PS261 Study Guide - Final Guide: Tabula Rasa, Behaviorism, Devaluation
Document Summary
Two mechanisms of change: maturation: the unfolding of a genetic program that we inherited from our parents at conception, learning: involves forming an association or connection between events. There are two types we will focus on: Classical conditioning: you make an association between two stimuli because one stimulus reliably predicts the other stimulus (ex. toilet flushing and cold water in shower) Instrumental conditioning: you make an association between a response and a consequence. Antecedent parents to the study of animal learning: philosophy: contemplated the nature of the mind. Descartes: noticed that some behaviors are involuntary and not the result of free will. Introduced idea of cartesian dualism; held that behavior can be voluntary or involuntary. Involuntary behavior was caused by the environment while voluntary was caused by the mind. British empiricists: locke and hume believed at birth our minds are a blank slate, and that everything we know is the result of experience.
