generalization- the tendency to respond to stimuli similar to the conditioned stimuli.

discrimination- the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulu.

importance of cognitive processes in classical conditioning: cognitive is the mental process of the brain.  it is very important in classical conditioning because the way the brain works helps us follow instruction and get certain things engraved into our brains.

importance of biology in classical conditioning: the way our brain works is very important in the classical conditioning process.

taste aversion (research of John Garcia): If you become sick after eating a certain food, you probably will have a hard time eating the food again.  The smell and taste would have become a conditioned stimulus for nausea.  This learning occurs readily because our biology prepares us to learn taste aversions to toxic food.

An example of taste aversion not described in your book: If you ate a certain food such as eggs for breakfast, then that day you ended up getting sick you will have a hard time eating eggs again.. Every time you smell or taste eggs it will remind you of that time where you got sick after you ate them.

Watson, Rayner and research after Pavlov: Watson and Rayner did an experiment called "Little Albert"  where they paired a lab rat with a terribly loud noise.

Respondent Behavior: behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus.

Operant Behavior: behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences.

Law of Effect:  Thorndike's principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely.

Skinner Box (operant chamber): a chamber containing a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer, with attached devices to record the animal's rate of bar pressing or key pecking.  It is used in operant conditioning research.

Shaping: an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of a desired goal.

Successive approximations: this has to do with shaping.  An example is if a researcher uses rats in a lab and every time the rat does something good they give them a treat or some cheese.

Discriminative stimulus: a stimulus, associated with reinforcement, that exerts control over a particular form of behavior; the subject discriminates between closely related stimuli and responds positively only in the presence of that stimulus.

Reinforcement: any event that increases the frequency of a preceding response. There are two types of reinforcement, positive and negative. 


Phase 2 Part 2

Do you think either plays a role in how you respond to teachers and your academic role here at Wilson? Explain.


I think both classical and operant conditioning play a role in how I respond to teachers and my academic role here at Wilson. For classical learning students become programmed to listen to the rules that sometimes they don't even realize they're always obeying the rules. For example, we are taught that you are supposed to be in your classroom by the time the bell rings and you are to leave class when the bell rings. This makes students get up when the bell rings whether or not they are dismissed by the teacher. Also we are taught that you have to ask to go to the bathroom or to leave the room, so without thinking we always ask the teacher for permission to leave. As for operant conditioning, students often associate doing the homework or completing the homework with good grades. When in fact you have to study and actually do the homework and know what your doing. You can't just copy answers from others.

How can understanding classical and operant conditioning help us to understand the way we learn? Provide at least two examples that help illustrate your point.

The understanding of classical and operant conditioning can help us understand the way we learn.  If you learn with classical conditioning that means that you are told something over and over again that you just do it without realizing it.  For example you could do your homework without a thought because you were taught that.  If you learn with operant conditioning you learn by associating things together.  For example you can associate doing homework with getting good grades.

In your normal day here at school, explain a time where you have seen the use of positive reinforcement and one of negative reinforcement. For each one, analyze the impact that it had on you or the class you were in.

An example of positive reinforcement shown at school is when a teacher is giving a detention to a student for doing something inappropriate. It is positive for the teacher because they are giving a stimuli to the student to reinforce that what they did is bad. An example of negative reinforcement shown at school is when a class listens and works hard sometimes teachers won't give them homework that night. This is an example of a negative reinforcement because the teacher is taking away something instead of giving.

How can you use what you know about the history of psychology and the science behind psychology to create your learning strategy? Provide two paths you can take to incorporate that knowledge into your final product.

We learn with experience, so learning strategies can be hands on to help this.  If we work with hands on techniques that can help us know the meaning of what we are trying to learn.  Also we can use repetition and go over concepts and questions many times.  Repetition will help your brain remember ideas and concepts easier than you would if you just read something or discuss something once.

PART IV

Ebbinghaus' retention curve:  Ebbinghaus found that the more times he practiced a list of nonsense syllables on day 1, the fewer repetitions he required to relearn it on day 2.  For example, just because you memorize something one day doesn't mean your actually learning it.

spacing effect: the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice.

What we encode:  we encode meaning, imagery and organize information.

kinds of encoding:

visual encoding: the encoding of picture images.
acoustic encoding: the encoding of sound, especially the sound of words.
semantic encoding: the encoding of meaning, including the meaning of words.

levels of processing: processing a word deeply produces better recognition of it at a later time than does shallow processing by attending to its appearance or sound.

imagery and memory: mental pictures; a powerful aid to effortful processing, especially when combined with semantic encoding.

mnemonics: memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices.

ways to organize information for encoding: you can organize encoding by chunking with is when we organize information into meaningful units.  This helps us recall things more easily.  Also we can organize information by heirarchies.  When we do this we remember them better than when we see them presented randomly.

memory trace:  the hypothetical structural alteration in brain cells following learning

iconic memory:a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image emory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second.

Consider everything you know about the way memory works in the human brain. How can you tap into that in order to construct your learning strategy? Provide at least 5 different ways to use memory to create an effective learning strategy?

1. grouping the words into smaller lists for easier memorization
2. using acronyms
3. pneumanic devices
4. relate the subjects to your life
5. create a rhythm of the words and rhyme them together

How is the human mind faulty in remembering information? Explain how that could impact the construction of your learning strategy (provide 3 examples)

Our mind can be faulty in remembering information.  For example, witnesses at a crime scene have a hard time remembering everything that happens.  When asked to identify if one of the suspects was at the crime scene, they automatically assume that one of the suspects was in fact there and then try to make there conclusion.  When in fact the suspect might not even be there.  Misspelled words in your activity may affect how we remember things, because we will remember the spelling to be wrong.  Also our brains fill in certain words to create a meaning that we know.  So if we are looking at neuroscience and our definition has a different word in it we might substitute that word in without even realizing it.  Also our biased opinions can create problems.  If we believe that neuroscience has a certain definition we might not be able to accept the other definition given.

Create a category hierarchy to organize a concept of your choosing.  Make sure you label a prototype as well.

                                                    athletes
basketball                                 baseball                swimming
gender                                     gender                    gender
physical fitness                        physical fitness       physical fitness



PART 3

Reflect on your data collection.

Was the tool you designed useful and accurate in collecting data? Why or why not?

Yes, it was accurate because we got the information directly from the students who took the survey.

How did it help you start to build your learning strategy?

It gave us a sense of how students learn and what the most affective way of learning for students is.

Is there anything you can do to supplement the data that you collected this time around?

We could have asked for the students average GPA. This would have given us an idea if the strategy that they were using to learn was actually affective for them.

PART V

belief bias: the tendency for one's preexisting beliefs to distort logical resoning, sometimes by making invalid conclusions seem valid, or valid conclustions seem invalid.  Example: Since we know a guy who was muslim was the cause of September 11th and he was a terrorists, some may assume that all muslims are terrorists.
belief perseverance: clinging to one's initial conceptions after the abasis on which they were formed has been credited.
Artificial Intelligence (AI): the science of desgning and programming computer systems to do intelligent things and to simulate human thought processes, such as intuitive resonin learning, and understanding language.  Example: video and computer games.
Computer Neural Networks :  computer circuits that mimic the brian's interconnected neural cells, performing tasks such as learning to recognize visual patterns and smells.
Language: our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning.  Example, our language Enlgish, and body language.
Phoneme: in a spoken language, the smallest distinctive sound unit.
Morpheme: in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix).  Example: the prefix pre means before.
Grammar: in a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others. Example: If a letter does not display good grammar the letter could lose the meaning that it was trying to portray.

Ashley Simmons
Period 7