Final Flashcards
Conditioned Emotional Responses
Consist of emotional and physiological responses that develop to a specific object or situation
Extinction
(1) in classical conditioning, the loss or weakening of a conditioned response when a conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus no longer occur together; (2) in operant conditioning, the weakening of an operant response when reinforcement is no longer available
Learning
A process by which behaviour or knowledge changes as a result of experience
Unconditioned response (UR)
A reflexive, unlearned reaction to an unconditioned stimulus; a stimulus which triggers a response naturally, before/without any conditioning.
Classical/Pavlovian Conditioning
A form of associative learning in which an organism learns to associate a neutral stimulus (e.g. a sound) with a biologically relevant stimulus (e.g. food), which results in a change in the response to the previously neutral stimulus (e.g. salivation); Learning to link two stimuli in a way that helps us anticipate an event to which we have a reaction (associative learning).
Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
A once-neutral stimulus that later elicits a conditioned response because it has a history of being paired with an unconditioned stimulus
Unconditioned Stimulus (US)
A stimulus that elicits a reflexive response without learning
Preparedness
The biological predisposition to rapidly learn a response to a particular class of stimuli
Spontaneous Recovery
The reoccurrence of a previously extinguished conditioned response, typically after some time has passed since extinction; response is smaller than directly after acquisition.
Generalization
Takes place when an operant response occurs in response to a new stimulus that is similar to the stimulus present during original learning; tendency to have conditioned responses triggered by related stimuli.
Conditioned Taste Aversion
Acquired dislike or disgust for a food or drink because it was paired with illness
Acquisition
The initial phase of learning in which a response is established; association between neutral stimulus and US is acquired; know that it has occurred if CS triggers a CR; Ns needs to repeatedly appear before US; strength of association increases over time.
Conditioned Response
The learned response that occurs to the conditioned stimulus
Discrimination
Occurs when an operant response is made to one stimulus but not to another, even if the stimuli are similar.
How are responses learned through classical conditioning acquired/lost?
Acquisition occurs with repeated pairings of CS and US. Once acquired, it can be extinguished if the CS and US no longer occur together. During extinction, the CR diminishes, although it may reappear through spontaneous recovery.
What are the roles of biological and evolutionary factors in classical conditioning?
Responses to biologically relevant stimuli (e.g. snakes) are more easily conditioned than responses to flowers or guns. Avoidance of potentially harmful foods is critical to survival, so organisms can develop conditioned taste aversion quickly.
How is negative political advertising related to conditioning?
It uses evaluative conditioning. Negative images/sounds/statements are paired with images of targeted candidate. Viewers link negative emotions with target. If images are deemed cruel/inappropriate, it is possible that the viewers will feel negative emotions toward the sponsor of the ad.
Partial (intermittent) Reinforcement
A schedule in which only a certain number of responses are rewarded, or a certain amount of time must pass before reinforcement is available; target behaviour takes longer to be acquired but persists longer.
Punisher
A stimulus that is contingent upon a response, and that results in a decrease in behaviour.
Positive (additive) Punishment
A process in which a behaviour decreases in frequency because it was followed by a particular, usually unpleasant, stimulus.
Negative (subtractive) Punishment
Occurs when a behaviour decreases because it removes/diminishes a particular stimulus.
Operant Conditioning
A type of learning in which behaviour is influenced by consequences; changing behavioural responses in response to consequences (contingencies); adjusting to the consequences of our behaviours (functionalism); initiated by organism.
Variable-Interval Schedule
The first response is reinforced following a variable amount of time; slow, consistent responding.
Reinforcement
A process in which an event or reward that follows a response increases the likelihood of that response occurring again.
Fixed-Interval Schedule
Reinforces the first response occurring after a set amount of time passes; slow, unsustained responding (rapid responding near time for reinforcement).
Partial Reinforcement
Only a certain number of responses are rewarded, or a certain amount of time must pass before reinforcement is available.
Primary Reinforcers
Reinforcing stimuli that satisfy basic motivational needs - needs that affect an individual’s ability to survive (and, if possible, reproduce).
Discriminative Stimulus
A cue or event that indicates that a response, if made, will be reinforced.
Reinforcer
A stimulus that is contingent upon a response, and that increases the probability of that response occurring again
Punishment
A process that decreases the future probability of a response.
Continuous Reinforcement
Every response made results in reinforcement; subject acquires the desired behaviour quickly.
Negative Reinforcement
Involves the strengthening of a behaviour because it removes/diminishes a stimulus.
