Learning
PSYC 420
Winter 2013
Olds-Upton Room 412
11:50 a.m.-1:05 p.m. MWF
Dr. Robert Batsell
Office: Old-Upton #403 B
Office Hours: 10:00-11:00 MWF (or by appointment)
Office Telephone: 337-7032 [or in case of an emergency: 388-3378]
E-mail: rbatsell@kzoo.edu
Class e-mail: psy420-1@kzoo.edu
Teaching Assistant: Rory Landis
Contact Information:
Required Texts:
Alloway, T., Wilson, G., & Graham, J. (2012). Sniffy: The virtual rat (Pro
Version 3.0). Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.
Assigned readings (see page 7)
I. COURSE SUMMARY
Historically, scientists and philosophers have attempted to identify the most basic
units of our universe. A physicist might try to isolate an electron or a proton, the chemist
hopes to find a pure chemical element, but does the psychologist have a similar mission?
Yes, in all fields of psychology, the goal of the experimenter is to reduce behavior to its
simplest form; in the area of learning, the psychologist attempts to identify the basic units
of learning, the simple association. Adult humans frequently forget how basic learning
processes underlie all of our complex behaviors. For instance, learning that touching a
hot stove will burn your hand, or that eating bad fish will make you sick, or that a yellow
light signals the impending change to a red light are all examples of simple learning
processes such as classical conditioning and instrumental conditioning. The goal of this
class is to re-introduce students to basic learning processes. Although most of
psychology is based on the complexities of human behavior, as the previous examples
demonstrate the area of learning is based upon the association between an antecedent and
its consequence. We will spend the semester discussing how organisms (both humans
and animals) learn that Event 'A' becomes associated with Event 'B'. We will discuss the
factors that promote the formation and retention of this A-B association and various
theories that attempt to explain how organisms learn about their environment.
Furthermore, throughout this course we will see how our understanding of basic learning
processes (either in humans or animals) can be used to provide practical and clinical
solutions to complex human problems, and a better picture of the variety of learning
systems available to humans.
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II. GRADING
There will be a total of 500 points in this class.
90% and above (450 and up total points)
80% and above (400-449 total points)
70% and above (350-399 total points)
60% and above (300-349 total points)
below 60% (below 300 points)
=A
=B
=C
=D
=F
A. Exams: There will be a total of three exams. Two tests will be given during the
quarter and the third (the non-cumulative final exam) will be given when the final
is scheduled. Each exam date is marked on the accompanying class outline and
will be given on that day. Each exam will consist of multiple-choice and shortanswer questions. Short-answer questions require a few paragraphs and any
necessary diagrams/graphs. Each of the exams will be worth 100 points.
B. Sniffy Assignments: Throughout the quarter, students will be required to complete
6 Sniffy units. Four of the Sniffy units are worth 20 points and the other two are worth
10 points. These reports are worth a total of 100 points. See page 6 of this syllabus for
specific Sniffy reports.
C. Written Assignments: An additional 100 points (spread across 7 or 8 assignments)
will come from various in-class experiments and discussion questions. For the discussion
questions, groups of students will be responsible for generating discussion questions over
the assigned readings and then leading a subsequent class discussion.
III. ACCOMMODATIONS.
A. Student Athletes. Student athletes who have College permission to miss
classes or tests need to inform the instructor before they miss the assignment.
B. Cultural/Religious Holidays. Kalamazoo College provides reasonable
accommodations for observing religious or cultural holidays (such as Yom Kippur,
Martin Luther King Day, Easter, Cinco de Mayo). Students can be excused from class to
participate in these religious/cultural activities, but they will be responsible for getting all
assignments and turning in course work. Each student is responsible for contacting the
faculty member in a timely manner to arrange for appropriate accommodations.
C. Students with Disabilities. Kalamazoo College provides reasonable
accommodations for students with disabilities. It is the student's responsibility to contact
the office of the Dean of Students/Dean Karen Joshua-Wathel in a timely manner to
arrange for appropriate accommodations.
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IV. CLASS RULES.
A. Honor System. This course will operate in accordance with the Kalamazoo
College Honor System: a responsibility for personal behavior, independent thought,
respect for others, and environmental responsibility. Students who are caught cheating or
plagiarizing will receive a zero for that assignment, will be referred to Student Services,
and may fail the class. Students who download papers or any information from the
Internet without citing the source may receive an F in this course.
B. Attendance. Attendance will not be taken in this class; but students are
expected to attend the scheduled classes. Many of the test questions will come from class
lectures and are not in the book. It should be noted that students who have been
successful in this class in the past have adopted the strategy of reading the book prior to
lecture, attending the lecture, and then rereading the text over the corresponding material.
