learning and animals

7/30/2019 Learning and Animals

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UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEXDEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY

Applications of Learning Theory3rd Year: Code C8826

15 CreditsAutumn Term 2008

Course Convenor: Prof Graham Davey

NOTE: Most of the questions you need answers to about this course arein this document. Please read it fully and carefully before your first

seminar.

NOTE: This document concerns the structure and content of the course. Ifyou have questions about procedures, please consult the Department ofPsychology Administration Office in Pev1 1B2 or via [email protected].


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DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY

Third Year Option 2008/9

APPLICATIONS OF LEARNING THEORY

TITLE: Applications of Learning Theory

TIMING AND DURATION: Year 3, running for 8 weeks during the autumn term.

CONTACT HOURS AND TEACHING METHODS: 2 hours per week x 8 weeks; tutor-and student-led seminars.

TIME & PLACE:

FULL COURSE OUTLINE:

The course covers a variety of approaches to the understanding of learning including cognitive,behavioural and evolutionary approaches. The individual nature of these differing types ofexplanation will be emphasised with regard to a variety of different learning phenomena,including associative learning, intelligent behaviour and the biological function of adaptivebehaviour. The course will also provide the student with a wide variety of examples of the wayin which learning theory has been applied to human behavioural phenomena (e,g, the acquisition

of fears and phobias) and practical problems associated with human behaviour (e.g. therapytechniques).

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

At the end of the course the student should be able to:

1. Describe some of the cognitive mechanisms that underlie conditioning processes inanimals and humans

2. Describe how evolutionary theory and principles contribute to an understanding of

learning in animals and humans.

3. Apply principles of conditioning to an understanding of human behaviour

4. Compare and contrast the explanation of behaviour at a number of different levels,including evolutionary levels, cognitive levels, and behavioural levels.

5. Apply learning theory to a broad range of human activities, especially to situationswhere behaviour change and management are required.


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WRITTEN REQUIREMENTS AND ORAL PRESENTATIONS:

One 2000 word essays and one oral presentation:

Essay. Choose one title from the list of essay titles provided later in this document. Your essaytopic must be different to your presentation topic.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

The course aims to give the student a knowledge of a variety of approaches to the understandingand explanation of learning, including cognitive, evolutionary and behavioural approaches; andunderstanding of the use of inferential techniques in the explanation of psychologicalphenomena associated with learning; and an ability to apply learning theory to a range of human

and animal behavioural phenomena.

METHOD OF STUDENT FEEDBACK:

Anonymous questionnaire at the end of the course.

FORMAL ASSESSMENT:

Assessment is by:

(1) 1 x 2hr unseen exam in June (an example exam paper is provided below) which

contributes 70%(2) 1 x 2000 word coursework essay (see essay titles) which contributes 30%

COURSE CONVENOR:

Professor Graham Davey (Department of Psychology)

Office No.: PEV 1 2B6

Email: [email protected] telephone No.: 8485
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Broad Overview of the Course

COGNITIVE APPROACHES TO LEARNING

1. Theoretical analyses of classical conditioning emphasising the mechanisms of associativelearning in animals and humans.

2. Applications of conditioning to an understanding of human behaviour. Particularly inrelation to the acquisition and maintenance of fears, phobias and anxiety disorders;evaluative conditioning and preference and attitude change using associative procedures.

EVOLUTIONARY APPROACHES TO LEARNING

1. The biological function of learning; why did learning evolve and what are the

methodologies use to understand the biological functions of learning?

BEHAVIOURAL APPROACHES TO LEARNING

1. Levels of explanation of behaviour; controlling variables vs. underlying mechanisms.

2. Behaviour analysis and radical behaviourism; applying conditioning principles tobehavioural and environmental problems; the philosophy of radical behaviourism andits application to society.


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WEEKLY TOPICS

WEEK TOPIC PRESENTATIONS

1 General Introduction to the course andallocation of student presentations

Graham Davey

2 Theoretical Analyses of ClassicalConditioning:

Going beyond animal behaviour and attemptingto understand what cognitive changes take placewhen an animal learns simple associations. Thistopic will discuss the inferential techniques usedto describe what cognitive learning occurs inanimals and will describe the associations thatanimals learn during classical conditioning

Graham Davey

3 (a)Conditioning models of fears andphobias

Classical conditioning has been a traditional wayof understanding how humans acquire fears andphobias (e.g. the Little Albert study). But arethese explanations still relevant today? Canclassical conditioning explain the acquisition of allphobias? And do more modern versions ofhuman classical conditioning fare any better atexplaining phobias?

