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MCAT Behavioral Sciences > Chapter 3: Learning and Memory > Flashcards

Chapter 3: Learning and Memory Flashcards

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MCAT flashcards
1
Q

What is learning?

A

The way we acquire new behaviors

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2
Q

What is habituation?

A

A decrease in response due to repeated exposure to the same stimulus

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3
Q

A stimulus that is too weak to elicit a response is called a ?

A

Subthreshold stimulus

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4
Q

What is dishabituation?

A

The recovery of a response to a stimulus after habituation has occurred

When a 2nd stimulus is presented during habituation of 1st stimulus

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5
Q

When does dishabituation usually happen?

A

Late in th habituation of a stimulus

The presentation of a different stimulus causes dishabituation

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6
Q

What is associative learning?

A

The association or pairing between 2 stimuli or between a behavior and response

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7
Q

What are the 2 main types of associative learning?

A
  1. Classical conditioning
  2. Operant conditioning
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8
Q

Any stimulus that brings about a reflexive response is called an ____________________ stimulus.

A

Unconditioned

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9
Q

The innate or reflexive response is called an ____________________ stimulus.

A

Unconditioned

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10
Q

Many stimuli do not produce a reflexive resopnse and are known as ________ stimuli.

A

Neutral

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11
Q

A normally neutral stimulus that, through association, causes a reflexive response, is called a ____________________ stimulus.

A

Conditioned

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12
Q

The response to a conditioned stimulus is called a ____________________ response.

A

Conditioned

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13
Q

The process of using a reflexive, unconditioned stimulus to turn a neutral stimulus into a conditioned stimulus is called ____________________.

A

Acquisition

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14
Q

Conditioned responses don’t have to be permanent; the loss of a conditioned response is called ____________________.

A

Extinction

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15
Q

What causes extinction?

A

If the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus

e.g. bell rings, but no meat presented to dog

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16
Q

The extinction of a response is not always permanent; presenting subjects again with an extinct conditioned stimulus can cause a weak conditioned response. This is called ____________________ ___________.

A

Spontaneous recovery

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17
Q

What is generalization?

A

A stimulus similar enough to the conditioned stimulus can also produce the conditioned response

Broadening effect

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18
Q

What is stimuli discrimination?

A

Organism learns to distinguish between similar stimuli

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19
Q

What is operatn conditioning?

A

The ways in which consequences of voluntary behaviros change the frequency of those behaviors

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20
Q

What theory did B.F. Skinner found and what is it about?

A

Behaviorism - all behaviors are conditioned

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21
Q

A stimulus that is added is considered ____________.

A

Positive

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22
Q

A stimulus that is taken away / removed is considered ____________.

A

Negative

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23
Q

When a behavior continues, this is considered ____________________. This increases the likelihood that an animal will perform a behavior.

A

Reinforcement

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24
Q

When a behavior stops, this is considered ____________.

A

Punishment

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25
Q

What is a positive reinforcer?

A

Increases behavior by presenting a positive incentive/consequence

e.g. money

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26
Q

What is a negative reinforcer?

A

Increase the frequency of a behavior by taking something unpleasant away

e.g. taking an aspirin to reduce a headache

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27
Q

What is escape learning?

A

An animal experiences an unpleasant stimulus and displays a desired behavior in order to trigger the removal of a stimulus

A type of negative reinforcement

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28
Q

What is avoidance learning?

A

An animal displays the desired behavior in anticipation of the unpleasant stimulus (in order to avoid it)

Another type of negative reinforcement

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29
Q

Based on the types of negative reinforcement

________________ learning often develops from multiple experiences of ________ learning.

A

Avoidance; Escape

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30
Q

A primary reinforcer is a stimulus that an animal responds to ________________. It can be associated with a ________________ reinforcer, also known as a ________________ reinforcer.

A

Naturally; conditioned, secondary

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31
Q

What is positive punishment?

aka ____________ conditioning

A

Adds an unpleasant consequence in response to a behavior that reduces the behavior

also known as aversive conditioning

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32
Q

What is negative punishment?

A

Removing a stimulus in order to cause reduction of a behavior

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33
Q

The rate at which desired behaviors are acquired is also affected by the ________________________ schedule.

