chapter 1 the psychology of learning and memory. 1.1 the philosophy of mind

Chapter 1

The Psychology of Learning and

Memory

1.1

The Philosophy of Mind

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1.1 The Philosophy of Mind

• Learning and Memory in Everyday Life—Top Ten Tips for a Better Memory

• Aristotle and Associationism

• Descartes and Dualism

• John Locke and Empiricism

• William James and Association

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Learning and Memory

• Learning—the process by which behavioral changes result from experience.

• Memory—the record of our past experiences acquired through learning.

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1) Pay full attention during learning.

2) Create associations between new and old material.

3) Generate meaningful images.

4) Practice facts and skills.

Learning and Memory in Everyday Life— Top Top Ten Tips for a Better Memory

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5) Read material aloud and write it out.

6) Use memory aids (post-it notes, calendars, or electronic schedulers).

7) Try to remember when and where you first learned the material.

Learning and Memory in Everyday Life— Top Top Ten Tips for a Better Memory

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8) Sleep well to increase concentration and facilitate memory storage.

9) Create a poem or song to learn a string of random information.

10) If blocked, relax and turn to something else.

Learning and Memory in Everyday Life— Top Top Ten Tips for a Better Memory

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Aristotle and Associationism

• Aristotle (384–322 BC)

• Principles of associationism—memory requires linkages between pairs of events, sensations, ideas. Contiguity

Nearness in time and space

Frequency Similarity

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Descartes and Dualism

• Descartes (1506–1650)• Believed in dualism—immaterial mind and

material body are separate entities, governed by their own laws.

• The body works as a machine with a fixed response (reflex) to an external sensory event (stimulus).

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John Locke and Empiricism

• John Locke (1632–1704)

• Held empiricist view—all knowledge results from experience alone. Children are “blank slate” All have equal potential for knowledge. The mind passively combines simple ideas into

complex ideas.

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William James and Association

• William James (1842–1910)• Authored Principles of Psychology (1890)

Worldwide psychology text for many decades

• Believed in associationism• Memory of an event has many components. A second event may be remembered due to an

overlap of components.

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William James Memory Model

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1.1 Interim Summary

• Learning = changes in behavior through experience.

• Memory = record of past experiences; acquired through learning.

• Learning and memory = no single process for is a single cohesive process. Many kinds of memory, many ways to learn.

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1.1 Interim Summary

• Associationists: memory depends on links between events, sensations, ideas.

• Aristotle: three key association principles. Contiguity, frequency, similarity

• James: remembering involves learning links between event components. Activation of one component could activate others. Linkage between common components.

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1.1 Interim Summary

• Empiricists: we are born “blank slates.” All knowledge comes from experience. Aristotle, Locke, Watson

• Nativists: bulk of knowledge is inborn. Plato, Descartes, Galton

• Debate continues today. Nature versus nurture Nature (genes) is modified by experience.

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1.1 Interim Summary

• Descartes = dualist Mind and body are separate. Body is a machine to be understood through

mechanical principles. Reflex pathway; sensory stimulus to motor response.

• Locke = empiricist All humans born with equal potential for knowledge and

success (deserve equal opportunity).

1.2

Evolution and Natural Selection

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1.2 Evolution and Natural Selection

• Erasmus Darwin and Early Proponents of Evolution

• Charles Darwin and the Theory of Natural Selection

• Francis Galton: Variability of Nature

• Unsolved Mysteries—Can Learning Influence Evolution?

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Erasmus Darwin and Early Proponents of Evolution

• Evolution—change in a species over time• Early Proponents:

Erasmus Darwin (1731–1892): Personal physician to King George III of England

Grandfather of Charles Darwin and Francis Galton

Jean-Baptiste Lamark (1744–1829): French naturalist

Proposed (falsely) that an animal can acquire a trait from experience and pass it to progeny.

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Charles Darwin and the Theory of Natural Selection

• Charles Darwin (1809–1882)

• Amateur naturalist on H.M.S. Beagle Found beak

variation in finches that matched survival on its isolated Galápagos island

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Darwin’s Three Criteria for Traits to Evolve through Natural Selection

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Charles Darwin and the Theory of Natural Selection

• Proposed theory of natural selection. Species evolve when a trait is inheritable, can vary,

and makes individual more “fit” for survival and reproduction.

Traits can be physical or behavioral

• Authored The Origin of Species (1859) Proposes a similar ancestor for man and ape Gives rise to evolutionary psychology (study

behavioral evolution through natural selection).Learning is integral to survival.

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Francis Galton: Variability of Nature

• Francis Galton (1822–1911)• Charles Darwin (cousin) inspired Galton’s

study of human individual differences. Fascinated by the physically and mentally fittest Found that attributes (e.g., height, blood pressure,

memory skills) followed a normal distribution, a bell-shaped curve.

