Chapter 12 Flashcards
What are flashbulb memories?
Vivid, emotionally charged memories with high detail and stability (e.g., 9/11).
Are stronger due to high emotional arousal
What role do stress hormones play in memory?
They act as “tags” that mark memories as important, enhancing encoding and recall.
What are the three stages of memory and which stage do hormones affect?
Acquisition: receiving and encoding information
[intervention should happen before consolidation]
Consolidation: stabilization and storage in long-term memory
Retrieval: ability to access stored memories when needed
hormones affect all stages
What are the types of memory?
Short-term (WM): temporary storage
–>rehearsal moves info to L-T
Long-term: permanent storage [no known limit]
* procedural: memory for skills
* declarative: semantic and episodic (facts, events)
How do stress hormones affect memory types?
Help convert short-term to long-term memories, especially emotional ones.
What does the Yerkes-Dodson Law describe?
An inverted-U relationship between arousal and learning performance.
- best performance at moderate levels of arousal; too much/little impairs learning
Compare associative and non-associative learning
Associative–> Association between stimuli. ex: classical conditioning
Non-associative–>Learning based on a single stimulus
How does stress affect non-associative learning?
It can increase sensitization or inhibit habituation…depends on the context
How does classical conditioning work?
A neutral stimulus becomes associated with a meaningful one
1. US (ex food)–> UR (ex salivation)
[NS (ex bell)->no salivation]
conditioning: US + NS= salivation
2.CS (bell)–>CR (salivation)
What is operant conditioning?
Learning based on consequences—reinforcement increases behavior (reinforcement and punishment)
How do hormones influence associative learning?
Classical cond: stress hormones can strengthen neural connections
Operant: Hormones like dopamine enhance reward value and reinforce behaviors.
What is the role of hormones, such as cortisol, adrenaline and dopamine, in learning and memory?
- Impact the brain’s ability to encode, consolidate, and retrieve memories.
- Stress hormones play a particularly crucial role in emotional memory formation.
Compare active and passive avoidance.
Active: learning to perform a behavior to avoid a negative outcome [form of associative learning]
Passive: learning to inhibit a natural behavior to avoid unpleasant stimulus.
How is memory tested in passive avoidance tasks?
The amount of time the mouse stays in the illuminated compartment. The longer the mouse stays in the light, the stronger the memory of the noxious experience
What is fear conditioning?
Associating a neutral cue with an aversive stimulus (e.g., sound + shock → freezing).
What role do hormones play in fear conditioning?
Stress increases glucocorticoids, which affect memory strength.
What two pathways process fear in the brain (Joseph LeDoux)?
- Low Road: Fast (“quick and dirty”) amygdala response.
Stimuli–>thalamus–>amygdala–>emotion - High Road: Slow and precise sensory cortex activity. *cognitive evaluation
Stimuli–>thalamus–>sensory cortex–>amygdala–>emotion
How does the frontal lobe interact with the amygdala in fear responses?
It helps reinterpret the situation and suppress inappropriate fear.
What brain area is central to memory formation?
The medial temporal lobe, including the hippocampus.
Skill learning, Priming and Conditioning are all _________?
Procedural (implicit) learning
What is epinephrine and when is it released?
It’s a hormone and neurotransmitter released by the adrenal glands in response to stress.
What is Walter Cannon’s emergency theory?
Exposure to stress increases epinephrine secretion–helps body adapt to stress
What did post WWII research show on epinephrine and behavior?
Fear-induced paralysis in soldiers was linked to adrenal hormone discharge
Animal studies on aversive conditioning show linked between epinephrine and learning/memory
