Universidad de Jaén

1.- Definition of learning

• Learning and behaivior
• General considerations about learning

2.- Learning about a single stimulus

• Habituation.
• Sensitization.
• Theories and Mechanism of habituation and sensitization.
• Principles of regulation and complex emotions.

3.- Learning about the relationships among stimuli

• Principles about classical conditioning.
• Basic effects and conditions.
• Contents of learning in classical conditioning.
• Conditionign in humans.

4.- Theories of classical conditioning and causal learning

• Classical conditioning and causal learning.
• Associative models of learning.
• Statistic and rule models.

5.- Learning about relationships between responses and outcomes

• Historical perspective and definitions.
• Phenomena and principles of instrumental conditioning.
• Conditions and contents of instrumental learning.
• Reinforcement schedules.
• Choice behavior.

6.- Theories of performance and instrumental learning

• Law of effect.
• Drive reduction Theory.
• Consummatory response hypothesis.
• Differential probability theory.
• Response deprivation hypothesis.
• Behavioral regulation theory.
• Reinforcement and punisment.
• Theories about instrumental learning.

7.- Change of behavior, extinction and interference

• Extinction and interference.
• Mechanisms of information recovery after interference.
• Inhibitory associations and effect of partial reinforcement extinction.

8.- Social learning

• Social learning in animals.
• Social learning in humans.
• Social learning theories.

Activities in big groups: Three weekly hours of lectures in which the contents of the course will be explained. Attendance and regular work is required. Periodically, some classes will be devoted to global tutoring (112.5 total hours of student work).

Activities in small groups:

a)    Students that signed up for the course for the first time

Project-oriented learning. One hour every other week in which a team of 3-4 students should plan and develop the training of a pet. (37.5 total hours of student work). Each team will chose one of several goal behaviors in which their pet should be trained using learning and conditioning techniques and procedures. Once training is finished, they should expose the result of their project to the other students. The project will be evaluated by the other students in the class and the instructor. Developing of the project should follow this phases:

1.    Information-Training: Students will be informed about the activity they have to do at the beginning of the semester (September). They will be lecturer on basic principles of learning and animal training at that time.

2.    Activity planning: Students will establish the work teams (3 to 4 people) on September. They will design and plan their own animal training project of one of the students pet. This activity must not involve the acquisition of a pet. The team that does not have a pet available will perform the alternative activity described below. The design and planning process will be supervised by the instructors that will give the authorization for conducting the activity. The deadline for handing the project to the activity instructor is September 30, 2013.

3.    Carrying out the project: Animal training will be developed between October 1 and November 15. Video information should be recorded throughout the process so that the initial situation, the progress and the final results. Work teams will be advised and supervised by the instructors of the course. Training activity should be finished by November 15. 

4.    Assessment of the activity: Work teams will present their work to the teachers between November 15 and December 20, 2013. The results of the activity will be later presented to the class where it will be assessed by the instructors and the rest of the students.

a)   Students taking the course for second or more times (and those students that do not count with a pet)

Virtual training of Sniffy. The alternative activity for students that already conducted the real training of their pets in previous years will be the virtual training of Sniffy: This is a computer software that simulates behavior of a laboratory rat, and allows for its training by manipulating reinforcing contingencies and using the principles of psychology of learning (Alloway, T.; Wilson, G. y Graham, J. (2006). Sniffy. La rata virtual. Madrid. Thomson). Students will work following the instructions of the software and possible doubts will be solved during instructors office hours. Virtual training will be evaluated through a test that will be set at the end of the semester.

To follow the course the student should assist to the classes and sign up in the virtual learning platform, in which she/he will find all the information concerning the course: Presentations, self-evaluation questions, group and work-team related information, deadlines, etc. To follow the information about the course the student must consult the information in the platform regularly.

Supervision and report handling deadlines are mandatory. Missing any deadline will negatively affect the activity evaluation.

Similarly, attending to class is mandatory. Missing classes will affect the final evaluation of the course.

Students with special educational needs should contact the Student Attention Service (Servicio de Atención y Ayudas al Estudiante) in order to receive the appropriate academic support

Students performance on the course will be assessed through continuous evaluation that includes the following:

Interim tests: Interim tests will be periodically conducted in which students understanding of the course contents will be evaluated. Good performance needs of regular attendance to the class and continuous work throughout the semester. At the end of the semester each student will count with a continuous evaluation grade (CE) that will reflect the arithmetic mean of the grades obtained in the interim tests. Students will also count with an attendance grade (AG). Passing the interim exams does not relieve students from having to take the final exam.

Final exam: Students will have to take a test of all the contents of the course (excluding the activities) at the end of the semester, obtaining the final exam grade (FG).

Evaluation of the activities in small groups (AG): Performance in animal or virtual training will be evaluated either through the presentation of the work (pet) or through an exam (Sniffy).

Grade obtained in each evaluable aspect of the course will be calculated using the following formulae:

A) Participation and active involvement of the student in the class (5%) :

Attendance grade (AG) will be proportional to the number of interim exams done by the student.

B) Class contents (70%) :

Knowledge of the contents of the course will be assessed through the interim exams (CE) and the final exam (FG). The grade (GT) in this part of the course will be, GT = CE+FG/2; this is, even though the interim exams do not relieve the student of preparing the full content of the course for the final exam, their weight is 50% on their contents grade.

C. Performance on programmed activities. (25%):

Activities grade (AG): Grade obtained in the activity of animal training or in the virtual training exam.

At the end of the semester, the student will count with two total grades (TG)

a)    TG = [(AG*0.5) + (GT*7) + (AG*2,5)] / 10

b)    TG = [(AG*0.5) + (FG*7) + (AG*2,5)] / 10

The grade obtained by the student in the course will be the biggest one of the grades above. In other words, the one that favors him/her more. Please note that in the formulae, the only change is how the grade of the contents (GT or FG) of the course is calculated. The use of these two formulae guaranties that both, the student that performs well in continuous evaluation (half of GT) and the student that performs well in the final exam (FG) will be able to pass the course.

For each official exam students may use up to two receipts of their participation on research conducted within the Psychology Department. Each receipt will involve an increase of 0.2 points in the final grade (TG).