Shaping
Reinforcing successive approximations of a specific operant response.
Escape Learning
Occurs if a response removes a stimulus that is already present.
Avoidance Learning
A specific type of negative reinforcement that removes the possibility that stimulus will occur.
Fixed-Ratio Schedule
A schedule in which reinforcement is delivered after a specific number of responses have been completed; high rate of consistent responding.
Law of Effect
The idea that responses followed by satisfaction will occur again in the same situation whereas those that are not followed by satisfaction become less likely.
Partial Reinforcement Effect
A phenomenon in which organisms that have been conditioned under partial reinforcement resist extinction longer than those conditioned under continuous reinforcement.
Secondary Reinforcers
Stimuli that acquire their reinforcing effects only after we learn that they have value.
Positive Reinforcement
The strengthening of behaviour after potential reinforcers such as praise, money, or nourishment follow that behaviour.
Variable-Ratio Schedule
The number of responses required to receive reinforcement varies according to an average; high rate of consistent responding (resists extinction even if reinforcement stops).
Schedules of Reinforcement
Rules that determine when reinforcement is available.
How do schedules of reinforcement affect learning?
Variable-Ratio schedules produce the most robust learning, and Variable-Interval schedules lead to slowest rate of learning.
Is punishment effective?
Psychologists recommend that people rely on reinforcement to teach new or appropriate behaviours. Punishment may teach individuals to engage in avoidance or aggression, rather than developing an appropriate alternative behaviour that can be reinforced.
Imitation
Recreating someone else’s motor behaviour or expression, often to accomplish a specific goal.
Cognitive/Latent Learning
Learning that is not immediately expressed by a response until the organism is reinforced for doing so; learning that can occur without reinforcement and without being directly observable; Stimulus -> Organism -> Response; different reactions depend on interpretation of critic; allows for self-control.
Observational Learning
(Albert Bandura) Involves changes in behaviour and knowledge that result from watching others; learning that occurs without reinforcement; a form of latent learning (not directly observable).
How does violent media affect behaviour?
Many studies show a correlational (non-causal) relationship between violent media exposure and aggressive behaviour.
How does behaviourism view learning?
Started with proponents that mental life was much less important than behaviour as a foundation for psychological science; started with classical conditioning, suggests that thoughts have no direct causal effect on behaviour; explain differences by learning histories.
How can classical conditioning improve self-esteem?
Presented a game that shows your name or characteristics about yourself, then smiling faces (cue of acceptance).
What conditions make physical punishment useful?
Occurs immediately after behaviour; consistency; intensity has little impact; explanation and alternative action; best combined with positive reinforcement; teaches to respond aggressively.
What is the most optimal response to change a dog’s barking toward a garbage truck?
Give him treats at a random ratio; he’s scared rather than operating; pairs fear with the stimuli.
Can aggression be learned by observing?
Observing an aggressive model increased imitative physical and verbal responses; suggests that although not reinforced and not immediately observed, some learning did occur; also an increase in non-imitative, suggest humans can innovate based on observational learning.
Control Processes
Shift information from one memory store to another.
Procedural Memories
Patterns of muscle movements (motor memory); ex. playing piano.
Long-term Memory (LTM)
Holds information for extended periods of time, if not permanently.
Retroactive Interference
The most recently learned information overshadows some older memories that have not yet made it into long-term memory; new learning interferes with old.
Stores
Retain information in memory without using it for any specific purpose; held in a way that allows it to later be retrieved.
Echoic Memory
The auditory form of sensory memory.
Central Executive
The control centre of working memory; it coordinates attention and the exchange of information among the three storage components.
Short-term Memory (STM)
A memory store with limited capacity and duration (approximately 30 seconds); can hold 7 +/- 2 for approximately 20 sec; requires attention to move from sensory memory to here.
Proactive Interference
A process in which the first information learned (ex. in a list of words) occupies memory, leaving fewer resources to remember the newer information; old learning interferes with new.
Anterograde Amnesia
The inability to form new memories for events occurring after a brain injury.
Chunking
Organizing smaller units of information into larger, more meaningful units; create groups with the pieces of information; best when these groupings are familiar to us.
Episodic Memories
Declarative memories for personal experiences that seem to be organized around “episodes” and are recalled from a first-person perspective; specific events that we experienced.
Storage
The time and manner in which information is retained between encoding and retrieval.
Semantic Memories
Declarative memories that include facts about the world; general knowledge.
Episodic Buffer
A storage component of working memory that combines the images and sounds from the other two components into coherent, story-like episodes.
