Psy 342 Learning and Memory

Ch. 1 An Introduction to the Field

I. The Origins of the Study of Learning

            A. Epistemology (philosophical study of how we come to have knowledge)

Nature vs. Nurture

2 Influential Philosophers:

    1. Descartes--We learn, but there are other sources of knowledge that do NOT depend on experience 

    Nativism

    Rationalism

     Early psychologists were asking whether various perceptual capacities, such as depth perception, were innate or acquired

    2. John Locke--Origin of ALL knowledge is IN EXPERIENCE, as provided to the mind through the senses—EMPIRICISM. 

    CONTIGUOUS—We associate objects/events together when they occur close together in time or space. Therefore, their ideas are also contiguous in our minds 

    Frequency—we associate ideas that are OFTEN contiguous

    Similarity—we associate ideas that are similar

    Contrast—we associate ideas that are opposite

    Scientific methods investigated association learning (Pavlov, Thorndike,  Ebbinghaus ) 

B. Evolution

    Darwin (1859) On the Origin of Species

    Theory of evolution--anatomical changes over time as a means of adapting to the environment 

    The capacity to learn evolved as an adaptive specialization

    Psychologists emphasized learning as a means of adapting within the organism’s lifetime 

    Different species share a common evolutionary history 

II. Defining Learning

Learning—the acquisition of knowledge (informal, nonscientific)

The scientific definition--Relatively permanent observed change in behavior (repertoire) that occurs as a result of experience 

 This definition has several components:

(A) An observed change in behavior

Need objective evidence of learning

Quantifiable

Making progress with direct observation

Most learning and remembering processes are  undetectable

Learning and memory are therefore treated as intervening variables  

What kind of behavior can we use to measure learning?

(B) Learning involves changes in behavior OR behavioral repertoire

Not all learning is immediately evidenced by overt behaviors

Potential vs. Actual changes in behavior

(C) Learning occurs as a result of experience

Excludes changes in behavior that are not due to experience

Maturation, for example

 (D) Learning is said to be relatively permanent.

Excludes transient changes in behavior 

Some variables cause temporary changes in responding (e.g., arousal, fatigue, or motivation) 

 Learning---yes or no?

• The acquisition of language in children.

• A computer program generates random opening moves for its first 100 chess games and tabulates the outcomes of those games. Starting with the 101st game, the computer uses those tabulations to influence its choice of opening moves.

•  A worm is placed in a T maze. The left arm of the maze is brightly lit and dry; the right arm is dim and moist. On the first 10 trials, the worm turns right 7 times. On the next 10 trials, the worm turns right all 10 times.

• Ethel stays up late the night before the October GRE administration and consumes large quantities of various pharmacological agents. Her combined (verbal plus quantitative) score is 410. The night before the December GRE administration, she goes to bed early after a wholesome dinner and a glass of milk. Her score increases to 1210. Is the change in scores due to learning? Is the change in pretest regiment due to learning?

• MYCIN is a computer program that does a rather good job of diagnosing human infections by consulting a large database of rules it has been given. If we add another rule to the database, has MYCIN learned something?

• After pondering over a difficult puzzle for hours, Jane finally figures it out. From that point on, she can solve all similar puzzles in the time it takes her to read them.     

***Two gray areas that don’t fit precisely within the formal definition of learning**

    Short-term Memory

    Maturation vs. Learning

III. Varieties of Learning and Memory 
Here's some practice

    A. Major goals in studying learning:

    1. Determine variables affecting the learning process

    2. Formulate laws of learning based on these effects

    3. Devise theories of learning that can accommodate these laws

    4. Suggest applications

Many different learning situations, so researchers find it helpful to study each situation separately

    B. Types of learning

Habituation 

Sensitization

Classical conditioning 

Instrumental conditioning

    C. Major goals in studying memory:

    1. Identify main memory processes

      2. Do certain variables have differential affects on the various memory processes?

If so, researchers often categorize these processes as different memory systems

    D. Types of Memory Processes

Short-term memory

Long-term memory

Encoding

Storage

Representation

Retrieval

IV. Course & Text Themes 

    A. Theme 1

Learning and Memory are Basic Processes That Result in Diverse Phenomena

    B. Theme 2

Learning and Memory are Interrelated but Separable Domains

    C. Theme 3

Learning and Memory are Adaptive Processes

    D. Theme 4

Learning and Memory Occur in a Biological Context