PSYCH 3M03 Lecture Notes - Reinforcement, Nucleus Accumbens, Piggy Bank

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYCH 3M03
• Professor: Aadil Merali Juma

Document Summary

The behaviour of simple organisms is driven more by genetics than learning. The environment often changes much faster than evolution progresses. Learning allows an organism to adapt to changes in its environment within its lifetime. Ability to learn can be driven by genetics (eg/ human language learning) Learning plays a greater role in complex organisms like humans. K selection fewer and higher quality offspring; long generations; larger animals higher up in the food chain, more flexibility: r selected species eg/ flies; many offspring. Learning does not override all natural behaviour, even in the most complex animals (however, it can override natural behaviour) Fixed action patterns more complex coordinated patterns of instinctive behaviour: eg/ grooming behaviour, nest building, swimming, rage response in cats. Eg/ grooming is found in mice, rats, raccoons, cats stereotyped, evolved in an ancestor of many of these species and is adaptive so was transferred.