The First Theories Of Learning. Stimulus-response Theory (part 2)

2023 Author: Molly Page | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 22:49

In the past, psychologists believed that behavior was influenced by the relationship between a stimulus (stimulus) and a response to it. These theories left no room for thought, consciousness, instinct, innate behavior, or a tendency toward a particular pattern of behavior.

At the most simplified level, learning is the identification of connections (associations) between some stimuli that previously had no relationship to each other, or connections between an action and its result. Such associations can form even in many invertebrates. The first psychologists discovered that innate behavior exists, but they concluded that any behavior is simply the body's response to stimuli. In 1966, Fernand Mary wrote:

“Neuropsychologists at Yale University (America) successfully work in various fields. Dr. Josie Delgado implanted a series of electrodes into the cat's brain. The operation was carried out under general anesthesia, waking up, the cat did not remember what happened to him. When everything was completely healed, experiments began. One cannot help but sympathize with this laboratory animal, but everyone who took part in the experiment confirmed that the cat did not make attempts to escape, it even seemed that he appreciated his special position and liked the interest he received. The cat did not know that after undergoing this operation, he turned into a robot.

On his collar is a receiver with tiny sensors attached to neat silver wires that target specific areas of the brain. With this device, the cat can be controlled regardless of where he is, whether in this room or hundreds of kilometers away. By sending a radio signal, the cat can be made to feel thirst (water or milk is always nearby), hunger (he can eat whatever he wants), itching (he can itch as much as he wants). You can even, by stimulating certain areas of his frontal lobes, make him feel all-consuming love or hate and the next moment to forget about it. The importance of this experiment lies not in the fact that you can induce the cat to do certain actions, but in the fact thatthat a simple electrical signal makes him want to act in a certain direction."

Currently, such experiments, which help to better understand the psychology of cats, are almost never carried out, although they are performed on monkeys and even, until recently, were performed on humans. The same tiny electrodes are implanted in specific areas of the brain that are responsible for brain dysfunction that manifests itself in a particular subject. The results obtained in this way are extremely important for psychiatrists. They are currently published by the New York Academy of Sciences. Of course, these experiments can reveal some frightening features of the human brain.

In the past, psychologists believed that any learning was just a chain of associations. The stimulus-response theory has been found to be suitable not only for animals but also for humans. It is now generally accepted that many mammals are capable of more complex thought processes. Most of the higher animals have their own ideas about the world around them, about what is happening in it, and they turn to these ideas if necessary to make a decision. In fact, people cannot know how a cat perceives the world. If you record the environment at the level of the cat's eyes and use the sounds that the human ear can distinguish, then you can get a rough idea of the world as cats see it. But no matter how many specialists insert electrodes into the brains of unfortunate animals, they will never be able to fully penetrate their thoughts. To explore the mind of cats and their learning ability,we need more appropriate and humane tests. We need to understand how cats developed, what were the prerequisites for their behavior, how they adapted to the environment.

Pavlov's associative-reflex theory (the theory of classical conditioning) reflects one of the simplest forms of learning. This theory studies the connection between a stimulus and a reaction to it. One stimulus, the so-called unconditioned, is associated in consciousness with a motivational state and causes an innate reaction of the organism, called an unconditioned reaction. For example, the unconditioned stimulus is the smell of food, and the motivational state is hunger, then salivation is an unconditioned reflex. If, together with the unconditioned stimulus, a conditioned one is used, for example, a call, then an unconditioned reflex is subsequently developed to it, even without the participation of the unconditioned stimulus. The unconditioned reflex becomes conditioned - salivation occurs when the animal hears a bell.

Article on the topic Features of learning at an early and old age (part 3)

In the natural habitat of cats, an unconditioned irritant can be pain caused by an aggressive cat. An unconditioned reflex, obviously, will be the desire to run away so that the pain does not recur again. In the future, one kind of aggressor (now a conditioned stimulus) leads to escape, that is, a conditioned reflex, since the cat is motivated to “avoid pain”. If the conditioned stimulus (aggressive cat) is at a distance, then the cat is motivated to “avoid detection,” and the conditioned reflex is to freeze, not run away. Pavlov's conditioning forms a connection between the unconditioned and conditioned stimulus, but the cat's immediate reaction depends on its motivational state. The theory of classical conditioning is complicated by innate animal instincts. The ears of a cat are designed in such a way as to perceive even a slight rustle that a potential prey produces while hiding in tall grass. For example,During the experiment, the appearance of food was accompanied by a 10-second ringing, coming from a loudspeaker located 2 meters from it. The cats ran to the sound, looked for food around the loudspeaker, and even attacked it. Some of them completely ignored the presence of food, and concentrated all their attention on the loudspeaker. It took hundreds of tries for the cats to learn to go to food when they called. In exactly the same experiment with rats, the animals quickly realized that the ringing was due to the appearance of food, and did not pay attention to the loudspeaker. This is not because cats are dumber than rats.and all their attention was concentrated on the loudspeaker. It took hundreds of tries for the cats to learn to go to food when they called. In exactly the same experiment with rats, the animals quickly realized that the bell was due to food and ignored the loudspeaker. This is not because cats are dumber than rats.and all their attention was concentrated on the loudspeaker. It took hundreds of tries for the cats to learn to go to food when they called. In exactly the same experiment with rats, the animals quickly realized that the ringing was due to the appearance of food, and did not pay attention to the loudspeaker. This is not because cats are dumber than rats. For cats, sound indicates the expected location of prey, and they react according to their instincts. Highly organized predators know that the prey and the noise it makes are usually in the same place. Cats quickly understand when a conditioned stimulus cannot be trusted, and they can wean themselves to respond to it by ignoring bells, bells, and anything that they think is unimportant.