1. Definition of Learning
From a Dictionary: “To gain knowledge or understanding of, or skill in, by study, instruction, or investigation.”
Problems
1. Learning does not always involve a “gain” or benefit; for example, psychological disorders, prejudices, and maladaptive behaviors like procrastination.
2. Learning is not always intentional. “Incidental learning” occurs without intent or instructions to remember the information later. For example... Remembering the location of your classrooms.
Domjan Textbook: “Learning is an enduring change in the mechanism of behavior involving specific stimuli and/or responses that result from prior experience with those of similar stimuli and responses.” p.14
1. "Enduring Changes" to rule out behavioral changes that result from
Short-term memory
Fatigue
Change in stimulus conditions – loud noise

2. Definition of Learning
“Learning is an enduring change in the mechanism of behavior involving specific stimuli and/or responses that result from prior experience with those of similar stimuli and responses.” p.14
2. "Mechanisms of behaviour" because behaviour is determined by many factors
learning as an internal process, a state of knowledge
learning often takes place without immediately being shown in behavior
Studies of latent learning support a distinction between learning, an internal process, and behavior or performance, an observable process.
may be changes in performance due to factors other than learning such as motivational state “hunger” (see learning performance distinction)
3. "Resulting From Prior Experience" to rule out changes that result from
maturation (neuromuscular development) which is generally seen as preparing a species to learn a skill rapidly
examples would be the development of walking and the learning of language

3. Learning – Performance Distinction
Evidence of learning
Learning is inferred by change in performance
To say that learning has taken place, we must observe a change in behavior either as
a new response
suppression of previous responses
Learning is inferred from behavior but is not the same thing as behavior
Other than learning what could influence the performance of behavior?
Fatigue —"the mind is willing but the flesh is weak"
Motivation — latent learning example;
rat in a maze is not motivated to perform
adding food to the maze improves performance
Maturation — could also affect performance but would not call it learning (i.e., child reaching cookie jar on top of counter)
Change in stimulus conditions, change
“Therfore, a change in performance cannot automatically be considered to refect learning.” p. 14

4. Functional Basis of Learning
The importance of learning for survival appears obvious
Learning enables animals to deal with the demands of a changing environment.
Animals learn about stimuli in their environment
serve as signals for some important outcome
a particular odor could indicate that there is food or a predator nearby.
Animals also learn about their own behavior
A certain action will produce a particular outcome
running to escape from a predator
Why is learning a central issue in psychology?
1. "Profiting by experience" seems increasingly important as one looks at phylogenetically more complex animals.
2. Learning is automatic and more pervasive than most people think.
3. Almost all areas of psychology use learning principles. Developmental; Educational; Clinical; Behavioural Neuroscience

5. The Principles of Learning and Behavior, 7e by Michael Domjan
Figure 1.5 – Level of analysis of learning. Learning mechanisms may have investigated at the organism level, at the level of neural circuits and transmitter systems, and at the level of nerve cells or neurons.
The Principles of Learning and Behavior, 7e by Michael Domjan
Copyright © 2015 Wadsworth Publishing, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

6. Levels of Analysis
Behaviorism - focuses on an individual's behavior
Neuroscience - to the entire science of the nervous system
Neurobiology - the biology of the nervous system

7. The Unconscious Mind
Contemporary psychological explanation of the unconscious mind
subliminal information processing makes the unconscious mind appear dumb
This is an unrealistic model of unconscious processing
Recent social psychology research on unconscious processes
unintentional nature and the inherent lack of awareness
People are often unaware of the reasons and causes of their own behavior
conscious decision making is not the only influences on behavior
Evidence from neurology, patients with frontal lobe damage
Evidence from priming studies
Priming is the presentation of a stimulus that activates a concept in memory
People asked about their life on sunny days reported being more satisfied than those on rainy days. Effect disappears if the weather is brought to their attention
When primed with “elderly” words like Florida, gray, wise, wrinkle, forgetful walked 20% slower than control participants

8. The Unconscious Mind Unconscious control of individual social behavior
behavior produced by environmental factors and not by the individual’s conscious awareness and intentions
access to unconscious processing of information is limited
actually this is know from many examples of cognitive research on information process
a limited attentional cognitive mechanism
Yet the priming and the patient studies do complement and support each other in demonstrating the same two principles:
that an individual’s behavior can be directly caused by the current environment, without the necessity of an act of conscious choice or will;
and that this behavior can and will unfold without the person being aware of its external determinant.