Consolidation
The process of converting short-term memories into long-term memories in the brain.
Nondeclarative/Implicit Memories
Include actions or behaviours that you can remember and perform without awareness; the ones we are not fully aware of and thus don’t declare; do not require attention/effort to encode and recall; includes procedural memory and conditioned associations.
Amnesia
A profound loss of at least one form of memory.
Declarative/Explicit Memories
Memories that we are consciously aware of and that can be verbalized, including facts about the world and one’s own personal experiences; Require attention/effort to encode and recall; includes semantic, episodic, and flashbulb memories.
Serial Position Effect
In general, most people will recall the first few items from a list and the last few items, but only an item or two from the middle.
Retrograde Amnesia
A condition in which memory for the events preceding trauma or injury is lost.
Attention
Selects which information will be passed on to STM.
Iconic Memory
The visual form of sensory memory.
Visuospatial Sketchpad
A storage component of working memory that maintains visual images and spatial layouts in a visuospatial code.
Rehearsal
Repeating information until you do not need to remember it anymore.
Implicit Memories
Include actions or behaviours that you can remember and perform without awareness.
Long-term Potentiation (LTP)
Demonstrated that there is an enduring increase in connectivity and transmission of neural signals between nerve cells that fire together.
Sensory Memory
A memory store that accurately holds perceptual information for a very brief amount of time; waiting for attention in order to move to STM; shortest for visual, longest for auditory.
Encoding
The process of storing information in the LTM system.
Retrieval
Brings information from LTM back into STM; reactivating and recalling the information, producing it in a form similar to what was encoded.
Tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) Phenomenon
When you are able to retrieve similar sounding words that start with the same letter but can’t quite retrieve the word you actually want.
Working Memory
A model of short-term remembering that includes a combination of memory components that can temporarily store small amounts of information for a short period of time. It is composed of the phonological loop, the visuospatial sketchpad, and the episodic buffer; it holds information not just to rehearse it, but to process it; integrates information from LTM with new information coming in from sensory memory.
Phonological Loop
A storage component of working memory that relies on rehearsal and that stores information as sounds, or an auditory code.
Which structures of the brain are important for memory?
Hippocampus - critical to formation of new declarative memories
Cortex - LTM stores
Visual and Auditory Cortices - Working memory
Frontal Lobes - Central Executive
Recall
Retrieving information when asked but without that information being present during the retrieval process; retrieve information previously learned and unconsciously stored.
Self-Reference Effect
Occurs when you think about information in terms of how it relates to you or how it is useful to you; this type of encoding will lead to you remembering that information better than you otherwise would have.
Flashbulb Memory
An extremely vivid and detailed memory about an event and the conditions surrounding how one learned about the event; intense, long-term memories of emotional events; a type of episodic memory.
Deep Processing
Memory processing related to an item’s meaning or its function; semantic encoding.
State-Dependent Memory
Memory retrieval is more effective when your internal state matches the state you were in during encoding.
Mnemonic
A technique intended to improve memory for specific information.
Mood-dependent Memory
People remember better if their mood at retrieval matches their mood during encoding.
Recognition
Identifying a stimulus or piece of information when it is presented to you.
Acronyms
Pronounceable words whose letters represent the initials of an important phrase or set of items.
Encoding Specificity Principle
Retrieval is most effective when it occurs in the same context as encoding.
Context-Dependent Memory
The idea that retrieval is more effective when it takes place in the same physical setting (context) as encoding.
Shallow Processing
Encoding more superficial properties of a stimulus, such as the sound or spelling of a word; structural encoding; emphasizes physical structure of stimuli.
Maintenance Rehearsal
Prolonging exposure to information by repeating it.
First-Letter Technique
Uses the first letters of a set of items to spell out words that form a sentence.
Elaborative Rehearsal
Prolonging exposure to information by thinking about its meaning.
Testing Effect
The finding that taking practice tests can improve exam performance, even without additional studying; testing to retrieve information studied/learned; greatly increases memory; more effective than just reading.
Method of Loci
A mnemonic that connects words to be remembered to locations along a familiar path.
Dual Coding
Occurs when information is stored in more than one form.
How does emotion affect memory?
Emotion enhances memory. Even memories for details of significant events decline over time, but confidence in memory accuracy remains high.
Memory
The persistence of learning over time through storage and retrieval (functions) of information and skills (content).
Recognition
Identify stimuli that match your stored information.
Relearning
A measure of how much less work it takes you to learn information you had previously learned.
