exam 3 Flashcards
what was Thorndike known for and what were the predictions of what he would see
discrete operant trials for cats: hungry cats in puzzle boxes, hit latch, open door, get milk and measure the time to get the milk out
predictions on paper
what are the three things going on in Thorndike’s experiment
1) stimulus (seeing the latch)
2) response (pressing the lever)
3) reward (the milk)
what was Thorndike’s idea in the cat experiments
S -> R theory (reward is catalyst for reflex, the arrow)
reward “stamps in” the habit
why did S -> R become so popular
S -> R makes S the cause and the cause comes before R (this makes sense in terms of other sciences, cause -> effect relationship)
S -> R needs no mental states or expectations of the future
what are there three possible associations (memory contents) and in terms of the cat
- habit/reflex
1) S -> R: see latch -> hit it - expectations of future
2) S -> reward: see latch -> milk available
3) R -> reward: hit latch -> milk
what are the two experiments that show some early evidence for expectations
1) changing reward value qualitatively
2) changing reward value quantitatively
what is the changing reward value qualitatively experiment
Tinklepaugh chimp study
- gave monkeys a cup of food that they had to pull up a shade for
- he did a swap experiment where he swapped banana for lettuce (chimps like banana better)
- monkeys get pissed when there is no banana and they look everywhere for it and shriek
this shows that there is an expectation
what is the changing reward value quantitatively experiment
straight runway in rats
GP1 1 pellet | run -> 16 pellets
GP2 16 pellets | run -> 16 pellets
GP3 64 pellets | run-> 16 pellets
S -> R says that the running speeds should eventually be the same because getting the same reward
show actual results on graph
this is called the “elation” and “depression” effect
draw the early evidence experiment for R -> reward and explain
on paper
this is also a type of devaluation experiment (taking away the value of something)
- if S -> R then t2 is irrelevant, they will continue to do both, but the rats will adjust the amount of BP & CP
- this is evidence for the R -> reward association because theres no way the rat would know to tailor the amount of BP and CP without association between R -> reward
- still a little evidence for S -> R because they will BP and CP a little even because of nausea because they do have residual responding for something the rat doesn’t want
draw the early evidence experiment for S -> reward and explain
on paper
- shows they formed the L -> sucrose association and the T -> pellets association (S -> reward)
- still a little evidence for S-> R because they’re not BP or CP exclusively
so, what is the evidence for S -> R
1) you still BP a little for food you hate
2) the learning curve is gradual not abrupt
what is an example in humans of habit/reflex (S->R) and expectation of future (R->reward and S->reward)
habit/reflex (S->R)
- automatic processing
- driving somewhere without awareness to familiar place
- makes you fast, efficient and not interfered with by conscious thought
expectation of future (R-> reward, S-> reward)
- controlled processing
- turning around and driving bak when you hear of snow coming
- makes you flexible and adaptable (conscious)
what is an example of the habit/reflex and expectations in cigarette smoking in humans
habit/reflex
-pull a cig and smoke, there exist times when theres a cig in your mouth and you have no awareness of how it got there
expectation of future
-out of cigs, switch abruptly to conscious thinking “where do i go to get one?” “what do i do?”