C. Classroom Behavior. The Kalamazoo College Honor Code applies to
classroom behavior as well as other types of interpersonal interactions on campus;
“respecting others” includes respectful behavior in class. Although Kalamazoo College
is committed to respecting fundamental principles of freedom of speech, including even
controversial positions taken in class, all types of speech and behavior must be balanced
with principles of appropriate classroom behavior. It is ultimately the faculty member
who controls the classroom, and if a situation develops in which, in the opinion of the
faculty member, the class is being disrupted, the faculty member has the ultimate right to
ask a student to leave the class. Longer-term solutions to these problems will be dealt
with according to College procedures.
Also, the presence of electronic devices is distracting to the professor and other
students. Cell phones should be silenced before class and in-class texting may be met
with sarcasm and ridicule.
D. Make-up Policy. If you know that you are going to miss an assignment (test or
paper) for any reason, it is the responsibility of the student to contact the professor
BEFORE the assignment is due. Makeup assignments may not be given if prior warning
(and the professor’s consent) has not occurred.
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LEARNING Course Outline
SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION TO BASIC TYPES OF LEARNING [2 MEETINGS!]
Week 1
Jan 7 (Mon)
Introduction to Learning I
Jan 9 (Wed)
Introduction to Learning II: Non-associative Learning
Jan 11 (Fri)
Introduction to Learning III: Ethics of Animal Research
Barnard, N. D., & Kaufman, S. R. (1997). Animal research is wasteful and misleading.
Scientific American, 80-82. http://tiny.cc/rtfcqw
Botting, J. H., & Morrison, A. R. (1997). Animal research is vital to medicine. Scientific
American, 83-85. http://tiny.cc/cwfcqw
Week 2
Jan 14 (Mon)
Introduction to Classical Conditioning I
Jan 16 (Wed)
Introduction to Classical Conditioning II
Zucco, G. M., Paolini, M., & Schaal, B. (2009). Unconscious odour conditioning 25
years
later: Revisiting and extending ‘Kirk-Smith, Van Toller and Dodd’. Learning and
Motivation, 40, 364-375. http://tiny.cc/cofcqw
Jan 18 (Fri)
Introduction to Classical Conditioning III
Garcia, J., & Koelling, R. A. (1966). Relation of cue to consequence in avoidance
learning. Psychonomic Science, 4, 123-124.
Week 3
Jan 21 (Mon) ***Martin Luther King Day –No Class****
Jan 23 (Wed)
Conditioned Inhibition
Jan 25 (Fri)
Clinical Applications of Classical Conditioning
Revusky, S. (2009). Chemical aversion treatment of alcoholism. In S. Reilly & T. R.
Schachtman (Eds.). Conditioned taste aversion: Behavioral and neural
processes, (pp. 445-472). Oxford University Press. http://tiny.cc/m1fcqw
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Week 4
Jan 28 (Mon)
Clinical Applications of Classical Conditioning [Group Work]
Balooch, S. B., & Neumann, D. L. (2011). Effects of multiple contexts and context
similarity on the renewal of extinguished conditioned behavior in an ABA design
with humans. Learning and Motivation, 42, 53-63. http://tiny.cc/7sfcqw
Leung, H. T., Reeks, L. M., & Westbrook R. F. (2012). Two ways to deepen extinction
and the difference between them. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal
Behavior Processes, 38, 394-406. http://tiny.cc/tyfcqw
Schiller, D., Monfils, M.-H., Raio, C. M., Johnson, D. C., LeDoux, J. E., & Phelps, E. A.
(2009). Preventing the return of fear in humans using reconsolidation update
mechanisms. Nature, 1-6. http://tiny.cc/01fcqw
Thomas, B. L., Cutler, M., & Novak, C. (2012). A modified counterconditioning
procedure
prevents the renewal of conditioned fear in rats. Learning and Motivation, 43, 2434. http://tiny.cc/yqfcqw
Willcocks, A. L., & McNally, G. P. (2011). The role of context in re-acquisition of
extinguished alcoholic beer-seeking. Behavioral Neuroscience, 125, 541-550.
http://tiny.cc/eqfcqw
Xue, Y-X., Luo, Y-X., Wu, P., Shi, H-S., Xue, L-F., Chen, C. et al. (2012). A memory
retrieval-extinction procedure to prevent drug craving and relapse. Science, 336,
241-245. http://tiny.cc/lpfcqw
Jan 30 (Wed) ***TEST #1***
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SECTION 2: MECHANISMS/ASSOCIATIONS OF CLASSICAL COND.
Week 4
Feb 1 (Fri)
Associations in Classical Conditioning I
Week 5:
Feb 4 (Mon)
Associations in Classical Conditioning II
Feb 6 (Wed)
Formal Models of Classical Conditioning I
Feb 8 (Fri)
***WINTER BREAK: NO CLASS***
Week 6:
Feb 11 (Mon)
Formal Models of Classical Conditioning II
Feb 13 (Wed)
Synergistic Conditioning
Batsell, W.R. Jr., Wakefield, E., Ulrey, L. A., Reimink, K., Rowe, S. L., & Dexheimer, S.