How do we know something is remembered?
Recall, Recognition and Relearning.
What are the key steps to remember?
Encode, Store and Retrieve.
What does the Atkinson-Shiffrin model of memory formation look like?
There is an automatic pathway (which goes straight from the event to long-term memory) and an effortful pathway (where information from the event goes to the sensory memory, which is then encoded into STM, then is encoded to LTM with rehearsal).
Spacing Effect
Best to spread out study/learning time (distribute it) over multiple short sessions.
What does distributed practice consist of?
Spacing Effect and Testing Effect
Intermediate Processing
Phonemic encoding; emphasizes what a word sounds like.
Hierarchies
Divide complex information into concepts and then sub concepts.
Are strategies that rely on visualization effective for remembering?
Mental images are powerful aids to memory, especially when combined with semantic encoding; creating links that involve visual cues; the method of Loci (memory place).
How much can we remember of what and for how long?
The brain’s LTM does not get full, instead it gets more elaborately rewired and interconnected.
How are explicit memories encoded/stored?
Facilitated by the hippocampus; sleep (consolidation).
How are explicit memories retrieved?
Working memory (or executive function), directed by the frontal lobes.
How are implicit memories encoded/stored?
Basal ganglia is involved with the encoding/storage of procedural memory and motor skills; cerebellum is involved in the encoding/storage of our conditioned responses.
What does the decay theory propose?
Forgetting occurs because traces fade with time; supported for sensory and STM, not LTM.
What are common memory problems?
Ineffective encoding, proactive interference and retroactive interference.
What can happen when we recall information from LTM?
We filter or fill in parts to make memories more consistent (can change each time we recall information); misinformation effect and source amnesia.
Misinformation Effect
Incorporating misleading information in the memory of an event.
Source Amnesia
Assign details of a memory to the wrong source; confound social media with advertising.
Will jurors continue to believe an eyewitness even if they know about recall problems?
Even if an eyewitness is biased and an expert comes to testify about that bias, jurors still believe the eyewitness.
What are false memories?
Often due to the confusion between an event that happened to you and to someone else, or the belief that you remember something that never happened; likely to happen when you thought of the event often, imagined more details, it’s easy to imagine, attention is on emotional reaction.
Can rich memories of crimes be constructed?
70% of participants were classified as having false memories of committing a crime (e.g. assault) that led to police contact in early adolescence and volunteered a detailed false account.
False Memory Syndrome
A condition in which the identity and relationships of a person rest on memories that are false, but perceived as real traumatic experiences; some cases induced by poorly trained/ill-attended therapists.
What are some of the perils of memory in this information age?
Availability is unlike anything humanity has seen; we encode automatically; information affects perceptions (bias and top-down processing).
How do we avoid some of the perils of memory?
Illusion that we control how the information we encode affects us, but we don’t; consciously filter the information you expose yourself to.
Semantic Network
An interconnected set of nodes (or concepts) and the links that join them to form a category; general -> specific; evolutionary important categories are stored together in the brain; previous influence can influence categorizing.
Graded Membership
The observation that some concepts appear to make better category members than others.
Concept
The mental representation of an object, event, or idea.
Priming
The activation of individual concepts in LTM.
Linguistic Relativity (Wharfian Hypothesis)
The theory that the language we use determines how we understand the world.
Prototypes
Mental representations of an average category member.
Classical Categorization
A theory that claims that objects or events are categorized according to a certain set of rules or by a specific set of features; determined by comparing a target to the prototype of the category.
Categories
Clusters of interrelated concepts.
Priming Effect
Hearing “fruit” makes it more likely that you will think of “apple” rather than “robe”.
How can culture affect thinking?
Westerners focus on the individual, while others focus on how objects are interrelated.
How does language affect thinking?
Language can influence how we think, but not entirely shape how we perceive the world.
Anchoring Effect
Occurs when an individual attempts to solve a problem involving numbers and uses previous knowledge to keep (i.e. anchor) the response within a limited range.
Conjunction Fallacy
Reflects the mistaken belief that finding a specific member in two overlapping categories (i.e. a member of the conjunction of two categories) is more likely than finding any member of one of the larger, general categories.
Belief Perseverance
Occurs when an individual believes he/she has the solution to the problem or the correct answer for a question and accepts only evidence that will confirm those beliefs.
Representativeness Heuristic
Making judgements of likelihood based on how well an example represents a specific category.
Functional Fixedness
Occurs when an individual identifies an object or technique that could potentially solve the problem, but can only think of its most obvious function; limits ability to think about problem from a new perspective.
