1. The Limitations of Learning
Chapter 12
The Limitations of Learning

2. Limits Physical Characteristics Non-heritability Neurological Damage
Heredity of learning ability
Neurological Damage
Critical Periods
Preparedness
Instinctual Drift
Biological Preparedness
Sign Tracking

3. Physical Characteristics
Physiological structure of the species
Limitations on behaviours
e.g. teaching chimps to
talk vs. teaching sign language

4. Nonheritability of Learned Behaviour
Learned behaviours are not inherited
Lamarckian evolution: passing acquired characteristics to offspring
Short neck giraffe needs to stretch to reach food
Neck gets longer
Passes on long neck to offspring

5. McDougall’s rats Trained rats to run on avoidance task
Trained those rats offspring on avoidance task
Trained those rats offspring on avoidance task, etc.
Each generation should learn faster (inherit skill of parents, and ancestors)
BUT, no control group…

6. Agar (1954) Replicated McDougall’s design, but added a control group
Control: every second generation was untrained
Found same pattern of results with control group
i.e. successive generation also learned faster than previous generations
But also many fluctuations within both groups
Suggests that training of parents has no effect on offspring

7. Non-inheritance Inheritance of learning could limit adaptability
Advances/changes in ways of thinking
e.g. sun revolves around the earth?
Traditional male/female roles?

8. Heredity and Learning Ability
Don’t inherit learned behaviours BUT…
Genetic influences on ability to learn
Tryon (1940): rats learn maze, breed “smartest” together and “dumbest” together for 18 generations
‘Smart’ rats had ‘smart’ rat pups
Not inheriting a learned behaviour, but ability to learn quickly
Identical twins reared apart
Nature and nurture

9. Neurological Damage Neurotoxins
Prenatal damage to CNS (e.g., fetal alcohol syndrome, crack cocaine)
Envrionmental toxins (e.g., lead)
Physical damage (e.g., concussions)

10. Critical Periods Stage for optimum learning Puppy dogs
Konrad Lorenz & Imprinting

11. Harlow & Harlow Monkeys & terry cloth mothers “Pit of despair”
Critical period for development of social skills

12. Preparedness & Learning
Seligman’s ‘Continuum of Preparedness
Prepared
Unprepared
Contraprepare

13. Autoshaping
Pigeons peck at key light CS even though unnecessary for arrival of US (food)
‘Prepared’ for learning to peck key-light
autoshaping

14. Instinctive Drift Breland & Breland (1961) “miserly” raccoon
Contraprepared
Innate tendencies (GBTs, FAPs) interfere with learning

15. Biological Preparedness
Remember ‘bright-noisy water’?
Prepared for ‘flavour’ taste aversion, unprepared for ‘noise’ taste aversion

16. Learning & Evolution Like evolution, learning has no specific goal
Not all learning is good
Learned helplessness
Vicarious learning of aggression
Drug conditioning