Ch 3: Learning and Memory

Question 1

habituation

Answer 1

a decrease in response after repeated exposure to the same stimulus

Question 2

Dishabituation

Answer 2

• the recovery of a response to a stimulus after habituation has occurred, usually when a second stimulus is presented late in the habituation process of the first stimulus
• Example: highway driving and then exiting onto a different highway makes you aware of the stimuli on the new highway, even though it it more or less the same as the original one.
• Dishabituation is temporary and always refers to changes in response to the original stimulus, not the new one

Question 3

Associative Learning

Answer 3

• the creation of a pairing or association between two stimuli or between a behavior and a response
• Two types: classical and operant conditioning

Question 4

Classical conditioning

Answer 4

• a type of associative learning
• takes advantage of biological, instinctual responses to form associations between two unrelated stimuli
• Ivan Pavlov: Pavlov’s dogs

Question 5

Unconditioned stimulus

Answer 5

Part of classical conditioning (associative learning)

any stimulus that brings about a reflexive response (meat in Pavlov’s dogs)

Question 6

Unconditioned response

Answer 6

Part of classical conditioning (associative learning)

innate or reflexive response to stimuli (salivation in response to meat in Pavlov’s dogs)

Question 7

neutral stimuli

Answer 7

• Part of classical conditioning (associative learning)
• stimuli that do not produce a reflexive response
• can be referred to as signaling stimuli if they have the potential to be used as conditioning stimulus
• Bell ringing in the case of Pavlov’s dogs

Question 8

conditioned stimulus

Answer 8

Part of classical conditioning (associative learning)
a normally neutral stimulus that, through association, now causes a reflexive response called the conditioned response (dogs salivating at the sound of the bell in Pavlov’s dogs experiment)

Question 9

extinction

Answer 9

Part of classical conditioning (associative learning)
occurs when the conditioned stimulus is presented enough times without the unconditioned stimulus, leading to habituation of the conditioned stimulus aka extinction (dogs stop salivating to the bell)

Question 10

spontaneous recovery

Answer 10

Part of classical conditioning (associative learning)

recovering of a weak conditioned response to the originally conditioned stimulus some time after extinction

Question 11

Generalization (with experiment example)

Answer 11

• Part of classical conditioning (associative learning)
• a broadening effect where a stimulus that is similar enough to the conditioned stimulus results in the conditioned response
• Little Albert being afraid of all white fuzzy things because of a loud noise and a white mouse

Question 12

discrimination

Answer 12

Part of classical conditioning (associative learning)
an organism learns to distinguish between two similar stimuli
Example would be if pavlov’s dogs had two tones of bell- one with meat and one without

Question 13

Operant Conditioning

Answer 13

A type of associative learning which links voluntary behaviors with consequences in an effort to alter the frequency of those behaviors.
Associated with B.F. Skinner, considered the father of behaviorism

Question 14

Behaviorism

Answer 14

the theory that all behaviors are conditioned

BF Skinner is considered the father of Behaviorism

Question 15

Reinforcement

Answer 15

• process of increasing the likelihood that an individual will perform a behavior
• Reinforcers can be either positive or negative

Question 16

Positive reinforcement

Answer 16

increasing behavior by adding positive consequences or incentive following the desired behavior

Question 17

Negative Reinforcement

Answer 17

• increasing the frequency of a desired behavior by removing something unpleasant following the behavior.
• Divided into escape learning and avoidance learning

Question 18

escape learning

Answer 18

the role of the the behavior is to reduce the unpleasantness of something that already exists

Question 19

avoidance learning

Answer 19

the role of the behavior prevents something unpleasant from happening

Question 20

primary reinforcer

Answer 20

• a part of classical and operant conditioning
• a treat or positive reinforcement that the subject responds naturally to
• Example: meat for the dogs or fish for a dolphin

Question 21

Conditioned or secondary reinforcer

Answer 21

• a conditioned stimulus that elicits the same positive reinforcement as a primary enforcer
• Example: clicker=fish, bell=meat