Problem Solving
Accomplishing a goal when the solution or path to the solution is not clear; Ill-defined problems.
Mental Set
A cognitive obstacle that occurs when an individual attempts to apply a routine solution to what is actually a new type of problem.
Heuristics
Problem-solving strategies that stem from prior experiences and provide an educated guess as to what is the most likely solution; Help generate solutions quickly, but does not guarantee solutions; Speed > Quality.
Confirmation Bias
Occurs when an individual searches for only evidence that will confirm his/her beliefs instead of evidence that might disconfirm them; solved by trying to falsify instead of confirm.
Availability Heuristic
Entails estimating the frequency of an event based on how easily examples of it come to mind.
Algorithms
Problem-solving strategies based on a series of rules; Aim to guarantee a solution; Quality > Speed.
Obstacles to Problem-Solving
Are often self-imposed; occurs when one focuses on only one potential solution and does not consider alternatives.
Cognition
Mental activities and processes associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating information.
When do prototypes fail us?
- When examples stretch the qualities associated with the prototype. 2. When the boundary between the categories of concepts is fuzzy. 3. When examples contradict our prototypes.
Why do we have obstacles to problem-solving?
Allows to function and be confident; speed, manage uncertainty and gain power.
Language
Use of symbols to represent, transmit, and store meaning/information; useful for storing and sharing information and understanding others.
How does bilingualism shape the way people think?
Marked cultural differences in self esteem (higher in Canada than China); critics are set up as false dichotomies.
Does learning 2 languages in childhood impair language development?
No, there are advantages; may have delayed emergence of language, but once developed, language is equivalent or greater than others.
Advantages to Bilingualism
Earlier development of executive control; greater executive control; delayed loss of executive control; greater attention control; greater creativity.
Trigger Foods
Affect the selection of healthy and unhealthy foods simply by being present among possible food alternatives.
Homeostasis
The body’s physiological processes that allow it to maintain consistent internal states in response to the outer environment.
Incentives
The stimuli we seek out in order to reduce drives; allow for learned response-reward pairings; motivates by attracting the person to the reward.
Anorexia Nervosa
An eating disorder that involves (1) self-starvation, (2) intense fear of weight gain and dissatisfaction with one’s body, and (3) denial of the serious consequences of severely low weight.
Glucose
A sugar that serves as a primary energy source for the brain and the rest of the body.
Drive
A biological trigger that tells us we may be deprived of something and causes us to seek out what is needed, such as food or water; an aroused/tense state related to a biological need that is not being met; shared among members of the species.
Bulimia Nervosa
An eating disorder that is characterized by periods of food deprivation, binge-eating, and purging.
Unit Bias
The tendency to assume that the unit of scale or portioning is an appropriate amount to consume.
Allostasis
Motivation is not only influenced by current needs, but also by the anticipation of future needs.
Motivation
Concerns the physiological and psychological processes underlying the imitation of behaviours that direct organisms toward specific goals; the need or desire that energizes (effortful) behaviour and directs it towards a goal.
Obesity
A disorder of positive energy balance, in which energy intake exceeds energy expenditure.
Hypothalamus
A brain structure that regulates basic biological needs and motivational systems.
Satiation
The point in a meal when we are no longer motivated to eat.
How are eating patterns shaped biologically?
Energy is delivered through the bloodstream as glucose found in food; insulin helps cells store this fuel; CCK signals fullness; substances monitored in hypothalamus, which signals hunger when not enough glucose is available.
What are psychological cues to eating?
Unit bias, trigger foods, available foods.
What are social cues to eating?
Minimal eating norms.
What parts of the hypothalamus are associated with eating?
Onset of eating = lateral region; Offset = ventromedial region.
Minimal Eating Social Norm
Eat smaller amounts in certain social situations imaginable.
Extrinsic Motivation/Performance Motive
Motivation geared toward gaining rewards or public recognition, or avoiding embarrassment.
Self-Determination Theory
An individual’s ability to achieve their goals and attain psychological well-being is influenced by the degree to which he/she is in control of the behaviours necessary to achieve those goals.
Intrinsic Motivation/Mastery Motive
The process of being internally motivated to perform behaviours and overcome challenges (ex. a genuine desire to master a task rather than being motivated by a reward); concerns active engagement with tasks that people find interesting and that, in turn, promote growth.
Companionate Love
Related to tenderness and to the affection we feel when our lives are intertwined with another person.
