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MCAT > Behavioral Sciences Ch3 > Flashcards

Behavioral Sciences Ch3 Flashcards

1
Q

Learning

A

The way in which we acquire new behaviour

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2
Q

Stimulus

A

Anything to which an organism can respond

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3
Q

Associative learning

A

The creation of a pairing or association, either between two stimuli or between a behaviour and a response

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4
Q

Classic Conditioning

A

A type of associative learning that takes advantage of biological , instinctual response to create association between two unrelated stimuli

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5
Q

Unconditioned stimulus

A

Any stimulus that brings about a reflexive response

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6
Q

Unconditioned response

A

The innate, reflexive response to a stimuli

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7
Q

Conditioned Stimulus

A

A normal neutral stimulus that, through association, now causes a reflexive response

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8
Q

Conditioned response

A

Reflexive response that occurs in result to a conditioned stimulus

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9
Q

Acquisition

A

The process of using a reflexive, unconditioned stimulus to turn a neutral stimulus into a conditioned stimulus

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10
Q

Extinction

A

The loss of a conditioned response and can occur if the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus

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11
Q

Spontaneous Recovery

A

After some time, presenting subjects again with an extinct conditioned stimulus will sometimes produce a weak condition response

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12
Q

Generalization

A

A broadening effect by which a stimulus similar enough to the condition stimulus can also produce the conditioned response

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13
Q

Stimuli Discrimination

A

An organism learns to distinguish between similar stimuli

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14
Q

Operant Conditioning

A

Examines the ways in which consequences of voluntary behaviours change the frequency of those behaviours

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15
Q

Reinforcement

A

The process of increasing the likelihood that an animal will perform a behaviour

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16
Q

Positive reinforcers

A

Increase the frequency of a behavior by adding a positive consequence or incentive following the desired behaviour

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17
Q

Negative Reinforcers

A

Increase the frequency of a behaviour, but they do so by removing something unpleasant

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18
Q

Escape Learning

A

A situation where the animal experiences the unpleasant stimulus and, in response displays the desire behaviour in order to trigger the removal of the stimulus

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19
Q

Avoidance Learning

A

When the animal displays the desired behaviour in anticipation of the unpleasant stimulus, thereby avoiding the unpleasant stimulus

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20
Q

Discriminative Stimulus

A

Indicates that reward is potentially available in an operant conditioning paradigm

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21
Q

Positive Punishment

A

Adds an unpleasant consequence in response to a behaviour to reduce that behaviour

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22
Q

Negative Punishment

A

Removing a stimulus in order to cause reduction of a behaviour

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23
Q

Fixed-ratio Schedules

A

Reinforce a behaviour after a specific number of performances of that behaviour

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24
Q

Continuous Reinforcement

A

A fixed-ratio schedule in which the behaviour is rewarded every time it is performed

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25
Q

Variable-ratio Schedules

A

A behaviour after a varying number of performances of the behaviour, but such that the average number of performances to receive a reward is relatively constant

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26
Q

Fixed-interval Schedule

A

Reinforce the first instance of a behaviour after a specified time period has elapsed

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27
Q

Variable-interval Schedule

A

Reinforce a behaviour the first time that behaviour is performed after varying interval of time

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28
Q

Which reinforcement schedule works fastest for learning a new behaviour

A

Variable-ratio

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29
Q

Shaping

A

The process of rewarding increasingly specific behaviours that become closer to a desire response

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30
Q

Latent Learning

A

Learning that occurs without a reward but that is spontaneously demonstrated once a reward is introduced

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31
Q

Instinctive drift

A

When animals revert to an instinctive behaviour after learning a new behaviour that is similar

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32
Q

Observational learning

A

The process of learning a new behaviour or gaining information by watching others

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33
Q

Mirror Neurons

A

Neurons located in the frontal and parietal lobes of the cerebral cortex and fire both when an individual performs an action and when that individual observes someone else performing that action

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34
Q

Encoding

A

The process of putting new information into memory

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35
Q

Automatic processing

A

Information gained without any effort

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36
Q

Controlled processing

A

AKA effortful processing
- Information actively memorized

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37
Q

Visual encoding

A

Encoding visual information

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38
Q

Acoustic Encoding

A

Encoding sounds

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39
Q

Elaborative encoding

A

Linking new encoded information to knowledge that is already in memory

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40
Q

Sematic Encoding

A

encoding meaningful context

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41
Q

Self-reference effect

A

Put it into the content of our own lives

42
Q

Maintenance rehearsal

A

The repetition of a piece of information to either keep it within working memory or to store it in short-term and eventually log-term memory

43
Q

Mnemonics

A

acronyms or rhyming phrases that provide a vivid organization of the information one is trying to remember

44
Q

Method of Loci

A

Involves associating each item in a list which a location along a route through a building that has already been memorized

45
Q

Peg-word system

A

Associates numbers with items that rhyme with or resemble the numbers

46
Q

Chunking

A

A memory trick that involves taking individual elements of a larger list and grouping them together into group of elements with related meaning

47
Q

Sensory memory

A

Preserves information in its original sensory form with high accuracy and lasts only a very short time
- first and most fleeting type of memory

48
Q

Iconic Memeory

A

Fast decaying memory of visual stimuli

49
Q

Echoic Memory

A

Fast-decaying memory of auditory stimuli

50
Q

Short-term memory

A
  • Information we pay attention to
  • Memory fades quickly
  • 30 seconds without rehearsal
51
Q

Memory Capacity

A

Limited to 7 +/- 2

52
Q

Hippocampus

A

Houses short-term memory and is responsible for consolidation of short-term memory into long-term memory

