WELCOME TO PSYCH 260F: INTRODUCTION TO LEARNING
Today’s Class: Overview
WARNING!
PPT Slide
“Why is there a required course that’s mostly about animals?”
This course is about learning and cognition in animals
Behavior as a window onto cognition: The case of Pavlovian conditioning
Two views of Pavlovian conditioning
Previews of what we’ll be talking about
How do animals find their way around?
Can any animals count?
Do animals learn by imitating?
Do any animals use a language?
Do any animals have self-awareness or awareness of the minds of others?
Course materials
What’s coming up next?
Quiz on animal intelligence
Problems with ranking animals by “intelligence”
Animal relationships are not like the steps of a ladder, but the branches of a tree
“Intelligence” suggests cognition is a single general process
But maybe cognition is a collection of special-purpose mechanisms, or modules
Example of cognitive specialization: Clark’s nutcracker
Problems with ranking animals by “intelligence”: Summary
But the idea of comparing species by intelligence is very powerful in psychology
Darwin wanted to prove mental continuity
Early research -- George Romanes
Two approaches to animal learning and cognition in 1999
Ethics of research with animals
Email: shettle@psych.utoronto.ca
Home Page: http://psych.utoronto.ca/~courses/260f/