PLEASE READ THE PROMPT AND ANSWER THE 3 QUESTIONS IN ESSAY/PARAGRAPH (APA) STYLE
Nobel Prize winner Konrad Lorenz and some of the goslings that have “learned” to follow him.
I am not spoon-feeding you in this course. Instead, I am setting up “treasure hunts”
sometimes trying to get you to discover an established right answer, but just as often I am
leading you toward an experience of thinking (dare I say, learning) about the issues for yourself.
From week-to-week answers will vary in length from about a good paragraph to a few pages
in part based on how that particular learning objective
“speaks to you.”
Generally you will just
submit a text document as an “Assignment,
1 but sometimes we’ll try for something more
‘”‘creative,
So, let’s get started.
We should begin with some “big picture” philosophical and theoretical issues. Specifically, what
is learning, and how does it relate to development and biology (much less memory and
cognition)? As such, the learning objectives for this first unit are as follows.
1. If humans can even be said to have instincts is an open question, but holding that in
abeyance, more generally how do instincts relate to learning? Find what you can about
the Watson – McDougall debate held in 1924, as it provides one set of possible answers. Based on that and other scholarly sources, tell me how you understand this relationship
and its philosophical cousin, the matter of “Nature vs Nurture.
2. As an extension of question one, how does development (e.g., ontogeny) relate to learning? Under normal circumstances humans will learn theory of mind (what Thorndike called “mind reading”), to talk (ala Chomsky), and much more with little or no actual “training.” You can again consult Watson on this point, but Tinbergen’s 1963
section on Ontogeny is another place to start thinking about this. (See
https://www.reed.edu/biology/courses/BI0342/2012_syllabus/2012_readings/Tinb_19
63.pdf ) Based on that and other scholarly sources, tell me how you understand this
relationship:
3. Last… Find several definitions of Learning, evaluate them, then give me the one (of
those, or of your own) that you think best and explain why it is better than the
alternatives. A final thought as you do this… does your definition distinguish between
learning and memory, or between learning and belief? Does it need to?