• Began eugenics movement (encouraged procreation among society’s fittest)

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Francis Galton: Variability of Nature

• Founder of modern statistics; developed statistical concepts like: Hypothesis—an observation that can be tested Correlational study—two variables tend to vary together Experimental group (receives treatment) versus control

group (no treatment)

• Problem: Galton’s research did not control for confounds (extraneous variables).

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Unsolved Mysteries—Can Learning Influence Evolution?

• Evolution = change in a species over time

• Learning = a process of adaptation and improvement

• View learning as an adaptive process that fine-tunes what evolution began.

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1.2 Interim Summary

• Theory of evolution = change over time. New traits passed from one generation to the next.

• Charles Darwin: natural selection Survival of the fittest = mechanism for evolution. Trait evolution requires inheritability, natural variation,

relevance to survival.

• Galton: all natural abilities are inherited. Developed much of modern statistics and experimental

methodology.

1.3

The Birth of Experimental Psychology

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1.3 The Birth of Experimental Psychology

• Hermann Ebbinghaus and Human Memory Experiments

• Ivan Pavlov and Animal Learning

• Edward Thorndike: Law of Effect

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Hermann Ebbinghaus and Human Memory Experiments

• Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850–1909)• Completed first experiments on human memory (used himself as sole participant).

• Especially interested in forgetting (memory deterioration over time). Examined how long it took him to relearn a

previously learned list. Established retention curve (percentage time

saved to relearn list).

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Hermann Ebbinghaus and Human Memory Experiments

• Unlike Galton, designed experiments that examined hypothesis validity. Dependent variable—a study’s manipulated factor

Number of nonsense syllables recalled

Independent variable—observed factor whose change is measured

Delay between learning and relearning list

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Limitations to Ebbinghaus Research

• Conducted research only on himself. As the participant, he knew the manipulated variables

(subject bias). As the researcher, he knew the desired outcome

(experimenter bias).

• Modern research avoids with: Blind design—participant unaware of hypothesis Double-blind design—both participant and

experimenter unaware of hypothesis (e.g., research with placebo).

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Ivan Pavlov and Animal Learning

• Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936)• Russian physiologist; studies of dog digestion lead to studies on animal learning Classical conditioning—learning that one stimulus predicts

anotherConditioned stimulus (bell) predicts unconditioned

stimulus (food) Extinction—weakening a learned response

Pairing bell with no food Generalization—similar sounds produce similar conditioned

responses

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Pavlov and Learning Experiments

(a)The Granger Collection, New York / (b) Adapted from Allen et al., 2002.

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Edward Thorndike: Law of Effect

• Edward Thorndike (1874–1949)• Research on cats’ trial-and-error learning to escape puzzle box. Instrumental conditioning—behavior determines

whether consequence will occur.

• Law of effect—responses with desirable consequences increase future response; In contrast, responses with undesirable

consequences decrease future response.

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1.3 Interim Summary

• Ebbinghaus: studied memorization of nonsense syllables. Developed basic experimental techniques to study

human memory and forgetting.

• Pavlov: classical conditioning Studied how animals learn that an initially neutral

stimulus can predict an upcoming event.

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1.3 Interim Summary

• Thorndike: animal behavior is modified by consequences (reward or punishment). Puzzle boxes Law of effect—the probability of a behavioral

response increases or decreases depending on the consequences it elicits.

1.4

The Reign of Behaviorism

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1.4 The Reign of Behaviorism

• John Watson and Behaviorism

• Clark Hull and Mathematical Models of Learning

• B. F. Skinner: Radical Behaviorism

• Edward Tolman: Cognitive Maps

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John Watson and Behaviorism

• John Watson (1878–1958)• Founded behaviorism—study is restricted to observable behaviors.

• Studied maze learning in rats: Examined rat performance motivation; eliminated

sensory stimuli. Argued that rats learned automatic motor habits

(ability to navigate maze), independent of external sensory cues.

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John Watson and Behaviorism

• Published “behaviorist manifesto” in Psychological Review (1913) Psychology is a purely objective experimental

branch of natural science whose goal is prediction and control of behavior.

By 1920s, behaviorism dominates psychology of learning.

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John Watson and Behaviorism

• Strong empiricist; emphasized experience (nurture) in determining behavior and capabilities.

• Career ends in scandal. After scandal, applied learning principles to

advertising.

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Clark Hull and Mathematical Models of Learning

• Clark Hull (1884–1952)• Tried to develop a comprehensive mathematical model of animal learning. Variables = number of learning trials, frequency,

motivation, incentive value of reward Followers developed equations to describe basic

components of learning. Ideas abandoned; cannot reduce all learning factors

to a single equation.