(2012). CS-US interval determines the transition from overshadowing to
potentiation with flavor compounds. Learning & Behavior, 40, 180-194.
http://tiny.cc/cvfcqw
Feb 15 (Fri)
Classical Conditioning Application: Foods
Week 7:
Feb 18 (Mon)
Classical Conditioning Application: Drugs
Stewart-Williams, S., & Podd, J. (2004). The placebo effect: Dissolving the expectancy
versus conditioning debate. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 324-340.
http://tiny.cc/g2fcqw
Feb 20 (Wed)
Stimuli in Absentia [Group Work #2]
Blaisdell, A.P., Leising, K. J., Stahlman, W. D., & Waldmann, M. R. (2009). Rats
distinguish between absence of events and lack of information in sensory
preconditioning. International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 22, 1-18.
http://tiny.cc/xvfcqw
Dwyer, D. M., & Burgess, K. V. (2011). Rational accounts of animal behavior? Lessons
from C. Lloyd Morgan’s Canon. International Journal of Comparative
Psychology, 24, 349-364. http://tiny.cc/6wfcqw
Feb 22 (Fri)
***TEST #2***
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SECTION 3: ANALYSIS OF INSTRUMENTAL CONDITIONING
Week 8: Feb 25 (Mon)
Feb 27 (Wed)
Introduction to Instrumental Conditioning I
Introduction to Instrumental Conditioning II
Bouton, M. E., Winterbauer, N. E., & Todd, T. P. (2012). Relapse processes after the
extinction of instrumental learning: Renewal, resurgence, and reacquisition.
Behavioural Processes, 90, 130-141. http://tiny.cc/qwfcqw
March 1 (Fri)
Responding for Appetitive and Aversive Reinforcers I
McHugh, L., Procter, J., Herzog, M., Schock, A-K., & Reed, P. (2012). The effect of
mindfulness on extinction and behavioral resurgence. Learning & Behavior, 40,
405-415. http://tiny.cc/tzfcqw
Week 9:
March 4 (Mon)
Responding for Appetitive and Aversive Reinforcers II
March 6 (Wed)
Responding for Appetitive and Aversive Reinforcers III
March 8 (Fri)
Theories of Instrumental Conditioning I
Week 10:
March 11 (Mon)
Theories of Instrumental Conditioning II
Gamez, A. M., & Rosas, J. M. (2007). Associations in human instrumental conditioning.
Learning and Motivation, 38, 242-261. http://tiny.cc/uxfcqw
March 13 (Wed)
Applications of Instrumental Conditioning I [Group Work]
Kamins, M. L., & Dweck, C. S. (1999). Person versus process praise and criticism:
Implications for contingent self-worth and coping. Developmental Psychology,
35,
835-847. http://tiny.cc/cyfcqw
McKean, K. J. (1994). Academic helplessness: Applying learned helplessness theory to
undergraduates who give up when faced with academic setbacks. College Student
Journal, 28, 456-462. http://tiny.cc/iitcqw
March 15 (Fri) Applications of Instrumental Conditioning II: Behavioral Therapy
McEachin, J. J., Smith, T., & Lovass, O. I. (1993). Long-term outcome for children with
autism who received early intensive behavioral treatment. American Journal of Mental
Retardation, 97, 359-372. http://tiny.cc/dzfcqw
TEST #3/ FINAL EXAM:
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Sniffy Lab Exercises
I. CLASSICAL CONDITIONING EXERCISES
Assignment #1 (20 Points):
Exercise 1: Basic Acquisition
Exercise 2: Extinction
Exercise 3: Spontaneous Recovery
NOVEL EXPERIMENT: Reacquisition
Exercise 4 Varying the Strength of the CS
Exercise 5: Varying the Strength of the US
*Note: For this assignment, your report only needs to include Exercises 1-Novel
Experiment
Assignment #2: (10 Points)
Exercise 10: Inhibitory Conditioning
Exercise 11: Inhibitory Conditioning by Summation
Assignment #3: (10 Points)
Exercise 6: Compound Conditioning
Exercise 7: Blocking
Exercise 8: Overshadowing
Assignment #4 (20 Points)
Nature of the Association in C.C./Ch. 11
Exercises 14-18
*Note for this assignment, conduct all of the exercises, but ONLY include 17 and 18
in your lab report.
II. INSTRUMENTAL CONDITIONING EXERCISES
Assignment #5: (20 Points)
Basic I.C. Chp 3 Exercises 22-27
Schedules of Reinforcement Exercises 32-36
*Note for this assignment, conduct all of the exercises, but ONLY include 32-36 in
your lab report.
Assignment #6: (20 Points)
Stimulus Discrimination & Stimulus Generalization Chp. 13
*Note for this assignment, conduct all of the exercises, but ONLY include the
methods and results from the comparisons of the 3 generalization gradients in your
lab report.