3 - Learning & Memory Flashcards
Learning
Acquire BEHAVIORS
acquiring facts = encoding; memory
Stimulus
any SENSATION that enters brain
-any info we can respond to
Habituation
I’m becoming used to a stimulus so my BEHAVIOR in response to that stimulus is lessened
ex) noisy construction workers outside- first frustrated, then we get used to it = less agitated, don’t cover ears as much (behavior change)
Dishabituation- construction workers take a day off, geez it’s quiet
-stimulus is interrupted w/ something; lack of stimulus or changed stimulus
-when workers come back, i’m annoyed again
(dishabituation = when interrupted and reintroduced, response increases again)
ex) Pavlov dogs- ring a bell, salivate, salivate less over time w/ bell, new sound, bell = salivate a lot again
Types of learning
ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING
1) ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING- associate something in outside world w/ behavior
a) classical conditioning
UCS = UCR (food = salivate)
NS = no resp (bell = no resp)
CS = CR (bell = salivate)
-not creating new response, just response it already knows how to do but in response to a different stimulus
b) operant conditioning
- reinforcement or punishment to create NEW behavior
Pos/neg = add/substract stimulus Reinforce = increase behavior, punish = decrease behavior
Jobs are operant conditioning
Neg punishment = extinction; ex- grounding
Neg reinforcement = avoidance or escape
-escape = remove something unpleasant which is already happening
(ex- aspirin decrease headache)
-avoidance = avoid bad outcome in future
(ex- study for test bc dont wanna fail)
Pos punishment is aversive conditioning
Reinforcement schedules
-Fixed vs Variable, Ratio vs Interval
- Fixed = after this many behaviors, reward
- Variable = changes
- Ratio = after this number of behaviors
- Interval = time
Commission = fixed ratio; paid biweekly = fixed interval/salary
Variable ratio = lottery, gambling = STRONGEST
Variable interval = fishing
Variable stronger than fixed, ratio stronger than interval
Variable = smooth behavior, ratio = rough
Factors in Associative learning
- LATENT learning = learn by watching someone w/o actually doing it
ex) driving
-PROBLEM SOLVING - most complicated- step back, observe, one decisive action- w/o trial and error
This is how the mcat works :(
Learning or not learning behavior:
PREPAREDNESS- ability to train animal to do task
-based on operant conditionig
-start w/ something instinctive for it first
INSTINCTIVE DRIFT- you can only go so far against the natural inclination of that animal
ex) racoon take coin to piggy bank, lower, won’t drop bc thats how they clean food
Observational Learning
- you learn what you do by watching others
- can mimic
Mirror neurons- yawning
-in motor cortex (when you see someone moving, you feel like you are) and somatosensory cortex (when see someone in pain..)
modeling learning- watching someone do something and learning that as an acceptable way to behave
Bandura’s Bobo Doll expt
Stages of Memory
- Encoding
- Storage
- Retrieval
- Forgetting
Encoding
- New info from memory
- Automatic Processing = get info w/o processing; unintentional
-Controlled (effortful) processing = visual encoding, acoustic encoding, elaborative encoding (link to knowledge already in memory). semantic encoding (meaningful context; self-reference effect = easier to remember when in context of our life)
Aid encoding by
-group in meaningful ways
-maintenance rehearsal = repeat
—in working memory to prevent forgetting, or store it in short term and eventually long term
-mnemonics: acronyms, method of loci = associate each time in list w/ location along a route
ex- grocery list- imagine spilling things as you walk
-peg-word system- associate numbers with items that rhyme/resemble numbers
sun, shoe, tree- nature
clustering/chunking- take individual elements of larger list - letters backwards flipped is words; memorize chunks
Human Memory
a) sensory memory - <1 sec
b) short term memory- < 1 min
- —–leads to working memory
c) long term memory
LTM split into explicit (conscious) and implicit (unconscious) memory
—-implicit includes procedural memory = skills, tasks + operant conditioning + CRs
explicit= declarative (facts; events)