what is the difference between procedural memory and declarative memory
procedural: action sequences
declarative: descriptions of the action
what kind of memory is sports training
- trying to promote procedural memory
- when coaches give you instructions and you try to implement them, it activates declarative memory (doesn’t work)
- only way to get better at sports is to practice them
why does therapy for fear of public speaking tend to not work
S -> R, see people -> PANIC
- when you go and talk to a counselor, they give you strategies to practice
- this is all conscious and declarative
- so you still panic next time you go to public speak, doesn’t get rid of S -> R reflex
explain “Those who can’t do teach”
- great players sometimes make terrible coaches because they act on procedural memory, don’t know how they’re doing it they just do it
- teachers and good coaches act on declarative memory, and can explain how they do it
explain L -> BP -> food
1) S -> R: see bar -> hit
2) R -> reward: press bar -> get food
3) S -> reward: see bar -> food available
* *there is a fourth thing the rat stores**
L: BP -> food
no L: BP -> no food
an event is associated with an association between two other things (an association within an association)
called: hierarchical association
what is a hierarchical association
a stimulus is associated with an association between two things
what is a hierarchical association in real life
McDonalds: flip burger -> $
kitchen: flip burger -> no $
McDonalds is associated with the flip burger get money association
explain why the other three associations cannot explain:
L: BP->pel, CP-> suc | pel-> nausea | L: BP < CP
T: BP->suc, CP-> pel | pel-> nausea | T: BP > CP
1) S->R: if it was this, they would be BP and CP the same because its just a habit
2) R-> reward: thinks BP and CP = both rewards so BP and CP are done the same because both responses are equally associated with both rewards
3) S -> reward: thinks L & T = both rewards so would BP and CP the same because both stimuli are equally associated with both rewards
what is right:
“L -> (BP -> pel)” and “L -> (CP -> suc)”
“T -> (BP -> suc)” and “T -> (CP -> pel)”
the stimulus tells you what response leads to what reward S -> (R -> reward)
so what can one learning event do
potentially creates 4 different memory contents in different locations
this is more complicated, memory can be stored in dozens of different places
what is evidence that memory is all over the brain in different locations
associative visual agnosia (lack of knowledge) in stroke victims
what is the associative visual agnosia study (do they get these questions right or wrong)
1) copy this picture (anchor) YES
2) ask “whats an anchor?” YES
response: big hunk of metal, makes ship stay still
3) please say “anchor” YES
response: “anchor”
4) here’s a picture (anchor) what is it? NO
5) please draw an anchor NO
1) says theres no problem with visual processing; so this cannot explain 4
2) says theres no problem with language or knowledge; but this does not explain 5
3) says theres no pronunciation issue; but this does not explain 4
1) says there’s not a problem with motor performance, but this does not explain 5
- *they are missing the association between vision and language/knowledge**
- *all of the individual elements are intact, the only thing thats broken is the association between them**
- *neuroscience is such a mess because knowledge is so broken up in the brain**
what are the two different kinds of memory
habit, procedural, automatic
vs.
expectation, declarative, controlled
what is the stroop effect
an example of both kinds of memory
reading the colors of a random group of letters
then read the colors of letters that spell out different colors
-this is harder and people say it slower because reading is automatic, you cannot turn it off
-the controlled part is trying to only see the color of the letters
what things are learned and stored in different parts of the brain
BP -> food
1) S -> R
2) R -> reward
3) S -> reward
4) S -> (R -> reward)
what is the best tactic for learning
- depends on what memory content you’re focusing on
- building a habit (S -> R) you need repetition, but in other situations you need goal-oriented learning
why does neuroscience have a long way to go
we have nothing in neuroscience that is as complex as we do in animal studies
what are the three conditions for learning in animals v humans
animal and human fields ask same questions but in different ways
1) Animals: what are the conditions for learning?
Humans: encoding
2) Animals: what are the contents of memory?
Humans: memory storage systems (paid attention to more in humans because you can ask them)
3) Animals: how does memory get expressed in behavior?
Humans: retrieval
so what are the three questions about memory in humans
1) encoding
2) memory storage systems
3) retrieval
what is the information processing framework in humans
on paper
what is some evidence that working memory (STM) is different than LTM
1) storage capacity
- working memory holds less info than LTM (infinite)
ex. digit STM: listening to list of numbers and recalling them immediately after
- people can do 5-9 numbers
- the magic number of working memory is 7 +/- 2 (this is why local phone numbers are 7 digits long, people can hold this many units of information)
- you can combine things so you can hold more in memory (chunking) - this is association formation
what are the two views of working memory
1) traditional approach: working memory is a place (draw on paper)
2) contemporary view: working memory is a process, activation: lights up certain parts of memory at a time (draw on paper)
what is evidence for an inner voice in working memory
L R (E) ….
mistakes?
1) sound alike: C !!!YES!!
