What two concepts was Descartes known for?
Dualism, reflex action
Define dualism
Dualism is the idea that the mind and body are mutually exclusive
Define reflex action
Reflex action is the idea that for every action there was a stimulus that caused said action. Descartes believed that the stimulus agitated animal spirits which built up in the brain until there was a stimulus strong enough to release it.
Who believed in animal spirits?
DESCARTES
Who were the two British empiricists?
Locke, Hume
Locke and Hume were...
British empiricists
What is empiricism?
The idea that knowledge comes from experience. Observations made by testing.
Neuroscience, and the world as a whole, made a shift from ________ to ________ processing.
Serial, parallel
Elementalism
Sensations are the basic elements from which knowledge is createdcreated
Associationism
Create schemas. Basic characteristics of object and memory compiled to form idea of the object.
Which ism would the empiricists agree with most?
Associationism
Which school of thought implimented associationism?
Empiricism
Tabula rasa
Clean slate," refers to the idea that we are born with no knowledge.
Name a rationalist.
Immanuel Kant
Who emphasized association between ideas?
Hume
Unlike empiricists Kant believed...
CanalixationThat although some things are learned from exp., the brain has a set of assumptions to help organize the experiences we gain.
A prioris
The idea that we come into this world knowing certain facts. Such as that things happen in time and space.
Who would disagree with tabula rasa?
Immanuel Kant the rationlanists.
Canalization
Process by which thoughts, memories, experience, and behavior influence knowledge to go down the canal (?)
What new reflex was discovered in the 1800s?
The idea of inhibition
According to the idea of evolution, humans and animals...
Have a common ancestor
The evolution was the foundation of which group?
The early comparative psychologists
What was the goal of early comparative psychologists?
To trace the evolution of the minds by studying the mental lives of animals.
What's the difference between how long humans and single cell organisms have been evolving?
ALL living things have been evolving for the same amount of time.
What is anthropomorphism?
Treating animals as if they were human
George Romanes was a...
Comparative psychologist (made animals seem overly cognitive)
How did Romanes collect his data?
He often collect his data on animal behavior by talking to pet owners. (anecdotal) Made inferences on their mental abilities.
What was the difference between how Romanes and Darwin saw evolution?
Romanes thought that evolution was a linear progression where as Darwin believed that evolution creates "a rich set of branches on a complex bush.
Who would disagree with Romanes' attributing of cognitive abilities to animals?
Lloyd Morgan
What is Lloyd Morgan best known for?
Morgan's canon (Law of parsimony)
What is Morgan's Canon?
Morgan's canon states that "behavior should not be explained by a complex, high-level mental process if it can be explained by a simpler one." (essentially don't make animals seem overly cognitive)
What is scala naturae?
(The great chain of being/Stairway of nature) Starts with god, angels, humans, fish etc.
Explain occam's razor.
The principle states that among competing hypotheses that predict equally well, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected. The simplest explanation is the best.
Occam's razor is similar to which theory?
Morgan's canon (law of parsimony)
Sechenov is responsible for...
Figuring out whats going on with the neurons; there are neuromuscular synapses where neurons controls muscles.
What is electrophysiology?
Study of electricity in the body
What is the words triggers referring to?
The idea of action potentials.
How did Edward Thorndike test the intelligence of cats?
By putting them in a puzzle box and putting food outside. He watched them try to figure out how to get to the food. They learned slow but the food strengthened the association between the situation (S) and the latch-opening response (R). [S-R association]
What law did Thorndike propose?
The law of effect. When a response is followed by satisfaction, an S-R connection is strengthened.
What is the law of effect?
When a response is followed by satisfaction, an S-R connection is strengthened.
Although Pavlov is credited with coming up with one of learning's most popular theories, what was he originally interested in?
Digestion and saliva.
What is Ivan Pavlov famous for?
Coming up with the fundamental concept of a conditioned reflex.
Explain the pavlovian conditioning paradigm?
Pavlov would present a bell and then present the dog with food. Soon enough just the sight of the bell alone will stimulate the same response that the food did.
Who is considered that grandfather of operant condition?
Thorndike
Introspectionism
Doing science by thinking and coming up with a conclusion (philosophical)
Behaviorism
Studying something you can see; study the mind (and its output) through behavior as well as the environment
Who was one of the most important writers for behaviorism?
B.F. Skinner
Who developed radical behaviorism?
B.F. Skinner
Explain the physiological reflex arc.
A sensory neuron must respond to S(timulus) and then fore a motor neuron that excites muscle and makes a R(esponse).
How did B.F. skinner famously present operant conditioning?
With the Skinner box. (behavior controlled by consequences).
What is also known as the skinner box?
The operant experiment
In the example of the skinner box, what is the operant and reinforcer?
The rat's lever press response is called an operant because it operates on the environment. The food pellet, which increases the rate of responding when it is made a consequence of the response, is called a reinforcer.
Operant (voluntary) conditioning is controlled by its ...
Consequences ( increases or decreases depending on the payoff)
What are antecedent behaviors?
Behaviors controlled by their antecedents.
What are operant behaviors?
Behaviors controlled by their consequences.
Who started operational behaviorism?
Edward C. Tolman.
What is an intervening variable?
a hypothetical (non-observable) internal state that is used to explain relationships between observed variables, such as independent and dependent variables, in empirical research
Information processing was inspired by what machine?
The computer
What did information processing have to say about the brain?
The brain was like a computer that took a serial approach to calculating steps (we now know this to be false). Computers operate in sequence, the brain operates in parallels.
The brain is suggested to process information in parallel, what is this called?
Connectionism, neural networks, and parallel distributed processing.
Connectionism, neural networks, and parallel distributed processing all suggest that ...
The brain processes information in parallel.
What is the difference between animal vs human learning?
...