Question 22

Discriminative Stimulus

Answer 22

• indicated that the reward is potentially available in an operant conditioning paradigm
• Example: the trainer being present, the Pavlov dog researcher being present

Question 23

Punishment

Answer 23

• conditioning in the attempt to reduce the occurrence of a behavior
• Can be positive or negative punishment

Question 24

Positive punishment

Answer 24

adds an unpleasant consequence to an undesired behavior such as flogging a thief

Question 25

Negative punishment

Answer 25

the reduction of a behavior through removing a pleasant stimulus such as a child being grounded from TV

Question 26

Factors that affect a reinforcement schedule and the 4 types

Answer 26

• whether the reinforcement is fixed or variable
• whether the reinforcement is based on ratio or an interval
• Fixed ratio schedules
• Variable ratio schedules
• Fixed interval schedules
• Variable interval schedules

Question 27

Fixed Ratio Schedules (FR)

Answer 27

• reinforce a behavior after a specific number of performances of that behavior
• Example: rat gets food every third time it presses the button
• Continuous reinforcement is a FR schedule where the behavior is rewarded every time

Question 28

Variable Ratio Schedules (VR)

Answer 28

reinforcement of the behavior does not occur in regular intervals, but the average number of performances to receive an award is relatively constant
- This type works the fastest for learning a behavior and is most resistant to extinction

Question 29

Fixed Interval Schedule (FI)

Answer 29

reinforce the first instance of a behavior after a specific time period has lapsed
example: rat gets food every time it presses the bar after 60 seconds. (bar, treat, 60 sec, bar. etc…)

Question 30

Variable Interval Schedule (VI)

Answer 30

reinforces the behavior the first time the behavior is performed after a varying amount of time.

Question 31

Shaping

Answer 31

Used in operant learning
the ides of rewarding increasingly specific behavior
takes a long time, but can train incredibly specific behaviors

Question 32

Latent Learning

Answer 32

• learning that occurs, but you don’t really see it (it’s not exhibited) until there is some reinforcement or incentive to demonstrate it.
• Example: riding in a car to school every day you learn the route, but you never drive so it is unnecessary to exhibit this knowledge until your driver gets sick and you must call upon the information.

Question 33

Problem Solving

Answer 33

trial and error method to learning outside the behaviorist approach

Question 34

Types of learning outside the behaviorist approach

Answer 34

• Latent
• Problem Solving
• preparedness

Question 35

Preparedness

Answer 35

the predisposition of a subject to learn (or not learn) behaviors that are based on their natural abilities or instincts

Question 36

Instinctive drift

Answer 36

difficulty in overcoming instinctual behavior when attempting to use opperant conditioning

Question 37

Observational Learning

Answer 37

• the process of learning through watching others
• Famous example: Bobo clown doll experiment (Albert Bandura)
• Note that observational learning is not just imitation because it can also be used to teach behavior avoidance if another person is punished for a behavior

Question 38

Neurological factors that affect observational learning

Answer 38

• Mirror Neurons: located in the frontal and parietal lobes. Fire when an individual performs an action or when they see someone else perform that action
• Modeling: do as I say AND as I do. People learn acceptable behavior by watching

Question 39

The tree major processes of forming memories

Answer 39

encoding
storage
retreival

Question 40

Controlled (effortful) processing

Answer 40

• actively working to gain information.
• Example studying flashcards.
• controlled processing can become automatic processing over time (Ex learning a new language)

Question 41

automatic processing

Answer 41

information gained without effort such as noticing the temperature or the route you take when walking home

Question 42

encoding

Answer 42

the process of putting new information into memory. Can occur vie controlled or automatic processing

Question 43

types of controlled processing

Answer 43

visual
acoustic
semantic- put into a meaningful context (strongest)

Question 44

self reference effect

Answer 44

we recall information best when we can put it into the context of our own lives

Question 45

sensory memory

Answer 45

• lasts only a very short time (under 1 second)

- consists of iconic (visual) and echoic (auditory) memory