Psychology

Stimulus and Unconditioned Learning

Ashlyn C. Lewis

PSYC 3500

Annotated Bibliography

August 28, 2014

Annotated Bibliography

Terry, W.S. (2009). Learning and Memory: Basic Principles, Processes, and Procedures. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

The human memory has since time immemorial fascinated both scientists as well as psychologists as to how exactly it functions with so much information to be taken in. The author of this particular book has taken the time to explore some of the core principles of learning as well as memory in a rather clear and reader-friendly manner. He has also discussed animal learning as well as human memory in what appears to be a balanced manner. It is clear to see that the author has paid particular attention to college students and focused on practical applications of their daily lives where illustrations are provided throughout, for instance the correlation between grade point average and caffeine consumption. In the following chapters, the author has also highlighted the importance of taking practice tests as compared to additional studying, misremembering what the students’ professor said in class as well as approach or avoidance coping for upcoming and completed exams. This is rather comprehensive and approved information as it contains the latest research that has been freshened in the course of this book. Other topics that have been discussed include new applications in animal training, neuroethics and artificial memory enhancement, acting and memory, testing effect among others.

Domjan, M. (2005). Pavlonian Conditioning: A Functioning Perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 56(1). 179 – 206.

Even though a majority of individuals have come across the term Pavlonian conditioning, very few have an understanding of what it entails. In this particular article, the author has discussed this type of conditioning from a functional point of view, suggesting that it incorporates learning about conditioned stimuli, or CSs, that have a pre-existing relation to an unconditioned stimulus, or US. This is contrary to learning about arbitrary or neutral conditioned stimuli. For a reader reading this article for the very first time, it may present some difficult terminologies or language but the author is keen enough to make it as simple to understand as possible. This article is most suitable for students studying psychology and researchers. The author has also gone ahead to argue that the most important product of learning usually involves transformations in how an organism responds to the US and not in how it responds to the CS. This is because the unconditioned stimulus is considered to be the more biologically relevant stimulus as compared to its conditioned stimuli counterpart. These ideas have been illustrated in this particular article where examples from various physiological and behavioral situations have been included. The article has discussed situations such as fear conditioning, drug tolerance, sensitization, poison-avoidance, caloric intake and digestion among others.

Lehmann, M., & Hasselhorn, M. (2007). Variable Memory Strategy Use in Children’s Adaptive Intratask Learning Behavior: Development Changes and Working Memory Influences in Free Recall. Child Development, 78(4). 1068 – 1182.

In the course of history research has often indicated the fact that memory is enhanced when learning puts together test trials with study trials as compared to study trials alone. In this article, the authors have taken time to elaborate on a recent experiment they conducted in order to take a closer look at testing effects in two categories of elementary school children. However, note that a majority of work on testing effects has incorporated undergraduate students. The authors discovered that in adults, the ability to apply semantic grouping strategies is determined by working memory. For the experiment, 1st and 3rd graders learned 1 list of words in a test plus restudy condition and a 2nd list of words in a restudy condition. The authors also examined possible explanations for the memorial advantages associated with testing that has so far received initial support in adult populations. The article highlights the outcomes of this particular experiment which indicated that advantages of testing tends to extend to elementary school children and that testing does enhance item specific processing as compared to relational processing. This is quite a helpful article especially for psychologists and science students.

Chance, P. (2008). Learning and Behavior. New York: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

This is a book that has focused on the learning and behavior of human beings and in particular respondent conditioning, trace as well as delayed conditioning. According to the author respondent conditioning usually involves the pairing of stimuli where the rate of this particular conditioning varies with the level of CS-US contingency. As for the trace and delayed conditioning, it presents the conditioned stimulus before the unconditioned stimulus. Delayed conditioning is usually affected by the length of delay between the presentation of the conditioned stimulus as well as the unconditioned stimulus, something that is referred to as long and short delays. In this article, the author has ensured that he discusses the various types of conditioning in a brief yet detailed manner. Another conditioning that has been highlighted is the simultaneous conditioning and backward conditioning. While the former is whereby the conditioned stimulus as well as unconditioned stimulus are present at exactly the same time, backward conditioning presents the unconditioned stimulus prior to the conditioned stimulus. With stimulus conditioning, there is no interval between the two and this makes the process quite ineffective. On the other hand, the contingency between the conditioned stimulus as well as the unconditioned stimulus is weakened. This is a useful article especially for students studying psychology and other interested researchers.

LoBue, V., & DeLoache, J.S. (2010). Superior Detection of Threat-Relevant Stimuli in Infancy. Developmental Science, 13(1). 221 – 228.

No matter how old one is, snakes as well as spiders are considered to be objects of the most common phobias as well as fears throughout the world. In this particular article, the authors have started by reminding their readers that the capability to sense potential threat is a vital survival mechanism not only for human beings but other animals as well. According to research been carried out, it has been documented that adults human being possess an intentional bias for the exposure of threat-relevant stimuli that includes but not limited to; angry human faces, spiders and snakes. Lately, some researchers managed to document two interesting happenings in nonhuman primates as well as adult humans and this was a propensity for the rapid connection of spiders and snakes with fear. The other happening was a propensity for the rapid detection of such threatening stimuli. The authors in this article have described the biases associated with threat and highlighted new work that supports their existence in infants as well as young children. This article is quite useful to researchers as well as psychology students who desire to understand how threat-relevant stimuli functions especially in infancy.

References

Chance, P. (2008). Learning and Behavior. New York: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Domjan, M. (2005). Pavlonian Conditioning: A Functioning Perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 56(1). Pp. 179 – 206.

Lehmann, M., & Hasselhorn, M. (2007). Variable Memory Strategy Use in Children’s Adaptive Intratask Learning Behavior: Development Changes and Working Memory Influences in Free Recall. Child Development, 78(4). Pp. 1068 – 1182.

LoBue, V., & DeLoache, J.S. (2010). Superior Detection of Threat-Relevant Stimuli in Infancy. Developmental Science, 13(1). Pp. 221 – 228.

Terry, W.S. (2009). Learning and Memory: Basic Principles, Processes, and Procedures. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.