Download Learning and Cognition

Learning and Cognition
Cognitive Information Processing
b Unit 3
b
Behaviorists
Behaviorists insist that psychologists should
study only observable, measurable
behaviors-not mental processes
b Methodological Behaviorists study only
events that can be observed and measured :
the environment and the individuals actions
b In contrast Radical Behaviorists deny that
internal events, like hunger, or fear, cause
behavior
b
Cognitivists
Concerned with mental processes
b How people acquire, process, and use
information
b Pay attention to what goes on at the very
moment of learning, not just the results of
learning
b
Behaviorism
Behaviorism: The study of observable
patterns of behavior.
 Learning Theory: the study of our
methods of learning, and how this learning
then influences our behavior.

Classical Conditioning

Discovered by Ivan Pavlov when studying
digestion and salivation in dogs.
◦ This theory applies to things that are already
reflexive or innate behaviors.

The Discovery:
◦ Morning routine: Enter room, turn on lights, feed
dogs.
◦ Expected pattern: Lights go on, food goes down,
dogs start drooling.
◦ Unexpected discovery: After a few weeks, the
dogs began to drool when the lights came on!
Classical Conditioning
Operant Conditioning
Developed by B.F. Skinner, who believed
that Classical Conditioning was correct,
but that behavior was not solely reflexive.
 Behavior is a learned response, based on
the consequences of previous behaviors.

Operant Conditioning
Operant Conditioning

Increasing or Decreasing a Behavior
◦ Reinforcement: A consequence that
increases the likelihood that a behavior will be
repeated.
◦ Punishment: A consequence that decreases
the likelihood that a behavior will be
repeated.
Operant Conditioning

Giving or Removing a Stimulus:
◦ Positive: Presenting/Giving/Introducing a new
stimulus.
◦ Negative: Removing/Taking Away an existing
stimulus.
“Skinner Box”
.
Operant Conditioning

Our scenario:Your teenage daughter just received
her first car and was allowed to attend a social
event alone, provided she was home by 10pm.
◦ Reinforcement: She was home at 9:45!
◦ Punishment: Little Missy strolled in at MIDNIGHT!
Reinforcement
Punishment
Positive
Extend curfew to 11pm next
time. (GIVING time)
Work Little Missy to death
with added chores. (GIVING
unpleasant tasks).
Negative
Take away curfew all together
– she’s trust-worthy! (TAKE
AWAY restriction)
Take away her car until she
learns. (TAKE AWAY valued
object – the car!)
Operant Conditioning
The Schedule
of
Reinforcemen
t can impact
learning!
 Timing:

◦ Interval
◦ Ratio

Schedule:
◦ Fixed
◦ Variable
Operant Conditioning

Extinction:
Cessation of a
behavior based
on a lack of
continued
reinforcement,
experience of a
punishment, etc.
Stimulus Discrimination

Telling Things Apart:
◦ Generalization
◦ Discrimination
◦ Just Noticeable Difference

Training:
◦
◦
◦
◦

Shaping
Chaining
Omission Training
Escape Learning aka Avoidance Learning
Conditioned Taste Aversion
Behavioral Principles

Edward Thorndike’s Law of Effect:
◦ If a behavior has positive consequences, it is more
likely to be repeated.
◦ If a behavior has negative consequences, it is less
likely to be repeated.

David Premack’s Premack Principle:
◦ An opportunity to engage in a behavior that is
naturally seen frequently can serve as a
reinforcement for a less frequent behavior.

Latent Learning:
◦ The subject exhibits the desired behaviors and
understands the patterns of the A-B-C model.
Harlow’s Rhesus Monkeys
Harry Harlow attempted
to determine if physical
comfort or food was more
important to baby monkeys.
 Monkeys were given access
to 2 artificial wire “mothers”.

◦ 1 had a bottle of milk
◦ 1 had a fleece cover
•Babies preferred the fleece mother, and Harlow concluded that
primates are comforted by warm, soft things, NOT food.
Social Learning Theory
Albert Bandura decided to study
learning from a social perspective.
 Social Learning Theory states that we
can learn just by watching others.

