Emily Batty
Spring Session 2008
Syllabus
 Course Website:
 www.ualberta.ca/~egray/psyc281.html
 Textbook:
 Chance, P. (2006). Learning & Behavior: Active Learning
Edition (Fifth Edition). USA: Thompson Wadsworth.
 Prerequisite:
 Psyco 104 (or equivalent)
Instructor
 Emily Batty
 BS P-549
 492-7886 (office) or 492-7139 (lab)
 emily.batty@ualberta.ca
 “Psych 281” in subject
 Name & ID in message
 Email is the BEST way to reach me!!!
 Office hours:
 Monday, 2-3:30, or by appointment
Grading Breakdown
 1 midterm: 25%
 Final: 35%
 2 assignments: 15% each
 5 quizzes: 2% each
Schedule
 Chapters 1,2,3: May 5, 7
 Chapters 4,5: May 12, 14
 NO CLASS: May 19
 Chapters 6: May 21  Assignment #1 due (21st)
 MIDTERM: May 26
 Chapters 7,10: May ,26, 28
 Chapters 8,9: June 2, 4  Assignment #2 due (2nd)
 Chapters 11,12: June 9, 11
 FINAL: Thursday, June 12 – 3 pm
Grading
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A+ (4.0) = 95-100%
A (4.0) = 90-94%
A- (3.7) = 85-89%
B+ (3.3) = 80-84%
B (3.0) = 75-79%
B- (2.7) = 70-74%
C+ (2.3) = 65-69%
C (2.0) = 60-64%
C- (1.7) = 55-59%
D+ (1.3)= 50-54%
D (1.0) = 45-49%
F (0.0) = 0-44%
 Not graded on a curve
 Grades will be based on:
 Quizzes: 10%
(5 x 2%)
 Assignments: 30%
(2 x 15%)
 Midterm exam: 25%
 Final exam:
35%
Quizzes
 5 SHORT quizzes worth 2% each
 Given at the BEGINNING of class
 10 minutes to answer
 Based on readings or previous day’s lecture
 e.g.
 What is the definition of ‘learning’?
Assignments
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2 assignments worth 15% each
One-page limit
You can work in pairs
Deductions for late assignments
 e.g. Explain gambling behaviour in terms of different
schedules of reinforcement.
 Cheating & Plagarism
 http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/governance/StudentAppe
alsCheatsheet.cfm?
Exams
 Multiple Choice
 Fill-in-the-blank
 Short answer
What is learning?
 School kids?
 Studying for exams?
 Learning to drive?
What else?
 Cognitive constants across species
 Cognitive differences across species
 How to make good rat poison?
Definitions
 Learning is:
 Some event at Time 1 affects behaviour at Time 2

Problem with this definition…
 A change in behaviour due to experience
 A change in behaviour is not sufficient to show
learning
 Not all behaviours are learned
 Even some complex behaviours are innate
 Reflexes, fixed action patterns, general behaviour traits
Where do these innate behaviours come from?
Natural Selection
 Variation, inheritance, selection, differential
reproductive success
 Acts on the level of the individual
 Natural selection commonly known to work on
physical traits
 E.g. white & black peppered moths
Natural Selection
 Behaviours, as well as physical characteristics, can be
selected for!
 Survival of the Sneakiest:
 http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/0_0_0/
sneakermales_01
 Evolutionary advantages for behaviours like reflexes?
 More complex behaviours, like altruism and pair
bonding?
Artificial Selection
 Animal breeders
 Pet domestication
 Genetic engineering
Sexual Selection
 Mate choice based on non-adaptive traits
 i.e. traits that don’t increase survivability may evolve if
they help an organism compete for mates
 Peacocks
Limits of Natural Selection
 SLOW!
