Concepts & History Flashcards
Difference between learning and memory
Learning - Process of acquiring new info
Memory - Persistence of learning that can be revealed again later
True or false? Learning/memory is only inferred
True - It’s unobservable
We can only observe experience and behaviour outcome
Ebbinghaus
Nonsense syllables
Forgetting curve
Nonsense syllables designed to he meaningless so they could be learned without prior knowledge
Found:
- More practice = Higher test performance
- Spaced repetition = More retention
- Forgetting curve - Substantial forgetting occurs in first hour but then recall becomes more stable over time
Product of 2 memory traces in forgetting curve
(Ebbinghaus)
Short term memory trace decays rap doy
Long term memory trace decays more slowly
Psychological vs neurobiological approach
Looks at relationship between experience and behaviour (Treats brain as black box + doesn’t look at change in brain)
Relate learning in memory to events happening in brain (memory traces have physical basis in brain)
Théodule Ribot
Ribot’s Law
In brain diseases; memory disappears in orderly fashion (temporal progression)
- Old memories more resistant to disease/disruption
1) Recent memories
2) Autobiographical / Personal memories
3) Habits, skills
4) Emotional memories
Sergei Korsakoff
Korsakoff’s syndrome
Interpretations of anterograde amnesia
Abnormal level of alcohol consumption causing anterograde amnesia (no new memories)
1) Impairments in processes needed to establish and retain memory (Memory trace not formed)
2) Impairments in processes needed to access previously established memory trace (Memory trace reactivation not working)
William James
After images, primary memory, secondary memory (memory proper)
1) Briefly lasting sensation
2) Persisting representation of the experience part of the stream of consciousness
- Memory here is never lost
3) In unconsciousness but can be later retrieved
Camillo Golgi
Reticulum theory
Nerve tissues were organized in a continuous network rather than independent units
- Dendrites were connected to blood vessels and provided nutrients to cell
- Axons were continuous and fused
Ramón y Cajal
Neuron Doctrine
1) Neuron is an independent unit composed of cell body, dendrites, axons
2) Axons can travel short or long distances but always terminated at specific locations among the dendrites
3) Synapse - Axon endings were adjacent to dendrites but not fused
Ivan Pavlov
Associative learning / Classical conditioning
Stimulus paired w/ significant event that causes unconditioned response eventually causes stimulus-response pairing
Edward Thorndike
Instrumental learning
Puzzle box
Law of Effect
Learning based on the consequences of our actions
Cat in a puzzle box learns to escape based on trial and error, getting faster over time
Correct behav learned bcuz eventual success strengthened connections between stimulus and correct response
- Causes connection between stimulus and unsuccessful response to weaken