◦ We DO NOT have to experience the
consequence ourselves!
Social Learning Theory

The BoBo Doll Study:
◦ Take groups of kids into a
room and have them
watch a video of a model
punching/kicking/hitting a
BoBo Doll.
◦ Children see 3 potential
endings:
 Actor is Punished
 Actor is Rewarded
 Nothing happens, actor
walks off-screen
Social Learning Theory
◦ Children are given an
opportunity to play with a
BoBo doll.
 Those who saw a reward
mimic behaviors right away
 Those who saw neutral mimic
some behaviors.
 All, INCLUDING those who
saw the punishment, can mimic
behaviors if asked.
 Those who saw punishment
were able to very closely, if
not identically, mimic the
video!
Social Learning Theory

Observational
Learning: The ability
to learn by watching the
behaviors and
consequences of others.
Stages of Cognitive Development

Theory was developed when
Jean Piaget (a Biologist!)
was helping to develop IQ
tests and noticed that when
children answered
incorrectly, there was a
PATTERN to the WAY they
answered!
Stages of Cognitive Development
Age
Infancy
Stage
Sensorimotor
Stage
Description
•Child experiences the word through
their sense.
•“The Little Scientists”
•Object Permanence: The ability to
understand that objects continue to
exist even when they are no longer
visible.
Stages of Cognitive Development
Age
2 years
old
Stage
Description
Preoperational •Child can think symbolically (e.g.
Stage
thinking of the past and future, using
language, playing pretend).
•There is a large growth in vocabulary
and use of words and symbols in this
stage.
•Children LACK operations (the ability
to mentally manipulate objects).
•Egocentric: Children in this stage
cannot distinguish between their own
perspective and the perspectives of
others.
Stages of Cognitive Development
Age
School
aged
Stage
Description
Concrete
•Children can think logically and consistently
Operational Stage about features in their world that are real and
concrete.
•Children are capable of abstract reasoning
and performing operations as long as it is in
terms of concrete objects.
•EX: A > B, B > C, which is greater, A or
C? – NO
•EX: Adam is taller than Bill, Bill is taller
than Charlie, who’s taller, Adam or
Charlie? – YES!
•The schema of conservation (i.e. knowing
that changing the shape of things does not
change the amount) is formed during this
time.
•Egocentrism begins to disappear.
Stages of Cognitive Development
Age
Stage
Description
Adolescents Formal
•Individuals are able to think on many different
and Adults Operational Stage planes:
•Hypothetically
•Abstractly
•Speculatively
•Rationally
•Deductive reasoning and learning to consider
possibilities also occurs in this stage.
Some Adults Post-Formal
•Individuals are able to think on many different
Operational Stage
levels, building on formal operational thought.
•Individuals are able to mentally manipulate even
complex, abstract ideas.
Other Cognitive Theories

Zone of Proximal Development
(ZPD) by Lev Vygotsky
◦ The difference between what a learner can do
on their own, and with a little bit of
guidance/help from an instructor.

Scaffolding: The process of introducing
new ideas with sufficient support so that
the student can learn and achieve on a
level they would not be capable of on
their own.
Other Cognitive Theories
b
Jean Piaget
◦ Learning is structured through the use of:
 Schemes (templates)
 Assimilation (adding on)
 Accommodation (changing schemes)
Information Processing Model

Information Processing Model: Your
brain is like a computer!
◦ We move memories from…
 Sensory register to…
 2-3 seconds
 Very limited capacity
 Short-Term Memory to…
 A couple minutes to a couple hours
 Capacity limited by Miller’s Magic Number (7 plus or minus 2)
 Long-Term Memory
 Indefinite storage
 Infinite capacity
Information Processing Model
Strategies for Encoding Memories
•Rehearsal
•Outlines
•Hierarchies
•Concept Trees
•Mnemonics
•Method of
Loci: Visual
Mnemonics
•Self-questioning
•Chunking
•Elaboration
•Cued Recall
•Retrieval Cues
•SPAR: Survey,
Process, Ask,
Review
•Quiz Systems
•Flash Cards
Encoding Memories

The Debate:
◦ Do we forget?
◦ Or do we forget where we put it?
State-Dependent Memory aka Cued
Recall
 Encoding Specificity Principle