 Generational lag
 Not very helpful within a lifetime
 e.g. new predators
Reflexes, Fixed Action Patterns & General Behaviour Traits
Reflexes
 Response to an environmental stimuli (i.e. an event)
 Relationship between a specific event and a simple
response
 Not learned, innate responses
 Survival mechanism
 Primitive reflexes
Inter-neuron
BRAIN
Sensory
neuron
Motor
neuron
changes in reflexes
 Reflexes are generally very stereotypic
 i.e. they don’t change much in terms of form, strength
 However, they can vary between people & time
Sensitization & Habituation
 Simple forms of learning
 Changes in reflexive behaviour patterns
 Different from sensory adaptation and fatique
 Discreet stimulus
sensitization
 Intensity and repetition of the event can affect
habituation & sensitization
 Sensitization: an INCREASE in the intensity or
probability of response to stimuli
 Sensitization example:
 Light touch: no response
 Painful shock: flinch
 Light touch: flinch
habituation
 Habituation: a DECREASE in the intensity or
probability of response to stimuli
 Stimulus specific
 Habituation example:
 Loud noise: startle
 Loud noise: less startle
 Loud noise: less startle
Fixed Action Patterns
 Similar to reflexes: innate and very stereotypic
 Involve more complex actions, or a series of actions
 Set off by a ‘sign stimulus’ or ‘releaser’
 Start-to-finish
fixed action patterns
MAIL
Other examples of FAPs
 Greylag Goose rolling eggs
 Gulls
 Yawning?
 Westermarck effect
General Behaviour Traits
 Behavioural traits strongly influenced by genes
 Not the same as FAPs
 More plastic, flexible
 No single sign stimulus
 Species specific defense reactions
 Rats: freeze
Evolved modifiability
 Natural selection is slow, so innate behaviours are not
enough…
 Ability to learn
 Nature vs. Nurture
Learning & Behaviour
 Remember: Learning is a change in behaviour due to
experience
 Why behaviour??
 Hard Line Behaviourism?
 Watson
 Skinner
The Science of Learning
 Avoiding circular explanations
Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?
A: To get to the other side.
A: Because it crossed the road
Q: How do we know the chicken wanted
to get to the other side?
Operational Definitions
 A precise way of defining events
 Multiple observers can agree on occurrence of event
 Or, quantify an event
 Inter-rater reliability
How to define choice?
-When bird lands on perch?
-When bird pulls off Velcro?
-When beak touches Velcro?
Measuring Learning
 Reduction in errors
 Change in speed
 Change in topography (form)
 Change in intensity
 Change in latency
 Change in rate or frequency
How to study learning
 Anecdotal evidence
 First- or second-hand reports of personal experiences
 Good for ideas, but not very scientific
How to study learning
 Anecdotal evidence
 Naturalistic Observation
 Observe subjects in their natural setting
 Limited controls
 Little to no interaction
How to study learning
 Anecdotal evidence
 Naturalistic Observation
 Case Studies
 More detail than an anecdote
 Study an individual/event/small group in detail
 Time consuming
 Hard to generalize
 Doesn’t answer all questions (e.g. causation)
How to study learning
 Anecdotal evidence
 Naturalistic Observation
 Case Studies
 Descriptive Studies
 Questionnaires, statistical analyses
 More information than case studies, but less detail
 Correlations, not causation
How to study learning
 Anecdotal evidence
 Naturalistic Observation
 Case Studies
 Descriptive Studies
 Experimental Studies
 Manipulate variables
 Different designs
 High control
 Measures effect of specific variables on behaviour
Types of Variables
 Independent variables
 Manipulated
 Dependent variables
 Measured
 Controlled variables
 Things to keep constant
Experimental Designs
 Between Subjects design
 Two or more groups of participants/subjects
 Experimental & Control groups
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Manipulate independent variable between groups
 One group gets it, and one doesn’t
Measure dependent variable between groups
 Assignment into groups can be random or matched
Between Subjects
Effect of Alcohol on Number of Spelling Errors
Number of Spelling Errors
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Control
1 Drink
5 Drinks
Experimental Designs
 Within Subjects design
 One group of participants/subjects, compare across time
points
Number of Errors
Effect of Alcohol on Spelling Errors
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0
1
2
3
Number of Drinks
4
5
Experimental Designs
 Within Subjects Designs
 ABA reversals
Effect of Distraction on Reading Rate
No Distraction
Distraction
Reading Rate
250
200
150
100
50
0
Time
No Distraction
Evaluation Research
 Validity
 How well a study, a procedure, or a measure does what it
is supposed to do
 Reliability
 How well a measure can be reproduced
 Replicability
Evaluating Research
 Sampling bias
 Sample: collection of subjects selected for a study
 Population: much larger collection of animals or people
from which the sample was drawn
 Distortions in self-reports
 Self-reports: subjects give a verbal/written account of
their own performance
Evaluation Research
 Placebo effects
 Demand characteristics
 Experimental bias
 Intentional and unintentional
 Single- and double-blind procedures
Animal Research
 How useful to human learning?
 Control over variables
 Ethics
 Cognitive constants, differences
 Comparative Cognition
 Animal Rights
 Computer simulations