PSYC 120 General Psychology Spring 2013 Lecture 12: States of consciousness & Learning Outline 3/7/2013 Consciousness: Psychoactive Drugs Hypnosis Meditation Learning Dr. Bart Moore bamoore@napavalley.edu Office hours Tuesdays 11:00-1:00 Office location: 1030G Practice Question Circadian rhythms occur: A. Many times a night B. Once per night C. Once per day D. Once per month E. Once per year Practice Question Dreaming primarily occurs: A. During Stage II sleep B. During Stage III sleep C. During Stage IV sleep D. During Stage V sleep E. None of the above 1
Sleep cycles Psychoactive Drugs: Depressants Depressants: Psychoactive drugs that slow down mental and physical activity Alcohol Barbiturates Nembutal and Seconal Tranquilizers Valium and Xanax Opiates Morphine and Heroin Psychoactive Drugs: Stimulants Stimulants: Psychoactive drugs that increase the central nervous system s activity Caffeine Nicotine Amphetamines ( Uppers ) Crystal meth Cocaine Crack MDMA (Ecstasy) Psychoactive Drugs: Hallucinogens Hallucinogens: Modify a person s perceptual experiences and produce visual images that are not real Also called psychedelic drugs Marijuana LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) Mescaline DMT (dimethyl triptamine) salvia 2
What is learning? Meditation Attaining peaceful state of mind Mindfulness meditation For depression, panic attacks, and anxiety For chronic pain, stress, psoriasis Meditative state of mind Hypnogogic reverie Feeling of wellness Increased activation in basal ganglia and prefrontal cortex Decreases in anterior cingulate Learning is a lasting change in behavior that results from experience. Requires sensation and/or perception Also requires memory Reading Riding a bike Playing an instrument Classical Conditioning Ivan Pavlov studied digestion in dogs Categories of learning Fed dogs different foods and measured amount of salivation Observational learning Observed that dogs were salivating before the food was put in their mouths Learn by watching others behave Dogs salivated just at the sight of the person who brought food Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) Just like daddy! Associative learning Learn the relationship between two events Two types of associative learning Classical conditioning Operant conditioning Pavlov s salivation measuring apparatus 3
Pavlov s question: If dogs can learn the association between being fed and the person doing the feeding, can they learn other arbitrary associations too? Pavlov conducted an experiment: DURING CONDITIONING (LEARNING PHASE) BEFORE CONDITIONING (BEFORE LEARNING) ARBITRARY (NEUTRAL) STIMULUS AFTER CONDITIONING, NO FOOD, JUST THE BELL? NO SALIVATION Pavlov conducted an experiment: DURING CONDITIONING (LEARNING PHASE) Learning the association between the bell and food was automatic. AFTER CONDITIONING Required no effort from the dog. Salivating to the bell became a reaction 4
Classical Conditioning (example) Humans undergo classical conditioning too! For example: Let s say that at your house whenever someone flushes the toilet the shower gets extremely hot. After a few times, you automatically jump out of the shower whenever you hear the toilet flush! The toilet flush is now associated with burning, so it's a conditioned response (reaction) A guest at your house won t know that this happens, so he or she will be unconditioned and not know the association between the toilet and the hot shower. Classical Conditioning (more examples) After eating at Taco Bell you get food poisoning. The next time you see a sign for Taco Bell, you automatically feel nauseated. You get a flu shot and the nurse says This won t hurt! just before stabbing you with a needle. The next time you hear This won t hurt you cringe in fear. Question: Do you think classical conditioning would be an effective way to study for an exam? Question: Do you think classical conditioning would be an effective way to get yourself to study for an exam? Studying for an exam is hard, it takes effort and uses another type of learning called operant conditioning 5
Operant conditioning Operant conditioning is the act of learning an association between behavior and consequence. First described by psychologist B.F. Skinner, who found that rats can quickly learn to press a lever to receive food Behavior: press lever Consequence: get food Skinner Box B.F. Skinner (1904-1990) Operant conditioning (consequences) Consequences can be favorable or unfavorable: Favorable consequences reinforce or promote the behavior Example: If you learn that studying hard will help you get good grades, you will study more often Example: A waiter learns to be polite to customers in order to get higher tips Unfavorable consequences tend to reduce the behavior frequency Example: driving without my seatbelt got me a ticket, so I don t do that any more! Example: talking about politics with my uncle always causes an argument, so I don t do that any more! Operant conditioning (consequences) Consequences can be favorable or unfavorable: Favorable consequences reinforce or promote the behavior Example: If you learn that studying hard will help you get good grades, you will study more often Example: A waiter learns to be polite to customers in order to get higher tips Unfavorable consequences tend to reduce the behavior frequency Example: If you get a ticket for driving without a seatbelt, you don t do that any more! Example: talking about politics with my step father, who is a military history buff, always causes an argument, so I avoid doing that! Operant conditioning Operant conditioning requires effort Example 1: You must decide to study to get good grades Example 2: you must choose to fasten your seatbelt 6
Classical conditioning Classical conditioning is automatic Example 1: salivating to a bell associated with food Example 2: flinching to the sound of a dentist s drill 7