- Animal Learning & Cognition
The experimental analysis of cognition and
behavior in animals. Most of our discussions
will focus on laboratory findings with
animals, but as viewed from an evolutionary
framework concerned with the natural histories
of these animals. Besides discussing
established results about cognition and
intelligence in animals, an important
emphasis is also placed on the logic and
evidence used to justify these conclusions.
URL: http://www.pigeon.psy.tufts.edu/psych26/default.htm
(Added: 9-Dec-1998 Hits: 7768)
- Attentional Processes in Compound Stimulus Processing by Pigeons
Though originally conceptualized as a mechanism of discrimination learning, attention has more recently been investigated as a factor in information processing. Attention research in animals has generally been carried out by training pigeons on two separate matching-to-sample problems followed by testing with a compound of the two samples. When tested for one of the two sources of information in the compound sample, pigeons typically perform worse than on tests with either of the two original training samples presented alone. Recent research has shown, however, that pigeons are able to process multiple sources of information from some dimensions simultaneously with no accuracy deficit.
URL: http://www.pigeon.psy.tufts.edu/avc/sutton/default.htm
(Added: 19-Sep-2001 Hits: 1709)
- Connectionism (E. Thorndike)
The learning theory of Thorndike represents the original S-R framework of behavioral psychology: Learning is the result of associations forming between stimuli and responses. Such
associations or "habits" become strengthened or weakened by the nature and frequency of the S-R pairings.
URL: http://tip.psychology.org/thorn.html
(Added: 9-Dec-1998 Hits: 5060)
- Contiguity Theory (E. Guthrie)
Guthrie's contiguity theory specifies that "a combination of stimuli which has accompanied a movement will on its recurrence tend to be followed by that movement". According to Guthrie, all
learning was a consequence of association between a particular stimulus and response. Futhermore, Guthrie argued that stimuli and responses affect specific sensory-motor patterns; what
is learned are movements, not behaviors.
URL: http://tip.psychology.org/guthrie.html
(Added: 9-Dec-1998 Hits: 3130)
- Development of Pecking in Ring Doves
The development of pecking in ring doves is described and analyzed as a model system for understanding the roles of learning in behavioral development. Ring dove squab go from complete dependence on their parents to independent feeding during the third and fourth week post-hatch. They learn to identify food and to consume it through their interaction with food and their parents. This chapter describes experiments that analyze the specific learning mechanisms involved in the development of pecking and what it is that squabs learn from their experience.
URL: http://www.pigeon.psy.tufts.edu/avc/balsam/default.htm
(Added: 19-Sep-2001 Hits: 731)
- Drive Reduction Theory (C. Hull)
Hull developed a version of behaviorism in which the stimulus (S) affects the organism (O) and the resulting response (R) depends upon characteristics of both O and S. In other words, Hull
was interested in studying intervening variables that affected behavior such as initial drive, incentives, inhibitors, and prior training (habit strength). Like other forms of behavior theory,
reinforcement is the primary factor that determines learning.
URL: http://tip.psychology.org/hull.html
(Added: 9-Dec-1998 Hits: 2829)
- How do People Learn: Constructivism
Constructivism is a philosophy of
learning founded on the premise that, by reflecting on our experiences, we
construct our own understanding of the
world we live in. Each of us generates
our own "rules" and "mental models,"
which we use to make sense of our
experiences. Learning, therefore, is
simply the process of adjusting our
mental models to accommodate new experiences.
URL: http://www.funderstanding.com/content/constructivism
(Added: 26-Dec-1999 Hits: 4365)
- Learning Theories
A website that features relevant and important theories for psychology, cognitive science, education, HCI, and instructional design. A summary, keywords, description, and bibliography are included for each theory.
URL: http://www.learning-theories.com/
(Added: 11-Feb-2007 Hits: 4593)
- Mathematical Principles of Reinforcement
Effective conditioning requires a
correlation between the experimenter's
definition of a response and an
organism's, but an animal's perception of its behavior differs from ours. Various definitions of the response are explored
experimentally using the slopes of
learning curves to infer which comes
closest to the organism's definition.
URL: http://cogprints.org/591/0/199802001.html
(Added: 11-Dec-1998 Hits: 1347)
- Operant (Instrumental) Conditioning
The major theorists for the development of operant conditioning are Edward Thorndike, John
Watson, and B. F. Skinner. They proposed that learning is the result of
the application of consequences; that is, learners begin to connect certain responses with certain
stimuli. This connection causes the probability of the response to change (i.e., learning occurs.)
URL: http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/behsys/operant.html
(Added: 22-Jul-1999 Hits: 7303)
- Pavlovian Conditioning
Pavlovian conditioning is the fundamental building block of learning. It is so basic to how animals adapt to their environment that it is shown by virtually all animals, from simple
multicellular organisms such as flatworms (Planaria) to humans. There is even evidence that single-celled animals such as Paramecia are capable of Pavlovian conditioning.
URL: http://www.employees.csbsju.edu/tcreed/pb/pavcon.html
(Added: 10-Dec-1998 Hits: 3294)
- Schedules of Reinforcement
A whole range of rules can govern the contingency between responses and reinforcement - these different types of rules are referred to as schedules of reinforcement. Most of these
schedules of reinforcement can be divided into schedules in which the contingency depends on the number of responses and those where the contingency depends on their timing.
URL: http://www.brembs.net/operant/
(Added: 9-Dec-1998 Hits: 2535)
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