Syllabus

PSYC 3215 Learning

Requirements: Readings Exams Powerpoint Reports Final Paper Participation Grading

Objectives

	To introduce the student to the psychology of learning within an evolutionary context.
	To develop an appreciation for the historical antecedents of the study of learning and behavior.
	To develop an appreciation for the scientific method within the context of the experimental analysis of learning and behavior.
	To examine how the methods (or "tools") that are used by experimental psychologists studying learning have contributed to the advancement of diverse areas in psychology, biology, and other disciplines.
	To examine how the theories and principles in the field of Learning have been used in the applied field of behavior modification.
	To examine the use of animals as subjects in psychological research.
	To provide the student the opportunity to practice his or her writing and computer skills by writing on the psychology of learning.

What is this course about?

Most students take a course in psychology because they are interested in understanding people in general and themselves in particular. Many students are often surprised when they begin the Learning course to find that the course has little to say
about the things we typically think of as related to learning. Topics such as improving study habits, developing better mathematical skills, and improving memory capacity usually come to mind as related to learning. Instead the Learning course
often deals with rats pressing levers, dogs jumping over barriers, pigeons pecking at circular illuminated disks, and chimpanzees attempting to reach out-of-reach bananas. Why should the student with a penchant for understanding human behavior be concerned with such curious animal behaviors? The answer to this valid question is multifaceted. This course, I think, will answer this question satisfactorily for most students. Nevertheless one primary reason why the student interested
in human behavior is wise to study principles of learning in a nimals is that we have a very long evolutionary history that we share with many animals. We are, after all, animals ourselves. Many learning strategies that permit us to adapt to our
surroundings today were "discovered" by Mother Nature long before humans were on this earth. Thus, although humans are wonderfully complex and have many learning abil ities (language, reasoning, etc.) we did not abandon the learning strategies
that evolved early in our evolutionary history. These learning mechanisms do not require language. So in a sense this course is primarily about understanding our ability to "learn without words".

Requirements

Readings.

Text: Domjan, Michael (2000) The Essentials of Conditioning and Learning, 2nd Edition. New York: Wadsworth-Thomson Learning.

ARTICLES :

Lohmann, K.J.(January, 1992). How sea turtles navigate. Scientific American. (an example of the experimental approach to explaining animal learning and behavior)
Thomas,E.M.(1995) The Tribe of Tiger:Cats and Their Culture. New York: Simon & Schuster.(an example of a non-experimental approach to explaining animal learning and behavior)

COURSE PREREQUISITES:

PSYC 1101

Exams:

There will be 4 exams (see schedule below) (If you miss an exam because of illness you must notify me as soon as possible. Call my office (or e-mail) and leave a message if you can't physically come to school. No makeups will be given to anyone who does not contact me by the next class period after the scheduled exam.)

Exam 1: Wednesday, July 18

Exam 2: Monday, July 30

Exam 3: Thursday, August 5

Laboratory Reports:

A. PowerPoint Report.

The laboratory component of this course involves training an albino rat in several learning procedures. You will use PowerPoint to help organize the data from your lab work. The information that you will include in your PowerPoint Report is described here. You will submit your PowerPoint summaries as two assignments.

Adaptation and Magazine training

Shaping and Continuous Reinforcement (CRF)

Discrimination Training
Chaining, Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery.

Don't know how to use PowerPoint or Excel? Don't worry I'll teach you what you will need to know!

B. Final paper:
An APA-style Research paper is required as a final paper. The Research PAper will describe the results of the experiments that you conduct in the laboratory. You will use the text and graphs created for the PowerPoint assignments to help organize and
complete the final paper. More details are provided here.

Participation:

You are expected to reliably attend class and to arrive to class on time. Excessive absences will not only limit your ability to learn the material, but will also inconvenience your laboratory partner. Any student with excessive absences is not entitled to
simply get the data from a lab partner. Laboratory attendance will be taken daily.

You are expected to to keep up with the readings and to actively participate in the lecture discussions. Participation is only possible if you keep up with your readings and other course assignments.

GRADING
Exams 60%
PowerPoint
Assignment 10%
Final Paper 20%
Participation 10%
--------------------
Total 100%

** NO EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENTS ARE PERMITTED**

Studying strategies

If you are having difficulty with the course material it is prudent to approach me as early in the semester as possible. You are unlikely to learn the material by cramming or asking for help a few days before an exam. Studying is an active process that takes time and considerable effort. There are two primary reasons why students show poor performance in this course:

#1. The student is not studying enough. This is a major problem for most students. Delaying your studying to one or more days before the exam is simply not enough to do well in this course (and for some it is not enough to PASS this course). Study throughout the semester several times each week. For every hour of lecture you should study 1.5 - 2 hours. If you are serious about your studies you will monitor the minutes you spend studying for your courses and adjust accordingly. Budget your time effectively.
#2. The student does not use the study time effectively. If you have been spending the suggested hours each week and are still having difficulty then you need to change your studying strategy. For example, simply reading a chapter and
hilighting selected sentences is a poor way to study. It may work for some courses but for most students it doesn't work for this course. Instead you should "write summaries in your own words", "write questions and answers", "write your own definitions for important terms", "generate your own outlines". These study techniques take more time (the reason for the 1.5-2 hour figure given above) but they are very effective.

While studying you should be thinking, not just memorizing. Question what you are reading. If you can't come up with an answer ask a classmate or, better yet, ask your instructor in class, during office hours, or via e-mail.

For more helpful studying strategies click here.