(b)Cognitive vs. evolutionary

explanations of fears and phobias

A number of influential theories of phobias havealluded to their evolutionary origin, and suggestthat they may be pre-qired (e.g. preparednesstheory). But what are the arguments on whichthese biological explanations are based, and aresuch approaches logically coherent?


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4 Evaluative Conditioning

Evaluative conditioning is supposed to be a form

of classical conditioning by which people acquirepreferences and likes and dislikes. But there is agood deal of debate about the robustness of thisprocess and whether it really is classicalconditioning. These issues are important becauseif evaluative conditioning does work, then it hasimportant ramifications for applications such asadvertising and therapy.

5 The biological function of learning (why didlearning evolve?)

Most species of animal have evolved only themost primitive forms of learning, and rely moston pre-wired reflexive responses to cope with theworld. So why did complex learning evolve?How did it evolve, and what adaptive benefitsdoes it bestow on animals? Can it also be truethat evolving learning abilities might even haveadaptive disadvantages?

6 The philosophy of Radical behaviourism andbehaviour analysis (Skinner)

What are the basic principles of radicalbehaviourism and how were they so differentfrom contemporary means of explainingbehaviour? Can radical behaviourism help us tounderstand thinking, private cognitive events, andconsciousness? Does radical behaviourism haveany real usefulness in the context of present daypsychology?

7 (a)Beyond Freedom & Dignity

Skinner was probably the first psychologist toespouse the wholesale application ofpsychological principles to changing andmanaging the behaviour of individuals in society.


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Was his view insightful, or was it a template fortotalitarian states in which the individual had littleor no choice?

(b)Applying learning principles to

environmental problems

This topic will review some of the ways in whichbehaviour analysis and conditioning principleshave been applied to environmental problemssuch as littering, fuel conservation, populationgrowth, etc. Are these programmes useful, or arewe simply using them to control people?

8 Behaviour Modification techniques

Since the development of behaviour modificationprinciples in the 1960s, these principles havebeen applied in a vast range of therapeutic andmanagement settings, including hospitals,schools, prisons, and on an individual basis tohelp the individual deal with their own behaviourmanagement. What are the basic principles onwhich Behaviour Modification is based, and howsuccessful are they?


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READING LIST

*Highly recommended+Journal not currently held by Sussex University Library (to be provided by The Library)

COGNITIVE APPROACHES TO LEARNING

Pavlovian Conditioning Processes

*Davey G.C.L. (1989)Ecological learning Theory. London: Routledge.

Mackintosh N.J. (1983) Conditioning and associative learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Pearce J.M. (1987)An introduction to animal cognition. Hove: Erlbaum.

Liebermann D.A. (1990) Learning, behaviour and cognition. Belmont Ca.: Wadsworth.

Staddon J.E.R. & Ettinger R.H. (1989) Learning: and introduction to the principles of adaptive behavior.Orlando, Fl.: Harcourt, Janovich & Brace.

Wasserman E.A. & Miller R.R. (1997) Whats elementary about associative learning?AnnualReview of Psychology, 48, 573-607.

*Mackintosh N.J. (1997) Has the wheel turned full circle? Fifty years of Learning Theory, 1946-

1996.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 50A, 879-898.

*Dickinson A. & Balleneine B. (1994) Motivational control of goal-directed action.AnimalLearning & Behavior, 22, 1-18.

Flaherty C.F. (1985)Animal learning and cognition. New York: Knopf.

*Mackintosh N.J. (1994)Animal learning and cognition (2ndEdition). San Diego: Academic Press.

*Pearce J.M. (1997)Animal learning and cognition: An introduction(2nd Edition). Hove: PsychologyPress.

Dickinson A. & McLaren I.P.L. (2003) Associative learning and representation: Introduction.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 56, 3-6. Introduction to a special issue of thejournal on associative learning and representation.

