal causation, but study participants have reacted more cruelly when they viewed violence (instead of entertaining nonviolence)

Some scientists believe that the brain has _______ neurons that enable empathy and imitation.

mirror

If a child is watching a favorite sibling getting scolded for misbehavior, a type of brain cell called a _____ is likely to be activated in an empathetic response to this observation

mirror neuron

Johnny is hammering the nail in with his toy hammer as his father is hammering the deck boards. His behavior is a clear example of:

modeling

Taste-aversion research has shown that some animals develop aversions to certain tastes but not to sights or sounds. What evolutionary psychology finding does this support?

natural selection favors traits that aid survival

Four-year-old Mia watched her mother sing while she was brushing her hair. The next day, Mia's mother saw Mia singing while brushing her dog. Mia acquired the behavior through _____ learning.

observational

One chimpanzee watches a second chimp solve a puzzle for a food reward. The first chimp then imitates how the second chimp solved the puzzle. This BEST illustrates _____ learning.

observational

Children learn many social behaviors by imitating parents and other models. This type of learning is called _______________.

observational learning

Children who have fathers who are incarcerated for committing violent crimes are at high risk for following the same path in life, unless children are adopted near the time of their birth. Then, they are no more at risk for violence than the average child. This difference in outcome can be attributed to:

observational learning.

what is prosocial behavior?

positive, constructive, helpful behavior. The opposite of antisocial behavior

Michelle always drives down Hampton Avenue to go to work. One morning, Michelle discovers that Hampton Avenue is closed at Wood Street because of construction. Michelle immediately takes a different route to work. She is able to make a quick route change because:

she has formed a cognitive map of the area

Jackie is worried about her young children being exposed to the violence on television. One would NOT tell Jackie that:

she should not worry

Newton ordered pizza from a national pizza chain and became very ill immediately after eating the pizza. Years later, Newton still feels queasy when he sees an advertisement for the pizza chain or drives by one of its establishments. Newton has developed a(n):

taste aversion.

Garcia and Koelling's ________ - __________ studies showed that conditioning can occur even when the unconditioned stimulus (US) does not immediately follow the neutral stimulus (NS).

taster aversion

what is the bad news for observational learning?

that it may have antisocial effects.

In Pavlov's original experiments, dogs were classically conditioned to associate a bell with the presentation of food and responded with increased salivation. According to Robert Rescorla, what had the dogs learned?

that the bell was a signal that reliably predicted that food would follow

Fabian ordered chicken from a national chicken chain restaurant and became very ill immediately after eating it. Years later, Fabian still feels queasy when he sees an advertisement for the chicken chain or drives by one of its establishments. In this example, the unconditioned stimulus is the:

the bacteria that caused the illness

what is preparedness?

the biological predisposition to rapidly learn a response to a particular class of stimuli

what is modeling?

the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior

What is instinctive drift?

the tendency of learned behavior to gradually revert to biologically predisposed patterns

Parents are most effective in getting their children to imitate them if: their words and actions are consistent. they have outgoing personalities. one parent works and the other stays home to care for the children. they carefully explain why a behavior is acceptable in adults but not in children.

their words and actions are consistent

Four-year-old Katie observed Maggie, two years younger, begin to cry when she fell down. Katie immediately ran over to Maggie and patted her on the back and told her everything would be alright. She even began to cry herself. Katie's ability to infer Maggie's mental and emotional state is an example of:

theory of mind

Wanda is an adult with autism spectrum disorder who has difficulty empathizing with the feelings of others and inferring what emotions another person might be experiencing. The ability in which Wanda seems to have reduced function is called:

theory of mind

In conditioned taste aversion, spoiled or poisoned food is a powerful:

unconditioned stimulus

In conditioned taste aversion, spoiled or poisoned food is a powerful:

unconditioned stimulus.

According to Bandura, we learn by watching models because we experience ________________ reinforcement or ___________________ punishment.

vicarious; vicarious