1. Historical Factors
Behaviourist tradition.
Cognitive tradition.
Contemporary learning theory.
2. Theoretical Approaches
Definition of learning.
Evolutionary perspective.
Habituation and sensitization.
3. Pavlovian Conditioning
Acquisition.
Extinction.
Applications.
4. Instrumental Appetitive Conditioning
Thorndike’s position.
Skinner’s behaviourism.
Acquisition.
Positive reinforcement.
Schedules of reinforcement.
Extinction.
Applications.
5. Instrumental Aversive Conditioning
Escape conditioning.
Avoidance conditioning.
Negative reinforcement.
Positive punishment and negative punishment.
Applications.
6. Stimulus Control of Behaviour
The generalization process.
Excitatory generalization.
Inhibitory generalization.
Discrimination learning.
Theoretical approaches.
7. Cognitive Control of Behaviour
Tolman's purposive behaviourism.
Latent learning and cognitive maps.
The role of reinforcement.
The covariation of events.
Expectancy theory.
Attribution theory
Bandura's approach.
Applications.
8. Biological Influences on Learning
Generality of the laws of learning.
The preparedness dimension.
Animal misbehaviour.
Flavour aversion: The Garcia Effect.
Sign tracking, autoshaping, imprinting.
Species specific defence reactions.
The biology of reward and punishment.
The course will employ a variety of instructional methods to accomplish its objectives, including some of the following:
- lecture
- audio-visual materials
- seminar presentations
- small group discussion
- research projects/papers
- computer based cognitive experiments and exercises
- mediated electronic forums/discussion groups
- computer based tutorial exercises
The course evaluation will be in accordance with Douglas College and Psychology Department policies. Evaluations will be based on the course objectives. The specific evaluation criteria will be provided by the instructor at the beginning of the semester.
An example of a possible evaluation scheme would be:
4 quizzes 40%
Mid-term paper 15%
Term paper 15%
Oral presentation 5%
Seminar attendance and participation 5%
Final exam 20%
100%
At the conclusion of the course the successful student will be able to:
Textbooks and Materials to be Purchased by Students:
Textbook(s) such as the following, the list to be updated periodically:
Mazur, J. E. (2006). Learning and behaviour (6th ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
PSYC 1100 AND 1200
No corequisite courses.
No equivalent courses.
This course is not required for any other course.
Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.
Institution | Transfer Details | Effective Dates |
---|---|---|
Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) | KPU PSYC 2328 (3) | 2004/09/01 to - |
Langara College (LANG) | LANG PSYC 2XXX (3) | 2004/09/01 to - |
Simon Fraser University (SFU) | SFU PSYC 3XX (3) | 2004/09/01 to - |
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) | TRU PSYC 2XXX (3) | 2010/09/01 to - |
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) | TRU PSYC 2XX (3) | 2004/09/01 to 2010/08/31 |
Trinity Western University (TWU) | TWU PSYC 409 (3) | 2004/09/01 to - |
University of British Columbia - Okanagan (UBCO) | UBCO PSYO 2nd (3) | 2005/05/01 to - |
University of British Columbia - Vancouver (UBCV) | UBCV PSYC 2nd (3) | 2004/09/01 to - |
University of Northern BC (UNBC) | UNBC PSYC 320 (3) | 2004/09/01 to 2019/08/31 |
University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) | UFV PSYC 302 (3) | 2004/09/01 to - |
University of Victoria (UVIC) | UVIC PSYC 2XX (1.5) | 2004/09/01 to - |
Vancouver Island University (VIU) | VIU PSYC 2nd (3) | 2004/09/01 to - |