W. Scott Terry (2006) Learning & Memory: Basic Principles, Processes & Procedures. Pearson:Boston.


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Conditioning Processes and Phobias & Evolutionary explanations of phobias

*Davey G.C.L. (1992) Classical conditioning and the acquisition of human fears and phobias: Areview and synthesis of the literature.Advances in Behaviour Research & Therapy, 14, 29-66.

Davey G.C.L. (1992) An expectancy model of laboratory preparedness effects.Journal ofExperimental Psychology: General, 121, 24-40.

*Davey G.C.L. (2006) Cognitive mechanisms in fear acquisition and maintenance. In CraskeM.G., Hermans D. & Vansteenwegen D. (eds) Fear and learning: From basic processes toclinical implications. American Psychological Association.

Craske M.G., Hermans D. & Vansteenwegen D. (Eds) Fear and learning: From basic processes toclinical implications. American Psychological Association

Eysenck H.J. (1979) The conditioning model of neurosis. Behavioural & Brain Sciences, 2, 155-199.

*Davey G.C.L. (1995) Preparedness and phobias: Specific evolved associations or a generalizedexpectancy bias? Behavioral & Brain Sciences, 18, 289-297.

Davey G.C.L. (1987) Cognitive processes and Pavlovian conditioning in humans. Chichester: Wiley.

*Davey G.C.L. (1997) A conditioning model of phobias. In G.C.L. Davey (Ed) Phobias: Ahandbook of theory research & treatment. Chichester: Wiley.

*Merckelbach H. & de Jong P. (1997) Evolutionary models of phobias. In G.C.L. Davey (Ed)Phobias: A handbook of theory, research & treatment. Chichester: Wiley.

*Ohman A. & Mineka S. (2001) Fears, phobias, and preparedness: Toward an evolved moduleof fear and fear learning. Psychological Review, 108, 483-522.

*Poulton R & Menzies R.G. (2002) Non-associative fear acquisition: a review of the evidencefrom retrospective and longitudinal researchBehaviour Research & Therapy 40 (2): 127-149

Seligman M.E.P. (1971) Phobias and preparedness. Behavior Therapy, 2, 307-320.

Watson J.B. & Rayner R. (1920) Conditioned emotional reactions.Journal of ExperimentalPsychology, 3, 1-14.

*Field AP (2006) Is conditioning a useful framework for understanding the development andtreatment of phobias? Clinical Psychology Review, 26, 857-875.

Armfield JM (2006) Cognitive vulnerability: A model of the etiology of fear. Clinical PsychologyReview, 26, 746-768.
http://wost.wok.mimas.ac.uk:8000/CIW.cgi?P5jrIYJYy4MAAA@zyXM_F0CA1013_P5jrIYJYy4MAAA@zyXM-0&Func=Abstract&doc=1/1http://wost.wok.mimas.ac.uk:8000/CIW.cgi?P5jrIYJYy4MAAA@zyXM_F0CA1013_P5jrIYJYy4MAAA@zyXM-0&Func=Abstract&doc=1/1http://wost.wok.mimas.ac.uk:8000/CIW.cgi?P5jrIYJYy4MAAA@zyXM_F0CA1013_P5jrIYJYy4MAAA@zyXM-0&Func=Abstract&doc=1/1http://wost.wok.mimas.ac.uk:8000/CIW.cgi?P5jrIYJYy4MAAA@zyXM_F0CA1013_P5jrIYJYy4MAAA@zyXM-0&Func=Abstract&doc=1/1


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Davey G.C.L. (2007) Disgust and animal phobias. In Bunmi O. Olatunji & Dean McKay (Eds)Disgust and its Disorders: Theory, Assessment, and Treatment. In press.

Davey G.C.L. (2006) Cognitive mechanisms in fear acquisition and maintenance. In M.G.Craske, D.Hermans & D. Vansteenwegen (Eds) Fear and Learning: Basic Science to

Clinical Application.

Mineka S & Oehlberg K (2008) The relevance of recent developments in classical conditioningto understanding the etiology and maintenance of anxiety disorders. Acta Psychologica,127, 567-580.

Evaluative Conditioning

Baeyens, F., Eelen, P., & Van den Bergh, O. (1990a). Contingency awareness in evaluativeconditioning: a case for unaware affective-evaluative learning. Cognition and

Emotion, 4, 318.