-look alike: F
2) word length effect
written length and pronunciation time determine how many items you can hold
ex. words that are matched for # of letters/syllables but differ in pronunciation times
2 letters, 2 syllables:
bishops (easier) harpoons (harder and longer to say)
you can hold more words like bishops in working memory
why do kids in Wales have shorter working memory
their language has longer words
what is evidence for a visual format in working memory
show two sets of blocks and participants have to say if theyre the same set of blocks just flipped or a different set of blocks (only look at trails that are the same)
show graph on paper
results: the more rotation of blocks, the longer it takes you to say yes
what is Aphantasia
lack of visual images inside head
draw working memory on paper
on paper
do rats have working memory for inner spatial map
ex. 8 arm radial maze where rat stands on central platform, when rat eats the food is gone and rat should know where the food is and isn’t because of memory (put rat in maze and allow 8 choices) rats complete this successfully
possible strategies:
1) always go clockwise
2) smell the food
3) smell themselves, where they’ve been
4) spatial memory
how to rule out first three:
1) pick up rat after choice, put him down randomly at the start, or just watch them
2+3) cover up smell
why 4 is right:
4) rats store a mental maze “cognitive map”, look at things in room to see what arms they’ve been down before (when you rotate the maze the rats fail)
what is the retention length of cognitive map in rats
- put the rat in the 8 arm maze and allow the rat to make 4 choices
- remove from maze and return to cage and wait
- put back in maze and allow 4 more choices
results:
-rats show perfect performance for up to four hours
these studies have also been used to analyze Alzheimers and stroke damage
what are the different names for S -> R memory
habit/reflex automatic procedural nonconscious implicit familiarity
what are the different names for S -> reward and R -> reward
expectation controlled declarative conscious explicit source
what is the difference between anterograde amnesia and retrograde amnesia
anterograde: memory loss for information post-injury (more common)
retrograde: memory loss for information pre-injury (rarer)
what was the previous belief about anterograde amnesia
LTM and retrieval are both working, working memory is also intact, but encoding is broken
this is wrong
draw diagram of working memory and explain anterograde amnesia
on paper
when people are given a city, color and car and asked what they were given the explicit memory cannot retrieve it
but
the implicit memory is still intact (ask to give the first color, car and city that come to mine) and this is the right answers
anterograde amnesia damages explicit memory, but not implicit
what is an anterograde amnesia example with the Tower of Hanoi puzzle
two results:
1) performance improves
2) no conscious memory of practice or rule there is a split between implicit and explicit memory and the brain damage makes this apparent
what does Clive Wearing show us
he has “no” memory after injury, his wife has been there for many years but if he had no memory when she walked in (looking old) he would be surprised, but he still does remember her
shows he has some form of procedural memory
explain the list of word experiment with healthy subjects and subjects with amnesia
- give list of words to memorize, words are 6 letters long with three letters consistent with other words (def _ _ _)
- ex. define
- 2 memory tests with healthy patients and patients with amnesia
1) explicit test: def _ _ _ “please fill in the word from your list”
2) implicit test: def _ _ _ “please fill in first word that pops into mind”
results:
- healthy subjects fill in define for both
- patients with amnesia do not do as well on the explicit test (cannot fill in word from list), but they do just as well as healthy subjects on the implicit test
explain the word experiment with just healthy subjects
- give list, give instructions
- still explicit and implicit tests
- patients then put in FMRI
results: all patients put “define” in both tests, so no difference in what you type in
- BUT, different parts of brain light up when the different tests are given
shows that LTM has two systems (implicit and explicit)
explain source v familiarity
source: know where info/answer is coming from (short answer questions)
familiarity: answer feels right, don’t know where the info is coming from (some multiple choice questions)
explain the video game driving study
wind entropy (unexpected wind, low - high) vs. cognitive load (external distraction, none to hard math) low wind entropy= easy driving conditions high wind entropy= hard driving conditions, need conscious driving effort
measuring: how straight in lane
results:
- when low wind entropy, driving gets better with higher cognitive load
- when high wind entropy, driving gets worse with higher cognitive load
what things show how implicit memories lack source information
1) famous in 24 hours
2) illusion of truth
3) source confusion
4) 8 word memorization experiment
5) gut intuitions
what is the famous in 24 hours study
a. give people a list of random names to pronounce
b. ask people to rate names for level of famousness
- totally famous: Albert Einstein
- sort of famous; Buzz Aldrin
- never heard of, on list: Sam Rabinowitz
- never heard of, not on list: Clara Herstein
c. rate
1) immediately after pronunciation list results (source, just happened):
- name on previous list and name not on previous list that you’ve never heard of are rated non famous
2) 24 hours later results (familiarity):
- people whose names you pronounced the day before are rated more famous
why?
pronunciation of names are stored as implicit memories 24 hours later, don’t remember the source of information but the name looks familiar so rated as more famous
what is the illusion of truth study
people given statements to rate for “interestingness”, told some were true and some were false
ex.
Dolphins sleep one hemisphere at a time (true)
Bats are actually warmblooded birds (false)
24 hours later, given statements to rate for truth- some new and some previous
results:
previous statements are rated more likely to be true than new statements regardless of what you were told the day before
statements that are familiar are believed to be more true
this related to politics because if things are repeated and false people will throw out source and believe it to be true because of familiarity
