July 5 - August 11, 2005
M - Th (and Fri July 15)
S1440Q meets 6:15 – 8:20pm MTWR; S2410Q meets 6:15 – 8:20pm TR
MW labs are in in 558 Schermerhorn Hall; TR
lectures are
in 608 Schermerhorn Hall
Instructor
Michael
Drew, Ph.D.
212-543-5471
Office
Hours: By appointment
Overview
This course examines basic learning and motivation processes that allow the behavior of human and non-human animals to adapt to environmental demands. These learning processes include classical and instrumental conditioning, habituation, sensitization, categorization, and reward. Students will become acquainted with current research findings as well as the research methods used to study these and other psychological issues. Much of the research covered uses animal subjects. Both textbook and primary source readings will be assigned. Students may enroll in the lecture section alone (S2410Q) for 3 credits, or the lecture/lab combination (S1440Q) for 4 credits. The lab segment meets 4hrs per week (Mon & Wed, plus Fri July 15) and will provide students first-hand experience with the methods for studying learning processes in animals and humans. Students will conduct behavioral experiments using human subjects and a computerized rat model (“Sniffy”) and will present their findings in 2 APA-style research reports.
Required Textbooks
Lecture: Domjan,
M. (2004). The Principles of Learning and Behavior.
5th Edition,
Lab: Sniffy the Virtual Rat, Pro Edition. (Students will NOT need to purchase this book as it is included in the lab fee)
Recommended Book
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association : Fifth Edition (2001). (On reserve in the Psychology Library)
Readings
Breland, K. & Breland, M. (1961). The misbehavior of organisms. American Psychologist, 16, 681-4.
Gould, J.L. & Gould, C.G. (1998). Reasoning in animals. In Scientific American Presents: Exploring Intelligence, v. 9 no. 4, pp. 52-65.
LeDoux, J.E. (2002). Emotion, memory, and the brain. Scientific American, 12 (1) (Special Issue: The Hidden Mind), pp. 62-71.
Skinner, B.F. (1953). Science & Human Behavior. New York: Macmillan. (Ch. 1, 2, 3).
Rescorla, R.A. (1988). Pavlovian conditioning: It’s not what you think it is. American Psychologist, 43, 151-160.
Tolman, E.C. (1948). Cognitive maps in rats and men. Psychological Review, 55(4), 189-208.
Click on Domjan (D) chapters for study questions. Click on meeting #
to see powerpoints. Powerpoints
will be posted a day or two before each
lecture. To save presentations to your own computer, click link,
then
click on Edit-->Edit
Slides. You
may
then manipulate slides and print in whatever format you wish.
Blue cells indicate lab
sessions.
|
Meeting |
Topic |
Reading |
Date |
|
Introduction (Philosophical and Historical Roots,
Evolution) |
Domjan (D) Ch.
1 |
Tues
7/5 |
|
|
2 |
Introduction to Sniffy Behavior
Observation, Habituation, Sensitization
|
Sniffy Ch. 1
and
pp. 123-7 |
Wed
7/6 |
|
Reflexes, Habituation, Sensitization |
D Ch.
2 |
Thurs 7/7 |
|
|
4 |
Habituation, Data Analysis,
Report Writing
|
|
Mon 7/11 |
|
Classical
Conditioning I: Basic Phenomena |
D. Ch 3, 4 |
Tues 7/12 |
|
|
6 |
Acquisition of Classical Conditioning |
Sniffy Ch. 3
|
Wed 7/13 |
|
7 |
Classical
Conditioning I: Continued |
|
Thurs 7/14 |
|
8 |
Blocking, Overshadowing, Overexpectation |
Sniffy Ch. 4
|
Fri 7/15 |
|
9 |
Sensory
Preconditioning, Higher-Order conditioning |
Sniffy Ch. 6 LAB REPORT #1 DRAFT
DUE |
Mon 7/18 |
|
Classical Conditioning II: Advanced Phenomena,
Rescorla-Wagner Model |
Tues 7/19 |
||
|
11 |
Acquisition of Instrumental Conditioning |
Handout to be provided |
Wed 7/20 |
|
Instrumental Behavior I |
|
Thurs 7/21 |
|
|
13 |
Acquisition of Instrumental Conditioning |
Handout to be provided |
Mon 7/25 |
|
14 |
MIDTERM |
|
Tues 7/26 |
|
15 |
Human Instrumental Conditioning Cont'd |
Article: Verplanck (1956) |
Wed 7/27 |
|
Instrumental Behavior II: Mechanisms & Reinforcement |
D Ch. 7 |
Thurs 7/28 |
|
|
17 |
Magazine training, shaping, discrimination and
generalization |
LAB REPORT #1 FINAL
DRAFT DUE |
Mon 8/1 |
|
Aversive Conditioning & Extinction |
Tues 8/2 |
||
|
19 |
Trial Spacing Effect |
Article: Dempster
(1987) |
Wed 8/3 |
|
Stimulus Control & Categorization |
D Ch. 8
& pp. 369-374 More: Huber (1990) |
Thurs 8/4 |
|
|
21 |
Prototypes |
|
Mon 8/8 |
|
22 |
Cognition |
D Ch. 12, Ch. 11 |
Tues 8/9 |
|
23 |
Mental Rotation |
|
Wed 8/10 |
|
24 |
FINAL EXAM |
|
Thurs 8/11 |
|
|
|
LAB REPORT #2 DUE |
Fri 8/12 |
| Grading | ||||
| 1440 |
|
2410 | ||
|
Class Participation |
10% |
Class
Participation |
15% |
|
|
Quizzes |
10% |
Quizzes | 15% |
|
|
Lab paper #1 |
10% |
Midterm | 30% |
|
|
Lab paper #2 |
10% |
Final | 40% |
|
| Lab
Exercises |
10% |
|||
| Midterm |
20% |
|||
| Final | 30% |
|||
Attendance
Policy: This is a
highly intensive summer course in which a great deal of material is
covered in
a short amount of time. One
class meeting is equivalent to a full week of class during the fall or
spring
semesters. The
lab
sections are “cumulative” in that many of the exercises depend on work
accomplished in previous sessions. For these reasons
attendance
is mandatory. Students
who miss more than 2 class meetings, for whatever reason, should
consider
dropping the course. Absences
that are not excused by the dean will have a significant adverse affect
on the
student’s grade.
Papers:
The writing assignments are perhaps the most important
educational
exercise in this course.
Papers
will be graded for style, grammar, data presentation and
interpretation, and
clarity. Papers
should conform to APA style.
A
brief tutorial on APA style is available as an e-reserve. Students may also
need to consult the full APA style manual,
a hard copy of which is on reserve in the Psychology Library. No exceptions
will be made
to the paper deadlines.
Late papers will be docked 10% per day (Sat & Sun will
count as 1
day). Papers are
due by
the beginning of class on the due date.
**The
syllabus is subject to
change**
page last modified on August 3, 2005