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• B. F. Skinner (1904–1990)• Developed “Skinner box.”

Operant conditioning chamber for automated response learning

Intermittent reinforcement schedules

• Authored Walden Two (1948); Beyond Freedom and Dignity (1971). Later work advocates radical behaviorism—

consciousness and free will are illusions.

B. F. Skinner: Radical Behaviorism

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Edward Tolman: Cognitive Maps

• Edward Tolman (1886–1959)• All behavior is intrinsically motivated.• Rats form cognitive maps—internal representations of external world’s layout. Will find alternate paths to food when learned path blocked

(find food from new start point).

• Latent learning—learning happens in the absence of training or consequence. Laid groundwork for cognitive studies of learning.

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Tolman’s Cognitive Maps in Rats

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Limitation of Behaviorism

• Behaviorism failed to explain human cognitive abilities e.g., language, perception, reasoning, memory

• Cognitive psychology emphasizes the role of higher-level human abilities e.g., thinking, language, reasoning Turns away from animal research.

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1.4 Interim Summary

• Behaviorists say psychology should be the study of observable behaviors.

• Watson: sensory-deprivation studies Show how rats learn maze navigation.

• Skinner: radical behaviorism Consciousness and free will are illusions. Cognitive functions (e.g, language) are a series of

learned stimulus–response associations.

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1.4 Interim Summary

• Tolman: studied how animals use goals. Believed rats could form cognitive maps. Some learning (i.e., latent learning) occurs without

explicit training or observable response.

1.5

The Cognitive Approach

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1.5 The Cognitive Approach

• W. K. Estes and Mathematical Psychology

• Gordon Bower: Learning by Insight

• George Miller and Information Theory

• Herbert Simon and Symbol-Manipulation Models

• David Rumelhart and Connectionist Models

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W. K. Estes and Mathematical Psychology

• Early work with B. F. Skinner (together they develop conditioned emotional response to study learned fear).

• Later, found new methods to interpret learning. Built on Hull’s mathematical modeling approach. Stimulus sampling theory explained randomness in

learning. Each stimulus has many elements; only a random

sample is associated in each trial.

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Estes: Stimulus-Response Models

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W. K. Estes and Mathematical Psychology

• Helped establish mathematical psychology. Use of mathematical equations to describe laws of

learning and memory.

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Gordon Bower: Learning by Insight

• Interested in mathematical psychology and insight learning.

• A solution to a problem comes to individuals on different trials. Individual performance, not just group performance, is

important.

• Influential educator and mentor.

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Bower’s Learning by Insight

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George Miller and Information Theory

• Measured human capacity of short-term memory for digits. Found that the human mind has a limited capacity

for digits (digit span).“Magic” number = 7 digits, plus or minus 2

• Information theory helps measure limits. Mathematical theory of communication Applies to a variety of capabilities (e.g., short-term

memory, range of judgments).

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Herbert Simon and Symbol-Manipulation Models

• Herbert Simon (1916–2001)

• A founder of artificial intelligence (AI)

• Helped develop a new computational approach to memory and cognition. To study cognition, understand how the mind

manipulates symbols (internal representations of concepts, qualities, ideas).

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Herbert Simon and Symbol-Manipulation Models

• Simon and Newell’s Symbol-manipulation models Rules and procedures to manipulate, search, update

symbols and associations; models for learning and memory.

Began movement to use computer as a metaphor for human mind to study thinking, reasoning, memory.

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Symbol-Manipulation Model of Memory

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David Rumelhart and Connectionist Models

• With James McClelland, designed connectionist models. Explain cognition as networks of uninformed,

unlabeled connections between “nodes” (simple processing units).

Distributed representations

Models help integrate neuroscience with psychology.

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Distributed Representations

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1.5 Interim Summary

• Cognitive psychologists study higher mental processes not explained by behaviorism.

• Bower: learning is not incremental. Involves all-or-none moments of sudden insight.

• Miller: studied learning and memory using mathematical models. “Magic number 7” demonstrated limits on absolute

judgments and memory capacity.

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1.5 Interim Summary

• Mathematical psychology: equations describe laws of learning and memory.

• Hull: tried to find one equation to describe all learning variables. Followers try to develop several equations for the basic

components of learning.

• Estes: used mathematical psychology to describe how randomness of perception affects memory and generalization.

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1.5 Interim Summary

• Simon and Newell used computers in studies. Metaphor for brain. Tool for implementing models of how mind learns and

manipulates symbols.

• Rumelhart and colleagues focused on connectionist models of memory/cognition. Networks of simple processing units. Information = a pattern of activity across many nodes.