What do I know? What is the importance of non-verbal communication in the formation of relationships between individuals? In what three ways is verbal communication used?

Effect of experience and group behaviour Part 1 Higher Human Biology Effect of experience and group behaviour Part 1

What are we learning today? What is ‘motor memory’? What effect does imitation have on learning? What effect does trial-and-error have on learning? What is reinforcement? What is shaping? What is extinction of behaviour? What do generalisation and discrimination result in?

What is ‘motor memory’? Practicing a particular skill promotes the formation of a motor memory Repetition of the skill is thought to result in an increased number of synaptic connections formed between the neurones in the pathway = motor memory Practice makes perfect!! – Finger maze Finger maze experiment produces a learning curve. Generally the more times the maze is completed the less time it takes. (ensure you are aware of the design features of the finger maze experiment!! P289-290 of textbook)

What effect does imitation have on learning? Children learn mainly by imitating adults and older children Adults also learn in this way, to a degree. It takes less time for most people to learn how to do a new skill by watching and copying than to read a manual (e.g. dancing)

Imitation cont’d Social techniques are also learned by imitation Learning authority, sympathy, tone of voice

What effect does trial-and-error have on learning? You will keep trying to do something until you get it right Obviously there has to be an element of motivation involved to continue trying Motivation can be see in lab rats trying to complete a maze. - hungry rats who got fed when they completed the maze had much less errors as they continued to complete the maze - well fed rats made far more errors because they had no motivation to complete the maze

What is reinforcement? Reinforcement is the process that makes an organism tend to repeat a certain behaviour A reinforcement stimulus strengthens/increases the probability of the response following repetition Reinforcers are the equivalent to rewards – the response is reinforced and the organism is rewarded

Shaping behaviour Shaping behaviour results in a desired pattern of behaviour being formed following a series of reinforced steps

What is extinction of behaviour? Disappearance of a behaviour because it is no longer reinforced Lab rats that learn that pulling a lever gives them food learn this quickly – as soon as the food stops coming when the lever is pulled the rat quickly learns not to bother pulling the lever and the behaviour becomes extinct Lab rats who have pulled the lever and only received food sometimes (intermittent reinforcement) take longer to stop pulling the lever Intermittent reinforcement is more resistant to extinction than continuous reinforcement

What is generalisation? The ability to respond in the same way to many different but related stimuli Fear can be embedded and cause generalisation to occur

What is discrimination? The ability to distinguish between different but related stimuli and give different responses Discrimination is taught by reinforcing the desired response and by not reinforcing the wrong response A child learning to call his mother is rewarded for getting it right and not rewarded when he calls another adult his mother – the child learns to discriminate between different adults Discrimination is an essential part of a child’s preparation for coping with everyday life

Activities Testing your knowledge Qs p297 No’s 1-5 Pre-reading Textbook p297 -302

What are we learning today? What is ‘motor memory’? What effect does imitation have on learning? What effect does trial-and-error have on learning? What is reinforcement? What is shaping? What is extinction of behaviour? What do generalisation and discrimination result in?