Declarative split into episodic memory (events & experiences- not just yours) and semantic memory (facts, concepts = encoding) + autobiographical memory- things that happened to you; spatial memory- how to get places
Sensory memory
iconic = visual echoic = auditory
eidetic memory = precisely recall image after brief exposure
-extreme form of iconic; lasts a few minutes
Testing iconic memory
whole report = expose to stimulus, remember everything= hard
partial report = stimulus/arrow, remember a small part = perfect recollection
Short term memory
STM = hippocampus
memory capacity = 7 +/- 2
Working memory
- related to STM, hippocampus
- keep few pieces of info in conscience simultaneously, manipulate info
frontal + parietal- attention, executive function
-see missing puzzle piece and fill in mind
kind of STM
manipulation- ex) doing mental math, carry 1 in head
Long Term Memory
elaborative rehearsal = associate info to knowledge already in LTM = semantic links; long term potentiation (stronger synapses as repeat/recent)
(vs maintainance rehearsal = repetition)
implicit = nondeclarative/procedural
Retrieval
Recall - less reliable than recognition
Recall- here’s a list of words, you learned it, now list em back
Beginning of list = primacy effect
Recognition - “was apple on a list?” - easier to do
Ebbinghaus - relearn, spacing effect
-relearn- recall from yesterday was poor but learned it a lot faster
spacing- longer time b/w learning = retain better (=cramming is bad)
Semantic networks- neurobio; priming-
- all info you get put into schema- they have a node in a semantic network
- when activate one, activate similar meaning things (spreading activation)
ex) think red, remember other colors, remember roses, firetruck
Priming- present subconsciously first
-subliminal consciousness
recall cue- ex) flash red real fast, then ask which is a vehicle, notice firetruck before school bus
context effect- memory is aiding by being in the physical location where encoding took place (do better on exam if exam is in same room that class was)
source monitoring = part of retrieval- find origin of memories; are they factual/real/accurate or fictional
state-dependent memory/effect= perform better when in same mental state when info was learned
ex) bad mood = negative memories = worse mood
serial positioning effect- primacy and recency effect
Amnesia
forgetting
source amnesia = i forgot where/when i learned this
Alzheimers
neurofibrillary tangles B-amyloid plaques sundowning = more dysfunction in evening progressive dementia Loss of ACh in neurons that link to hippocampus/memory
Korsakoff’s syndrome
thiamine deficiency/B1 deficiency
- retrograde and anterograde amnesia
- confabulation-creating vivid, fabricated memories to fill gaps
Agnosia
loss of ability to recognize objects/people/sounds
-physical damage, stroke, MS
Decay
-loss of memories over time
Ebbinghaus’s forgetting curve/retention function
-drop then level
Interference - memory loss- similar info
proactive interference- old info interferes w/ new learning
retroactive- new info makes us forget ol info
Prospective memory
remember to perform task in future
Memory reconstruction
- reproductive memory- record of experiences- not how our brain works
- reconstructive memory- why 2 people recall same event in different ways; affected by imagination, semantic memory, perception
false memory- incorrectly recalling things
recovered memories- repressed memories brought back to conscience
Misinformation effect
- a person’s recall of event becomes less accurate due to injection of outside info into memory
ex) see stopped car at yield sign, talk about stop signs, they insist there was a stop sign
Intrusion errors
- false memories w/ false details
- not from outside source vs misinformation effect from outside
Source-monitoring error
confusion b/w semantic and episodic memory
ex) i remember this happened (to someone else) but i thought it happened to me
Neuroplasticity
-neural connections- can reorganize rapidly esp in response to injury
Synaptic pruning
- as we grow older, weaker neural connections are broken, strong ones are strengthened
- NMDA for synaptic connections (glu)
Long term potentiation
-strengthen neural connections through repeated use
-LTM
-as you use nodes in semantic nodes, the ones you use are strengthened- more efficient at releasing nt etc
use it or lose it
