Behaviour Change and Learning

• Reflex behaviour change


  • Response can become more/less vigorous (incl. faster/slower, more forceful/less forceful)
  • Eliciting stimulus can become more/less likely to elicit the response
  • Response can more/less effectively produce an outcome
  • A stimulus can come to elicit a new response
• Reasons for reflex behaviour change

  1. Bodily injury or muscle fatigue

  2. Increases and decreases in physical fitness or strength

  3. Internal state/mood/intention

  4. Learning
• Learning occurs as a result of 'experience', but so can all the other reasons for reflex behaviour change
• Fatigue


  Muscle strength is reduced, also by prolonged lack of use
• Learning


  Results in a relatively permanent change in behaviour
• Distinguishing fatigue and learning


  • Fatigue wears off with rest and sleep
  • Learning does not wear off following rest or sleep
• Train-rest-test protocol


  1. Train

  2. Rest

  3. Test
• Spontaneous recovery


  Restoration of response vigor after a rest period, indicating no habituation (decline due to fatigue)
• Habituation


  A learning process that leads to the reduced responsiveness of a reflex as a result of repeatedly eliciting the response
• Reflex habituation is a widespread phenomenon - most (but not all) reflexes can be habituated
• Reasons for learning not to respond


  • Time and energy
  • When there is nothing to be gained by doing so
• Short-term habituation


  A learning process that produces effects that typically last less than an hour and can be established during one session on a single day
• Long-term habituation


  A learning process that produces effects that last for days or months and may take many repeated sessions on successive days to establish
• Dishabituation


  Undoing or reversing an habituation effect by the presentation of an intense aversive stimulus
• Dishabituation


  Establishes the existence of short-term habituation