Baeyens, F., & De Houwer, J. (1995). Evaluative conditioning is a qualitatively distinct form ofclassical conditioning: a reply to Davey (1994). Behaviour Research and Therapy, 33,825831.

*Davey, G. C. L. (1994b). Is evaluative conditioning a qualitatively distinct from of classicalconditioning? Behaviour Research and Therapy, 32, 291-299.

Field, A. P., & Davey, G. C. L. (1998). Evaluative conditioning: arte-fact or -fiction? a replyto Baeyens, De Houwer, Vansteenwegen & Eelen (1998). Learning and Motivation,29, 475491.

*Field, A. P. & Davey, G. C. L. (1999). Reevaluating evaluative conditioning: A nonassociativeexplanation of conditioning effects in the visual evaluative conditioning paradigm.Journalof Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 25, 211224.

Lascelles, K. R. R., Field, A. P., & Davey, G. C. L. (2003). Using food CSs and body shapes asUCSs: a putative role for associative learning in the development of eatingdisorders. Behavior Therapy, 34, 213-235

*Rozin, P., Wrzesniewski, A., & Byrnes, D. (1998). The elusiveness of evaluative conditioning.Learning and Motivation, 29, 397415.

Lovibond P.F. & Shanks D.R. (2002) The role of awareness in Pavlovian conditioning:Empirical evidence and theoretical implications. Journal of Experimental Psychology:Animal Behavior Processes, 28, 3-26.

*De Houwer, J., Thomas, S., & Baeyens, F. (2001). Associative learning of likes and dislikes: areview of 25 years of research on human evaluative conditioning. PsychologicalBulletin, 126, 853869.


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Vansteenwegen D, Francken G, Vervliet B, De Clerq A & Eelen P (2006) Resistance toextinction in evaluative conditioning. Journal of Experimental Psychology Animal behaviour Processes, 32, 71-79.

Lascelles K.R.R. & Davey G.C.L. (2006) Successful differential evaluative conditioning using the

picture-picture paradigm: Associative learning using simultaneous and trace conditioningprocedures. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 59, 482-492.

Field AP (2006) I dont like it because it eats sprouts: Conditioning preferences in children.Behaviour Research & Therapy, 44, 439-455.

Dawson ME, Rissling AJ, Schell AM & Wilcox R (2007) Under what conditions can humanaffective conditioning occur without contingency awareness? Test of the evaluativeconditioning paradigm. Emotion, 7, 755-766.

Gibson B (2008) Can evaluative conditioning change attitudes toward mature brands? Newevidence from the implicit association test. Journal of Consumer Research, 35, 178-188.

EVOLUTIONARY APPROACHES TO LEARNING

*Davey G.C.L. (1989)Ecological learning theory. London: Routledge.

*Bolles R.C. & Beecher M.D. (1988)Evolution and learning. Hillsdale: Erlbaum.

*Hollis K. L. (1982) Pavlovian conditioning of signal-centered action patterns and autonomicbehavior: A biological analysis of function. InAdvances in the study of Behavior, 1-64, NewYork: Academic Press.

Slater P.J.B. & Halliday T.R. (1994) Behaviour and evolution. Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress.

Marler P. & Terrace H.S. (1984) The biology of learning. New York: Springer-Verlag.

Johnston T.D. & Pietrewicz A.T. Issues in the ecological study of learning. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

*Hollis K.L. (1997) Contemporary research on Pavlovian Conditioning: A new functionalanalysis.American Psychologist, 52, 956-965.

*Moore B.R. (2004) The evolution of learning. Biological Reviews, 79, 301-335.

Vauclair J. (1996)Animal cognition: An introduction to modern comparative psychology. London:Cambridge, Mass.


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Reader S. & Laland K.N. (Eds) (2003)Animal innovation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Griffin AS (2008) Socially acquired predator avoidance: is it just classical conditioning? BrainResearch Bulletin, 76, 264-271.

BEHAVIOURAL APPROACHES TO LEARNING

Radical behaviourism

*Davey G.C.L. (1981)Animal learning and conditioning. London: Macmillan.

