Learning and behavior : a contemporary synthesis

Research on fundamental learning processes continues to tell an important and interesting story. In the second edition of Learning and Behavior: A Contemporary Synthesis , Mark Bouton recounts that story, providing an in-depth but highly readable review of modern learning and behavior theory that is informed by the history of the field. The text reflects the author's conviction that the study of animal learning has a central place in psychology, and that understanding its principles and theories is important for students, psychologists, and scientists in related disciplines (e.g., behavioral neuroscience and clinical psychology). Almost all of the chapters are organized to illustrate how knowledge is accumulated through the systematic development of theory and research. The book opens with a brief history that connects the modern issues with their philosophical and biological roots. Chapter 2 addresses the idea that basic learning processes are designed to help an organism adapt to a changing world; in the process, it introduces the reader to a wide range of interesting examples of learning. After analyzing some fundamental phenomena in Pavlovian learning, the book then provides a very clear and readable review of modern conditioning theories since the Rescorla-Wagner model, discusses memory retrieval and behavior-system processes that govern performance, and addresses the question of whether the laws of learning and behavior uncovered in the laboratory maze and Skinner box have generality-by studying learning in honey bees and categorization and causal judgments and proposition learning in humans. Instrumental learning is then discussed from various perspectives in chapters on behavior and its consequences (research in behavior analysis and behavioral economics), how stimuli guide instrumental action (a survey of the field of animal cognition), and how motivation influences instrumental action. The final chapter reviews and integrates the major themes of the book, describing avoidance learning, learned helplessness, and related examples of learning before reviewing the modern cognitive and synthetic perspective on instrumental action. Lively and current, Learning and Behavior: A Contemporary Synthesis , Second Edition, engages students while illustrating the interconnectedness of topics within the field and the excitement of modern research. For Students Companion Website The Learning and Behavior , Second Edition, Companion Website includes resources to help students learn and review the content of each chapter and test their understanding of the concepts presented in the textbook. The site includes the following resources: - Chapter Outlines - Chapter Summaries - Flashcards - Glossary - Online quizzes For Instructors Instructor's Resource Library (available to qualified adopters) The Learning and Behavior , Second Edition, Instructor's Resource Library includes the following resources: * Textbook Figures & Tables: All of the textbook's figures (including photos) and tables are provided in both JPEG (high- and low-resolution) and PowerPoint formats. All images have been formatted and optimized for excellent legibility when projected. * Instructor's Manual: The Instructor's Manual includes the following sections for each chapter of the textbook: - Chapter Outline - Learning Objectives - Class Discussion and Critical Thinking Exercises - Suggested Additional Resources - Key Terms * Lecture Presentations: New for the Second Edition, these ready-to-use PowerPoint presentations cover all the key material in each chapter, and include selected figures and tables. * Test Bank: A comprehensive set of exam questions is provided for each chapter of the textbook, in both multiple-choice and short-answer formats (Companion Website online quiz questions also included). New for the Second Edition, each question is referenced to Bloom's Taxonomy and to textbook sections. The Test Bank is provided in several formats: - Word files , by chapter - Diploma test creation program (software included). Diploma makes it easy to create quizzes and exams using any combination of publisher-provided questions and your own questions. Diploma also exports to a wide range of formats for import into learning management systems such as Blackboard, Moodle, and Desire2Learn. - Blackboard files , for easy import into your Blackboard course Online Quizzing The online quizzes that are part of the Learning and Behavior , Second Edition, Companion Website include an instructor administration interface that allows the quizzes to be used as assignments. Instructors also have the ability to create their own quizzes and add their own questions. Cover Front Matter Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Preface Acknowledgments Media and Supplements to accompany Learning and Behavior, Second Edition Chapter 1 Learning Theory: What It Is and How It Got This Way Philosophical Roots Are people machines? Associations and the contents of the mind Biological Roots Reflexes, evolution, and early comparative psychology The rise of the conditioning experiment A Science of Learning and Behavior John B. Watson B. F. Skinner Edward C. Tolman Computer and brain metaphors Human learning and animal learning Tools for Analyzing Learning and Behavior Learning about stimuli and about behavior Crows foraging at the beach Human eating and overeating Kids at play People using drugs Relations between S, R, and O Summary Discussion Questions Key People and Key Terms Chapter 2 Learning and Adaptation Evolution and Behavior Natural selection Adaptation in behavior Fixed action patterns Innate behavior Habituation Adaptation and Learning: Instrumental Conditioning The law of effect Reinforcement Shaping Adaptation and Learning: Classical Conditioning Signals for food Territoriality and reproduction Fear Conditioning with drugs as the outcome Sign tracking Other Parallels Between Signal and Response Learning Extinction Timing of the outcome Size of the outcome Preparedness Summary Discussion Questions Key Terms Chapter 3 The Nuts and Bolts of Classical