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PSYCH3306 Assignment 1: Psychology Learning

Description

The purpose of this assignment is to get you to apply some of the learning principles learned in class to real-life events. For the examples or questions below, provide a description of the technique/principle. You will be submitting a total of five questions for this assignment. Assignments will be marked on the basis of:

1. Completeness: Have all the questions been answered? Is it well written?
2. Comprehension: Have you demonstrated an understanding of the techniques?
3. Originality: Are the examples/solutions interesting and well presented?
4. Details: Have you given a complete explanation or a vague one? Things like CS, US, CR, UR should be referred to when appropriate.
5. References: Have you used references (APA format) when necessary?

Part A- (10 points each)

1. There are certain constraints on learning imposed by the innate behaviours of the animal. Certain breeds of dog have been bred for certain types of behaviour over the years. Give a thorough example of such a breed (and the related behaviour) and explain how this breeding would interfere with learning.
2. Pick a phobia someone might have and explain how you would use systematic desensitization to treat it. How are extinction and generalization important parts of this procedure?

Part B – (15 points each)

1. Come up with examples in classical conditioning where the CS is: a sound, a visual stimulus, and a smell. Be sure to explain your scenario completely and label the CS, CR, US, UR in each of your three examples.
2. A child is trying to learn how to read using the flashcard method. She is being shown the word at the same time she is being shown a picture of a horse and a person is saying the word “horse.” Experts say that this method might actually slow down the acquisition of a text word (learning to read). This problem could potentially be caused by blocking or overshadowing. Provide two distinct explanations as to why learning is slowed down using the flashcard method, with reference to the two classical conditioning mechanisms mentioned above.
3. Use the Rescorla-Wagner model to explain the over expectation effect. Why is this effect counter-intuitive? How does the Rescorla-Wagner model predict it? Provide an original example (not in the book) of what it is, being sure to label your CSs, US, UR, and CR.