Last minute!

[someone.called]

Okay I'm not satisfied with the definition in my textbook because well they're too broad! I just wanted some good definition/explanation of allostatic overload, learning set?(my textbook doesn't even cover it and i came across it in a few exams) and another question is what is it meant by the fact that a learner is "instrumental" in trial and error learning?
thanks in advance !

[maggie000]

Load is the number of stressors and overload is when you have too many stressors or when allostasis continuously turned off and on, resulting in cumanaltive exposure to stress hormones, resulting in wear and tear on the brain and body.

Thorndike described the learner as instrumental because they are active (instrumental) in the learning process, meaning their actions effect the consequence. This is why he referred to it as instrumental conditioning. It is essentially a more basic form of operant conditioning, which Skinner referred to as such because the organism operates on their environment.

Not sure with learning set, anybody?

[backtoback]

allostatic overload is the cumulative exposure to stress hormones that lead to ‘wear and tear’ on
body and brain. Also i don't believe learning set is part of the study design any more.

[emilyhobbes]

learning set isn't in the new study design (it was in the old study design) so you don't need to know it and allostatic overload in the wear and tear on the body as a result of prolonged exposure to high levels of stress hormones.

The learning is instrumental in trial and error learning because they have to act on the environment for a consequence to occur, and in doing so, learn the associations between a behaviour and its consequence (which is the definition of instrumental learning)