9. The Unconscious Mind
We are predisposed to prefer certain objects and aspects of our environment over others
our tendencies to approach or avoid aspects of our environment
faster to make approach movements of the arm when responding to positive situations
faster to make avoidance movements when responding to negative situations
Social Behavior as Unconsciously Guided by the Current Context
“chameleon effect”
mimic posture and gestures of others during social interactions
priming the professor stereotype results in higher scores on a knowledge quiz
priming the elderly stereotype results in slower walking and poorer memory
Without some consideration of these issues, automatic behavior, judgment, and goal pursuit will continue to seem somewhat magical and mysterious to many people

10. The Unconscious Mind
THE UNCONSCIOUS AS THE SOURCE OF BEHAVIORAL IMPULSES
The idea that action precedes reflection is not new. Several
theorists have postulated that the conscious mind is not the
source or origin of our behavior; instead, they theorize that impulses
to act are unconsciously activated and that the role of
consciousness is as gatekeeper and sense maker after the fact

11. Methodology in the Study of Learning
Analysis of learning as causes of behaviour study the effect of prior experience on behaviour
Types of Causal Mechanisms
Efficient Cause
Necessary and sufficient conditions for producing a behavioural outcome
Experience with specific stimuli that produce learning
Material Cause - (Proximal) physical changes in the nervous system that mediate learning
Formal Causes - Theories or models of learning expressed as mathematical, computational, or theoretical constructs
Final Causes - (Ultimate) explanations of learning in terms of biological function of the learning, survival and reproduction

12. Methodology in the Study of Learning
Experimental Approach
efficient causes inferred by experimental manipulations
experimental manipulations constitute the "training procedure"
use experimental techniques to infer causal factors
to separate actual learning from other sources of behavioral change, systematic experimentation must be performed
learning research usually done with the use of experimental (as opposed to observational or correlational) methodology
See Figure 1.7

13. The Principles of Learning and Behavior, 7e by Michael Domjan
Baseline
FIGURE 1.7
Two versions of the fundamental learning experiment. In the left panel, two groups of individuals are compared. The training procedure is provided for participants in the experimental group but not for those in the control group. In the right panel, a single individual is observed before and during training. The individual’s behavior during training is compared to what we assume its behavior would have been without training.
Figure 1.7 – Two versions of the fundamental learning experiment. In the left panel, two groups of individuals are compared. The training procedure is provided for participants in the experimental group, but not for participants in the control group. In the right panel, a single individual is observed before and during training. The individual’s behavior during training is compared to what we assume it behavior would have been without training.
The Principles of Learning and Behavior, 7e by Michael Domjan
Copyright © 2015 Wadsworth Publishing, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

14. Methodology in the Study of Learning
The General-Process Approach
General laws expressed in terms of basic or elemental processes
Assumption: learning phenomena are products of elemental processes that operate similarly in different learning situations
Applicable to many species and situations
Methodological implications of general-process assumptions
Most principles of learning elucidated with use of nonhuman animal subjects
Learning studied in convenient situation, in expectation that principles widely applicable i.e. Skinner’s Operant Conditioning See Figure 1.8
Proof of the Generality of learning Phenomena
Confirmation of general-laws of learning requires study of diverse species across different situations

15. Use of Nonhuman Animals in Research on Learning
Comparison across species
Evolutionary and biological considerations
Neuroscience grounded in behavioural science
Advantages
Principles may be simpler
Practical
Control in laboratory experiments of previous experience
Some manipulations possible only with nonhuman animals
Disadvantages
Abnormal behavior in laboratory animals
Comparison to humans is difficult
Ethics of nonhuman animal research

16. The Principles of Learning and Behavior, 7e by Michael Domjan
Copyright © 2015 Wadsworth Publishing, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.