Conditioning The Basic Conditioning Experiment Pavlov’s experiment What is learned in conditioning? Variations on the basic experiment Methods for Studying Classical Conditioning Eyeblink conditioning in rabbits Fear conditioning in rats Autoshaping in pigeons Appetitive conditioning in rats Taste aversion learning Things That Affect the Strength of Conditioning Time Novelty of the CS and the US Intensity of the CS and the US Pseudoconditioning and sensitization Conditioned Inhibition How to produce conditioned inhibition How to detect conditioned inhibition Two methods that do NOT produce true inhibition Information Value in Conditioning CS-US contingencies in classical conditioning Blocking and unblocking Overshadowing Relative validity in conditioning Summary Discussion Questions Key Terms Chapter 4 Theories of Conditioning The Rescorla-Wagner Model Blocking and unblocking Extinction and inhibition Other new predictions CS-US contingencies What does it all mean? Some Problems with the Rescorla-Wagner Model The extinction of inhibition Latent inhibition Another look at blocking The Role of Attention in Conditioning The Mackintosh model The Pearce-Hall model A combined approach What does it all mean? Short-Term Memory and Learning Priming of the US Priming of the CS Habituation What does it all mean? Nodes, Connections, and Conditioning Wagner’s “SOP” model Sensory versus emotional US nodes Elemental versus configural CS nodes What does it all mean? Summary Discussion Questions Key Terms Chapter 5 Whatever Happened to Behavior Anyway? Memory and Learning How well is conditioning remembered? Causes of forgetting Remembering, forgetting, and extinction Other examples of context, ambiguity, and interference Can memories be erased? Interim summary The Modulation of Behavior Occasion setting Three properties of occasion setters What does it all mean? What is learned in occasion setting? Configural conditioning Other forms of modulation What does it all mean? Understanding the Nature of the Conditioned Response Two problems for stimulus substitution Understanding conditioned compensatory responses Conditioning and behavior systems What does it all mean? Conclusion Summary Discussion Questions Key Terms Chapter 6 Are the Laws of Conditioning General? Everything You Know Is Wrong Special Characteristics of Flavor Aversion Learning One-trial learning Long-delay learning Learned safety Hedonic shift Compound potentiation Conclusion Some Reasons Learning Laws May Be General Evolution produces both generality and specificity The generality of relative validity Associative Learning in Honeybees and Humans Conditioning in bees Category and causal learning in humans Some disconnections between conditioning and human category and causal learning Causes, effects, and causal power Conclusion Summary Discussion Questions Key Terms Chapter 7 Behavior and Its Consequences Basic Tools and Issues Reinforcement versus contiguity theory Flexibility, purpose, and motivation Operant psychology Conditioned reinforcement The Relationship Between Behavior and Payoff Different ways to schedule payoff Choice Choice is everywhere Impulsiveness and self-control Nudging better choices Behavioral economics: Are reinforcers all alike? Theories of Reinforcement Drive reduction The Premack principle Problems with the Premack principle Behavioral regulation theory Selection by consequences Summary Discussion Questions Key Terms Chapter 8 How Stimuli Guide Instrumental Action Categorization and Discrimination Trees, water, and Margaret Other categories How do they do it? Basic Processes of Generalization and Discrimination The generalization gradient Interactions between gradients Perceptual learning Mediated generalization and acquired equivalence Conclusion Another Look at the Information Processing System Visual perception in pigeons Attention Working memory Reference memory The Cognition of Time Time of day cues Interval timing How do they do it? The Cognition of Space Cues that guide spatial behavior Spatial learning in the radial maze and water maze How do they do it? Metacognition How do they do it? Summary Discussion Questions Key Terms Chapter 9 The Motivation of Instrumental Action How Motivational States Affect Behavior Motivation versus learning Does Drive merely energize? Is motivated behavior a response to need? Anticipating Reward and Punishment Bait and switch The Hullian response: Incentive motivation Frustration Another paradoxical reward effect Partial reinforcement and persistence Motivation by expectancies General and specific outcome expectancies What does it all mean? Dynamic Effects of Motivating Stimuli Opponent-process theory Emotions in social attachment A further look at addiction Conclusion Summary Discussion Questions Key Terms Chapter 10 A Synthetic Perspective on Instrumental Action Avoidance Learning The puzzle and solution: Two-factor theory Problems with two-factor theory Species-specific defense reactions Cognitive factors in avoidance learning Learned helplessness Summary: What does it all mean? Parallels in Appetitive Learning The misbehavior of organisms Superstition revisited A general role for stimulus learning in response learning situations Punishment Summary: What does it all mean? A Cognitive Analysis of Instrumental Action Knowledge of the R-O relation Knowledge of the S-O relation S-(R-O) learning (occasion setting) S-R and “habit” learning Summary Discussion Questions Key Terms Glossary References Author Index Subject Index About the Book Chapter 1. Learning Theory: What It Is And How It Got This Way. -- Chapter 2. Learning And Adaptation. -- Chapter 3. The Nuts And Bolts Of Classical Conditioning. -- Chapter 4. Theories Of Conditioning. -- Chapter 5. Whatever Happened To Behavior Anyway? -- Chapter 6. Are The Laws Of Condition Ing General?. -- Chapter 7. Behavior And Its Consequences. -- Chapter 8. How Stimuli Guide Instrumental Action. -- Chapter 9. The Motivation Of Instrumental Action. -- Chapter 10. A Synthetic Perspective On Instrumental Action. Mark E. Bouton, University Of Vermont. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.