53
Q

Working memory

A
  • Enables us to keep a few pieces of information in our consciousness simultaneously and to manipulate that information
  • integrates short-term memory, attention, and executive function
  • supported by the hippocampus, with frontal and parietal lobes involved
54
Q

Long term memory

A

Limitless warehouse for knowledge that we are the able to recall on demand

55
Q

Elaborative Rehearsal

A

The association of the information to knowledge already stored in long-term memory

56
Q

Implicit memory

A

Consists of our skills, habits, and conditioned responses, none of which need to be consciously recalled

57
Q

Procedural memory

A

Relates to our unconscious memory of the skills required to complete procedural tasks

58
Q

Priming

A

Involves the presentation of one stimulus affecting the perception of a second stimulus

59
Q

Positive priming

A

when exposure to the first stimulus improves processing the second stimulus

60
Q

Negative priming

A

The first stimulus interferes with the processing of the second stimulus resulting in slower response times and more errors

61
Q

Explicit memory

A

Consists of those memories that require conscious recallE

62
Q

Episodic Memory

A

To our recollection of life experiences

63
Q

Semantic Memory

A

Ideas, concepts, or facts that we know

64
Q

Autobiographical Memory

A

the name given to our explicit memories about our lives and ourselves

65
Q

Retrieval

A

Process of demonstrating that something that has been learned has been retained
- can be demonstrated through statements of information, recognition or quick relearning

66
Q

Recognition

A

The process of merely identifying a piece of information that was previously learned

67
Q

Relearning

A

Another way of demonstrating that information has been stored in long-term memory

68
Q

Spacing effect

A

the longer the amount of time between sessions of relearning, the greater the retention of the infomration later of

69
Q

Semantic Network

A

Concepts are linked together based on similar meaning

70
Q

Spreading activation

A

When one node of our semantic network is activated, the other linked concepts around it are also unconsciously activated

71
Q

Recall cue

A

using the presentation of a word or phrase that is close to the desired semantic memory to aid recall

72
Q

Context effect

A

Memory is aided by being in the physical location where encoding took place

73
Q

Source monitoring

A

A part of the retrieval process that involves determining the origin of memories, and whether they are factual or fictional

74
Q

State-dependent effect

A

A retrieval cue based on performing better when in the same mental state as when the information was learned

75
Q

Serial-position effect

A

Position in the list affect participants’ ability to recall

76
Q

Primacy and recency effect

A

Strong recall for the first few items on a list later recalled, and last few items
- however, memory of last few fades as the recency effect is a result of short-term memory

77
Q

Amnesia

A

A significant loss of memorized information

78
Q

Source amnesia

A

The inability to remember where, when, or how one has obtained knowledge

79
Q

Alzheimer’s disease

A

A degenerative brain disorder thought to be linked to a loss of acetylcholine in neurons that link to the hippocampus
- Marked by progressive dementia and memory loss, with atrophy of the brain
- occurs in retrograde fashion, with most recent memories before distant memories
- Associated with neurofibrillary tangles and beta-amyloid plaques

80
Q

Sundowning

A

An increase in dysfunction i the late afternoon and evening in Alzheimer’s patients

81
Q

Korsakoff’s Syndrome

A

Form of memory loss caused by thiamine deficiency in the brain
- marked by both retrograde and anterograde amnesia
- confabulation is another symptom

82
Q

Confabulation

A

the process of creating vivid but fabricated memories

83
Q

Agnosia

A

The loss of the ability to recognize objects, people, or sounds, though usually only one of the three

84
Q

Decay

A

Memories are simply lost naturally over time as the neurochemical trace of a short-term memory fades

85
Q

Retention function

A

Natural curve of forgetting

86
Q

Interference

A

A retrieval error caused by the existence of other, usually similar, information

87
Q

Proactive interference

A

Old information is interfering with new learning

88
Q

Retroactive inference

A

When new information causes forgetting of old information

89
Q

Aging and memory

A
  • Aging does not necessarily lead to significant memory loss
  • People in their 70s and 80s tend to say that their most vivid memories are of events that occurred in their 20s suggesting it to be the peak period of encoding in a person’s life
90
Q

Prospective memory

A

Remembering to perform a task at some point in the future
- most intact when it is event based
- time-based prospective memory declines with age

91
Q

Reproductive Memory

A

A record of our experiences or a kind of video recording that is stored to be accessed later

92
Q

Reconstructive memory

A

A theory of memory recall in which cognitive processes such as imagination, semantic memory, and perception affect the act of remembering

93
Q

False Memory

A

A memory that incorrectly recalls actual events or recalls events that never occured

94
Q

Recovered Memeories

A

Repressed memories, memories stored I the unconscious mind and blocked from recall brought back into our conscious mind either spontaneously or through psychotherapy

95
Q

Misinformation effect

A

A person’s recall of an event becomes less accurate due to the injection of outside information into the memory

96
Q

Intrusion errors

A

False memories that have included a false detail into a particular memory
- Intruding memory is injected into original memory due to both memories being related or sharing a theme

97
Q

Source-monitoring error

A

Confusion between semantic and episodic memory
- a person remembers the details of an event, but confuses the context under which those details were gained

98
Q

Neuroplasticity

A

Neural connections form rapidly in response to stimulus

99
Q

Synaptic Pruning

A

As we grow older, weak neural connections are broken while strong ones are bolstered, increasing the efficiency of our brains’ ability to process information

100
Q

Long-term potentiation

A

The strengthening of neural connections through repeated use
- believed to be the neurophysiological basis of long-term memory

MCAT (12 decks)

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