*Skinner B.F. (1971) Beyond freedom and dignity. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Schwartz B. (1989) Psychology of learning and behavior. New York: Norton.

Skinner B.F. (1953) Science and human behaviour. New York: Macmillan.

Dougher M.J. (1997) Cognitive concepts, behavior analysis, and behavior therapy.Journal ofBehavior Therapy & Experimental Psychiatry, 28, 65-70.

+Moxley R.A. (1996) The import of Skinners three-term contingency. Behavior & Philosophy, 24,145-167.

Zuriff G.E.(2003) Science and human behaviour, dualism, and conceptual modification.Journalof the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 80, 345-352.

Catania A.C. (2003) B.F. Skinners Science & Human Behavior. Its antecedent and itsconsequences.Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 80, 313-320.

+Malone J.C. & Cruchon N.M. (2001) Radical behaviourism and the rest of psychology: Areview/prcis of Skinners About Behaviorism. Behavior & Philosophy, 29, 31-57.

+Zentall T.R. (2002) A cognitive behaviourist approach to the study of animal behaviour.Journalof General Psychology, 129, 328-363.

+Dewsbury D.A. (2003) Expanding visions: 1950s applications and extensions of Skinnersoperant psychology. Behavior Analyst, 26, 233-234.

+Moore J. (2003) Some further thoughts on the pragmatic and behavioural conception ofprivate events. Behavior & Philosophy, 31, 151-157.

Behaviour Modification & Behaviour Analysis

*Martin G & Pear J. (1996) Behavior Modification: What is it and how to do it. Upper Saddle River:Prentice Hall.


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*Kazdin A.E. (2001) Behavior modification in applied settings. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth/ThomsonLearning.

Davey G.C.L. & Cullen C. (1987) Human operant conditioning and behaviour modification. Chichester:Wileys.

Davey G.C.L (1981)Applications of conditioning theory. London: Methuen.

*Davey G.C.L. (1981) How Skinner's theories work: Behaviour analysis and environmentalproblems. Bulletin of the British Psychological Society, 36, 75-81.

*Davey G.C.L. (1998) Learning theory. In C. E.Walker (Ed) Comprehensive Clinical Psychology:Foundations of Clinical Psychology. Volume 1. Elsevier.

Kempton W, Darley JM & Stern PC (1992) Psychological research for the new energy problems Strategies and opportunities. American Psychologist, 47, 1213-1223


COURSEWORK ESSAY TITLES


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Choose one title from the following list the topic must be different to the one on whichyou will be giving your presentation

1. What does an animal learn during classical conditioning?

2.

Can conditioning models explain everything about the acquisition and maintenanceof phobias?

3. Can evolutionary theory explain everything about the acquisition and maintenanceof phobias?

4. What role does classical conditioning have in enabling organisms to survive?

5. What are the advantages and disadvantages of applying behavioural technologywithin societies?

6. Describe how you would use evaluative conditioning principles to develop an

advertising campaign. What are the drawbacks of using evaluative conditioning inthis context?

7. Design a behavioural programme based on conditioning principles that aims tosignificantly reduce a persons carbon footprint. Describe the conditioningprinciples you would use and how those principles would be adapted to meet thespecific aims of the programme.

8. Discuss the main criticisms of B.F. Skinners thesis in Beyond Freedom &Dignity. What relevance, if any, does this thesis have to modern day

psychology?


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(Sample Exam Paper)

2 HOURS

Answer any 2 questions

1. Many types of specific phobia do not appear to have a history of trauma in theaetiology of the phobia. How do contemporary conditioning theories of phobiasaccount for this fact?

2. Does evaluative conditioning exist, and, if so, is it distinct from other forms ofclassical conditioning?

3. What conditioning principles would you use to construct a behaviour changeprogramme aimed at reducing traffic congestion in a town centre? Describe howthese principles would work in practice.

4. Describe the contributions that B.F. Skinner has made to both the understandingof behaviour (in both human and nonhuman animals) and to the development of

psychology as a science.

5. What are the important differences between explaining behaviour in terms of (i)evolutionary processes, and (ii) cognitive processes? Illustrate your answer using

examples from the learning theory literature.

6. What does an animal learn during classical conditioning, and what techniquescan the learning theorist use to detect these learned associations?

learning and animals

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