Chapter 14 - Learning and Memory

Question 1

learning

Answer 1

a relatively permanent change in behavior as a result of experience

Question 2

memory

Answer 2

ability to recall or recognize previous experiences

Question 3

memory traces or engrams

Answer 3

occur both at the level of synapses through synaptogenesis and the level or neurons (neurogenesis). physical changes in the brain that caused by mental representations

Question 4

classical conditioning

Answer 4

learning procedure in which a neutral stimulus induces a response after its repeated pairing with some event

Question 5

neutral stimulus (NS)

Answer 5

any stimulus that does not elicit a conditioned response prior to the acquisition phase

Question 6

unconditioned stimulus (US)

Answer 6

the stimulus that automatically elicits an unconditioned response

Question 7

unconditioned response (UR)

Answer 7

the unlearned, automatic response evoked by an unconditioned stimulus

Question 8

conditioned stilmus (CS)

Answer 8

an originally neutral stimulus that evokes the conditioned response after a learning process

Question 9

conditioned response (CR)

Answer 9

a response evoked by an originally neutral stimulus associated with the unconditioned stimulus after a learning process

Question 10

operant conditioning

Answer 10

is a learning procedure based on reinforcement. the consequences of certain behavior increase or decrease the chance that the behavior shown will take place again

Question 11

implicit memory

Answer 11

unconscious memory. individuals can retrieve knowledge such as a skill, conditioned response, or event recall, but explicit retrieval is not possible. part of LTM

Question 12

explicit memory

Answer 12

conscious memory. individuals can retrieve an explicit memory and indicate that they know the retrieved subject is correct. part of LTM
- semantic memory
- episodic memory

Question 13

semantic memory

Answer 13

memory about facts

Question 14

episodic memory

Answer 14

memory about personal experiences

Question 15

patients with amnesia

Answer 15

partial or total loss of memory. they perform normal levels on tests of implicit memory. this indicates that there is a dissociation between the memory of the unconscious (implicit) learning and the conscious (explicit) recollection of the training

Question 16

declarative memory

Answer 16

the ability to recount what one knows

Question 17

procedural memory

Answer 17

the ability to perform a task and remember how to perform a movement or behavior

Question 18

emotional memory

Answer 18

stores affective properties of stimuli or events; it is vivid and is both conscious and unconscious. part of LTM

Question 19

anterograde amnesia

Answer 19

no storage of new memories, starting from a certain point in time

Question 20

retrograde amnesia

Answer 20

less of existing memories; some memories may remain

Question 21

Korsakoff syndrome

Answer 21

when people who abuse alcohol develop disturbances of the explicit memory. caused by the deficiency of thiamine

Question 22

encoding

Answer 22

occurs when information changes into a form that can be stored in the brain

Question 23

storage

Answer 23

this is the formation of a relatively permanent representation. this process required structural changes in the brain

Question 24

recall

Answer 24

this is the retrieval of memories and the integration with existing memories

Question 25

locating memory traces

Answer 25

Karl Lashley searched for it for a long time but never found it. he performed brain lesions on rats. this showed that memory cannot be attributed to a single cortical area and that it is distributed throughout the cortex

Question 26

medial areas that take part in explicit memory

Answer 26

• hippocampus and amygdala
• perirhinal cortex
• parahippocampal cortex
• enthorhinal cortex

Question 27

perirhinal cortex

Answer 27

involved in visual object memory

Question 28

parahippocampal cortex

Answer 28

involved in visuospatial memory, which is the ability to use visual information to recall an objects location in space

Question 29

enthorhinal cortex

Answer 29

provides major route for neocortical input to the hippocampal formation

Question 30

hippocampus

Answer 30

mainly involved in spatial memory

Question 31

consolidation of explicit reminders

Answer 31

there is an idea that the hippocampus consolidates new memories, this is the process of stabilizing a memory trail after learning

Question 32

long term potentiation

Answer 32

a potential mechanism involved in learning and memory consolidation. LTP enhances transmission in existing synapses and enhances communication between neurons. two glutamate receptors are involved: AMPA and NMDA

Question 33

long term depression

Answer 33

a prolonged decrease in synaptic effectiveness due to little stimulation. it results in strong bursts of low frequency stimulation. LTD is a potential mechanism for clearing out old memories

Question 34

experience can change the brain in what two ways?

Answer 34

• it can modify existing circuitry through the creation of new synapses (synaptogenesis)
• it can create new circuitry (neurogenesis)

Question 35

motor learning

Answer 35

also influences brain plasticity: training fine motor skills changes the somatotopic arrangement in the motor cortex

Question 36

cortical reorganization

Answer 36

when the unused areas in the somatosensory cortex are taken over by adjacent areas

Question 37

psychoactive drugs

Answer 37

when taken repeatedly, it can lead to sensitisation, which may amplify behavioral effects due to increased dendritic growth

Question 38

ways to recover after brain damage

Answer 38

learning new ways to solve problems through behavioral adaptation, reorganizing existing neural circuits, and generating new neurons to create new neural circuits