The 2 key factors involved are:

A

Reinforcement

fixed/variable and ratio/interval

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34
Q

What is a fixed-ratio schedule?

A

Reinforces a behavior after a specific number of performance of that behavior

e.g. continuous reinforcement

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35
Q

What is a variable-ratio schedule?

A

Reinforces a behavior after a random number of performances of the behavior

Results in highest rates of response
Most resistant to extinction

Very Rapid and Very Resistant to extinction

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36
Q

What is a fixed-interval schedule?

A

Reinforces the first instance of a behavior after a specified time period has elapsed

e.g. give pellet to rat after specified time period

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37
Q

What is a variable-interval schedule?

A

Reinforces a behavior the first time that behavior is performed after a random interval of time

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38
Q

Fixed or variable

________ schedules often have a breif moment of no response after the behavior is reinforced.

A

Fixed

39
Q

What is shaping?

A

Rewarding increasingly specific behaviors that become closer to a desired response

40
Q

What is latent learning?

Example?

A

Occurs without a reward but is spontaneously demonstrated once a reward is introduced

rats running through a maze with a reward

41
Q

Animals learn behaviors that best conicide iwth their natural behaviors, this is called ________________.

e.g. rewarding pecking-based behavior in birds

A

Preparedness

42
Q

When animals revert to an instinctive behavior after learning a new similar behavior, this is called ________________ drift.

A

Instinctive

43
Q

What is observational behavior?

A

Learning a new behavior or gaining information by watching others

44
Q

What type of neurons are associated with observational learning? Where are they located?

A

Mirror neurons; frontal and parietal lobes

45
Q

Information gained without any effort is the result of ________________ ________________

A

Automatic processing

46
Q

Active memorization, e.g. via flashcards, is called ________________ ________________.

A

Controlled/effortful processing

47
Q

Types of encoding:
* Visualize information = ____________ encoding
* The way it sounds = ____________ encoding
* Link to preexisting knowledge = ____________ encoding
* Put it into meaningful context = ____________ encoding

A

visual
acoustic
elaborative
semantic

48
Q

Which type of encoding it the strongest and most visual?

A

Semantic encoding

49
Q

We tend to recall info best when we put it in the context of our own lives, this is called ________________________ effect.

A

self-reference

50
Q

What is maintenance rehearsal?

A

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

51
Q

What is the method of loci?

Sherlock’s mind palace

A

Associating each item in a list with a location along a route through a building that has already been memorized

Sherlock’s mind palace

52
Q

What is the peg-word system?

A

Associates numbers with items that rhyme with or resemble the numbers

53
Q

What is chunking?

A

Taking individual elements of a large list and grouping them together into groups that have meaning

54
Q

Which type of memory is the most fleeting? What are the 2 types?

A

Sensory memory
* Iconic memory (visual)
* Echoic memory (auditory)

55
Q

Our memory capacity is limited to approximately (how many?) items, usually stated as the ____________ rule.

A

7_+_2 rule.

56
Q

Short-term memory is housed primarily in the ________________, which is also responsible for the consolidation of short-term into long-term memory.

A

Hippocampus

57
Q

What is working memory?

A

Enables us to keep a few pieces of info in our consciousness simultaneously and to manipulate that information

58
Q

What is one of the ways that information is consolidated into long-term memory?

A

Elaborative rehearsal

59
Q

What are the 2 types of long-term memory?

What are they also known as?

A

Implicit and explicit

Non-declarative and declarative

60
Q

What is implicit memory?

A

Skills, habits, and conditioned responses - nothing that needs to be consciously recalled

61
Q

Implicit memory includes ____________ memory, which relates to our unconscious memory of the skills required to complete ____________ tasks, and ____________, which involves the presentation of 1 stimulus affecting perception of a second.

A

procedural, procedural; priming

62
Q

What is positive priming?

A

When exposure to the first stimulus improves processing of the 2nd stimulus

exemplified by decreased response time, less errors

63
Q

What is negative priming?

A

First stimulus interferes with processing of second stimulus

exemplified by slower response time, more errors

64
Q

What is explicit memory?

aka?

