Donald Hebb's Life - Essay Example

Week 8 Donald Hebb was a Canadian psychologist well known for his work in the field of neuropsychology. Hewas born in Chester, Nova Scotia to Arthur and Clara Hebb. He was the oldest of four children and stayed with his parents in Chester until they moved to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. In his early life, Donald was much schooled by his mother who had been influenced by the ideas of Maria Montessori. At age 8 Donald joined elementary school in the town and was subsequently promoted to grade 7 at only ten years of age. Due to his rebellious nature, he failed in 11th grade and graduated at 12th grade two years later. He sat for the 12th grade at Halifax County Academy in Halifax. At the early age, Donald had no interest in pursuing psychology and was focused on becoming a writer. He joined Dalhousie University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts later in 1925. At this time, the idea of psychology had not yet crossed his mind. He became a teacher thereafter and began a series of travels. In the course of his travels, he came into contact with the works of great psychologists like Sigmund Freud, John Watson and William James. He therefore went to McGill University and requested William Dunlop Tait who was the chairman of the psychology department to give him a reading list. At this time, he had gathered considerable interest in psychology but still went back into teaching while also studying. He joined McGill University as a part time graduate student in 1928. Donald applied and worked with Wilder Penfield who worked at the Montreal Neurological Institute. It was the association with Penfield which made Donald to focus his attention towards neuropsychology. He thereby researched on the effect of brain injury and surgery on the overall brain function. Donald was later accepted at University of Chicago and went on to Harvard where he got his PhD. His major books include The Organization of Behavior: A Neuropsychological Theory. Some of his students included Brenda Milner, Mortimer Mishkin all of whom he worked with as he taught at McGill University. One of his astounding works was the theory in which he realized that human behavior can only be best understood by learning the functioning of the brain. He also researched widely on the principles of developmental psychology and studies in this respect were included in starting the Head Start programs for preschool children. Week 9 Tolman’s purposive behaviorism is a very important component in psychology whose objective is to study and consider the goals and purposes of different types of behavior. According to Tolman, organisms learn from the environment and the behavior gained depends on how each organism relates to the environment. The purpose in this regard is to determine the intricate cognitive mechanisms realized in organisms and explain the purpose of guided behavior. As such, Tolman’s purposive learning went against much of the traditionally known theories of learning (Benjamin, 2008). In the context of expectancy learning, it is realized that organisms will normally behave in a certain way depending on their motivations and expectations. As such, people will learn different behaviors through motivation and while also expecting certain aspects in return. In this regard, it is realized that behavior is determined by expectations and also by the intended goals. For instance, people will always behave in a given manner in situations where such behavior will enable them to realize some goals they expect. Olton designed the radial arm maze in order to measure the aspects of spatial learning and memory in rats. In this case, reference memory and working memory are assessed in this experiment. Reference memory is only realized when the rats visit the reward area at the arms of the maze. On the other hand, working memory is when the rats visits each arm at a time. In this case it was realized that rats have a very powerful memory for both the visited and the unvisited arms. Kinesthesia is a sense of position which has actually been a subject of much speculation for many years. This sense is seen in the position and movement in our limbs. It explains the important role played by muscle receptors in transmitting information about the state of the muscles to the brain. Kinesthesia is further important in evaluating the temporal sequence of movements which greatly employs muscle activity its connection to brain functioning. Behavioral flexibility describes the ability of humans to change their behaviors in a certain way in order to respond different circumstances in the most effective way. Indeed, this ability is very important considering that people will always encounter different situations which normally require them to “flex” their behavior in order to adapt effectively. In this case, behavioral flexibility is a process of incorporating different aspects of the same behavior by becoming different depending on the situation at hand. It is a very important component in the human character as it greatly helps us to fit within situations (Benjamin, 2008). Week 10 Anatomical mechanisms are the mechanical forms of movement made by organisms as a response to different forms of stimuli. Physiological mechanisms are forms of reactions which are consistent with the normal functioning of the human physiology. Attractors normally define the space within the brain by dictating a dynamical system which evolves over time. The brain employs a very intricate system of determining the direction of anything perceived. For instance in determining the direction of sound, the brain uses a series of subtle differences in the intensity, timing cues and spectral aspects which enables the individual to clearly determine the original direction of the sound. In the same way, the tone, and wavelength will enable people to determine the direction of the sound waves. The sound waves hit the ear and the ear and the transmission occurs whereupon the brain is informed of the information. In cognitive psychology, spatial memory is the memory responsible for information about the environmental and the spatial orientation. Physiologically, the hippocampus part of the brain provides us with the spatial information about the environment. In addition it stores a great deal of information about non-egocentric space which subsequently helps in supporting independence in terms of spatial memory. In order to function, the hippocampus uses both the working and reference memory and is charged with the important duty of processing information reading the spatial locations. Another part of the human brain which plays an important role in this respect is the Posterior parietal cortex which encodes spatial information through the use of an egocentric form of reference. As a result, it transforms the sensory information coordinates into effector coordinates by way of updating the spatial component within the environment. In a way, it is seen that the human brain is certainly an important component in determining the character of the individual. As such, neuropsychology is certainly important psychological area which should be keenly studied as it provides much insight into this important understanding. The understanding of direction, points and places and such other components involved in human character is very important as the basic idea into the subject of neuropsychology. Week 11 Neuroscience is one of the most inspiring scientific endeavors realized in conventional times. It seeks to study the nervous system and gain a thorough understanding of the human brain functioning. In this respect, neuroscience is always viewed with much skepticism and doubt basically on the account that it is much difficult to gain a full understanding of the human brain. While neuroscience is essentially a biological field, it is further enhanced through association with chemistry, engineering, computer science, psychology and other disciplines which form an integral component in this understanding (Benjamin, 2008). Over time, the methods and techniques used in neuroscience have broadened and expanded. Similarly, the scope of neuroscience has expanded to include other areas of study. The article is an attempt to draw the close association and relevance of psychology in the overall understanding of neuroscience. Indeed, it is seen that it is almost impossible to have a full understanding of the human nervous system without first understanding the psychological aspects underpinning the whole process. It is always a subject of debate and speculation on what neuroscience can really investigate. More importantly, the aspect of religion usually emerges with different viewpoints coming into light. In this case, some people are totally opposed to the understanding of the brain functioning on the basis that it seeks to understand the mind of God. In this case, it is actually appreciated that the brain and its components are actually the ultimate question which form the core in the whole subject. However, it is certainly important to note that neuroscience is actually a very important realm of knowledge that should actually be acknowledged. The present world is inundated with several challenges which normally require people to have a thorough knowledge of all aspects relating to human body. In this case, neuroscience emerges as an area of study which has not been much explored and there is still much to be done. The benefits of learning neuroscience certainly abound. The articles paint a picture of the whole situation around neuroscience and the challenges encountered in the learning process. More importantly, they pose different questions regarding the need to enhance this subject and delve more into its understanding (Benjamin, 2008). References Benjamin, A. S. (2008). Human learning: biology, brain, and neuroscience. Amsterdam: Elsevier/North-Holland. Read More