Psychology



Article #1, Chapter 6 “Learning”1

Manual of Psychological Experimentation on Planarians1

Introduction1

Purpose of the Study1

Hypothesis2

Procedure2

Findings2

Implications2

Article #2; Chapter 7 “Memory”2

The Information Available in Brief Visual Presentations2

Introduction2

Purpose of the Study3

Procedure3

Findings3

Implications4

References5

Psychology

Article #1, Chapter 6 “Learning”

Manual of Psychological Experimentation on Planarians

Introduction

The manual on the care and experimentation of the worms, especially planarians contain the research and investigation carried out by McConnell in 1950s. The manual entails of various sections, among which the second section explains in detail about the experiment carried out on the planarians by McConnell. The manual is holistically understandable and comprehendible with all the due details about the history and background of the research in the field of worms and especially on Planarian aspect.

Numerous studies of the human behaviors and mechanisms cannot be carried out on the human being themselves because of a hoard of issues concerning ethical and legal factors. The ethics and legalities cover much of the portion of psychological experimentation, in terms of the experiments that are due to harm the examinee in some way. For instance, the study of little Albert exemplifies a serious case of a study that posits unethical behavior and practice of the experimental psychology.

Hence, researchers had initiated researches and investigations of a similar sort on the animals and worms, thus excluding the factors of the unethical behavior or concerns. The study explained and quoted in the manual has been carried out by McConnell to depict the human mechanisms of learning and their possible transfer.

Purpose of the Study

Learning qualifies as, and comprises of one of the most significant constructs in the lives of the human beings. This is one of the most striking and momentous feature that sets humans apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. Learning is integral and pivotal for the major functions and day to day activities of the human beings. In our daily lives, we encounter and come across frequent situations which require learning of any sort. Humans need to remember, retain and recall various different things which come in handy and useful for carrying out the daily functions.

It is such a pivotal and necessary feature of the human lives that researchers have continuously being investigating ways to enhance it. Learning in its generic and general sense, refers to the concept that it is regarded as a permanent change in the behavior of the humans or animal; any difference in the behavior of the animals after the process of learning is when the animal is said to have learnt something.

Creating the base and backdrop of the study, McConnell mentions generally about the ways animals learns things. One way is to be rewarded and getting something in return of the change that is induced in the behavior by learning. Transfer of training or learning has also been one of the most important concepts in the backdrop of this study by McConnell. In a basic sense, transfer of training refers to the process when things learnt in one setting can be applied and transferred in a ...