A

Memories that require conscious recall

declarative

65
Q

What are the two types of explicit memory?

A

episodic and semantic

66
Q

What is episodic memory?

A

Recollection of life experiences

67
Q

What is semantic memory?

A

Ideas, concepts, or facts that we know, but are not tied to specific life experiences

68
Q

The brain organizes ideas into a ____________ network. When one node of this network is activated, this is called ____________ activation. This activation is at the heart of positive priming, as recall is aided by first being presented with a word or phrase, a ____________ ____, that is close to the desired semantic memory.

A

semantic; spreading; recall cue

69
Q

Another common retrieval cue is ____________ effect, where memory is aided by being in the physical location where encoding took place.

A

encoding

e.g. taking an exam where you went to lecture

70
Q

Similar to context effect, ____________ ________________ is part of the retrieval process that involves determining the origin of memories, and whether they are factual (real and accurate) or ficitonal (from a dream, novel, or movie).

A

source monitoring

71
Q

What is state-dependent memory?

A

A retrieval cue; you perform better when in the same mental state as when the information was learned

if you learn something drunk, you remember it better when you’re drunk

72
Q

What is serial position effect?

What effects specifically?

A

You remember first and last items on list more

Primacy and recency effects

73
Q

Which neurotransmitter deficiency is associated with Alzheimer’s disease?

A

acetylcholine

74
Q

Microscopic findings of Alzheimer’s include ________________ tangles and _-_________ plaques.

A

neurofibrillary; β-amyloid

75
Q

An increase in dysfunction in the late afternoon and evening that is associated with middle- to late-stage Alzheimer’s is called _________________.

A

Sundowning

76
Q

A form of memory loss caused by thiamine deficiency in the brain is ________________ syndrome.

A

Korsakoff’s

77
Q

The loss of previously formed memories is ________________ ________________.

A

Retrograde amnesia

78
Q

The inability to form new memories is ________________ ________________.

A

Anterograde amnesia

79
Q

The process of creating vivid but fabricated memories is ________________.

A

Confabulation

an attempt made by the brain to fill in the gaps of missing memories

80
Q

____________ is the loss of the ability to recognize objects, people, or sounds, though usually only 1 of the 3.

A

Agnosia

81
Q

What usually causes agnosia?

A

physical damage to the brain, e.g. stroke, neurological disorder

82
Q

Ebbinghaus noted a “curve of forgetting,” formalled called the ______________ ______________.

A

Retention function

Memories are simply lost naturally over time - this is called decay

83
Q

A retrieval error caused by the existence of other, usually similar, information, is called ________________.

A

Interference

84
Q

When we experience ________________ interference, old information is interfering with new learning.

A

Proactive

e.g. you move to a new address, but keep recalling your old address

85
Q

When new information causes forgetting of old information, this is called ________________ interference.

A

Retroactive

ex. teachers try to remember new names, causes them to forget old names

86
Q

________________ memory remains mostly intact in old age if triggered by a certain event, e.g. passing by a store and remembering to stop in, but tends to decline when it is time-based, e.g. having to take meds at a certain time.

A

Prospective

87
Q

The accurate recall of past events is defined as ________________ memory.

A

Reproductive

88
Q

________________ memory is a theory of memory recall in which cognitive processes such as imagination, semantic memory, and perception affect the act of remembering.

What does this explain?

A

Reconstructive

Explains how 2 people recall the same event in different ways

89
Q

________________ effect = a person’s recall of an event becomes less accurate due to the injection of outside information into the memory

A

Misinformation

90
Q

________________ errors refers to false memories that have included a false detail into a particular memory.

A

Intrusion

91
Q

How are intrusion errors different than the misinformation effect?

A

Intrusion errors are not from an outside source, instead, they are due to memories being related or sharing a theme

92
Q

As our brains develop, neural connections form rapidly in response to stimuli via a phenomenon called ____________________.

A

Neuroplasticity

93
Q

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

A

Synaptic pruning

94
Q

The strengthening of neural connections through repeated use is known as ________-________ _____________________.

A

Long-term potentiation

MCAT Behavioral Sciences (12 decks)

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