Forgetting vs. Failure to Retrieve
Types of Memories
Working Memory: Current thoughts
 Declarative Memory: Facts

◦ Semantic Memory: General knowledge
◦ Episodic Memory: Events

Sensory Memory: Sensory recall
◦ Iconic Memory:Visual recognition
◦ Echoic Memory: Auditory recognition

Procedural Memory: How-to
◦ AKA Kinesthetic Learning aka Proprioception
Levels-of-Processing Principle
Shallow 
 Deep
Serial-Order Effect

Serial-Order Effect: The order in
which we encounter information
determines how well it will be stored.
◦
◦
◦
◦
Primacy Effect
Recency Effect
Frequency Effect
Familiarity Effect
Memory Reconstruction

Memory Reconstruction
◦ Hindsight Bias
◦ Repression
◦ Eye-Witness Effect
Memory Loss

Amnesia: Damage to the
Hippocampus
◦ Anterograde Amnesia
◦ Retrograde Amnesia
◦ Explicit vs Implicit Memory

Korsakoff ’s Syndrome:
Damage to the Frontal Lobe
due to prolonged alcoholism
Memory Loss

Alzheimer’s
Disease:
Damage to
neural networks
spreading from
the Frontal Lobe
toward the
Brainstem.
◦ Neurolitic
Plaque
◦ Neurofibulary
Tangles
Problem Solving
Recognition: Identify the problem
 Algorithms: Step-by-step procedures
 Heuristics: “Short-cuts” that may solve a
problem faster

Cognition & Language
Categorization
 Cognitive Maps
 Attention

◦ Preattentive Process
◦ Attentive Process
◦ Postattentive Process
Selective Attention
 Pattern Recognition

The Stroop Effect
Linguistics

Linguistics: The study of language
◦ Noam Chomsky’s Transformational
Grammar:
 Deep-level logic moves to surface-level grammar &
word order
Linguistics

Broca’s Area
◦ Broca’s Aphasia

Wernicke’s
Area
◦ Wernicke’s
Aphasia
Language Development

Sounds:
◦ Phonemes: An individual sound
◦ Morpheme: A cluster of sounds with meaning

Reading:
◦ Fixation
◦ Saccades

Figuring Out Meaning:
◦ Syntactic Bootstrapping
Language Development
Pre-Linguistic: 0-12 Months
 Word Learning: 13 Months and up
 Syntatic Relations: 20 Months and up
 Discourse/Pragmatics: Elementary school
years

◦ Irony, sarcasm, humor
◦ Perspective taking
◦ Social/interactional skill
Language Development
Over-generalization
 Under-generalization
 Linguistic Schema Development

Intelligence
IQ Scores continue to develop and
increase throughout adulthood
 Types of Intelligence

◦ Fluid Intelligence = Abstract thought,
memory, speed of thought, etc.
 Declines with age
◦ Crystallized Intelligence = Accumulated
learning of facts, vocabulary, etc.
 Increases with age
Intelligence

Sternberg’s Types of Intelligence
◦ Analytical = problem solving
◦ Creative = artistic, musical, inventive, designing
◦ Practical = street smart, apply knowledge to
everyday life
Performance
Novice Performance
 Expert Performance
 Shift from Novice to Expert requires
deliberate practice!

Special Needs

Gifted and Talented: A term for
children who show high levels of
intellectual functioning, creativity, artistic
talent, leadership quality, etc.
◦ No social, emotional, or physical
difference from “normal” children.
◦ Typically are capable of abstract
thought (Formal Operational Thinking
in Piaget’s model) before “normal”
children.
Theories of Intelligence

Robert Sternbger: Stated that there
are 3 types of intelligence.
◦ Academic Intelligence: “Book learning” –
the ability to memorize facts.
◦ Creative Intelligence: “Artistic Creativity”
– the ability to play music, imagine art, paint,
sculpt, etc.
◦ Practical Intelligence: “Street smarts” –
the ability to problem-solve.
Theories of Intelligence

Howard Gardner: Stated there were at
least 9 types of intelligence.
Theories of Intelligence
Intelligence
Mental
Retardation
 Normal
 Above Average
 Genius
