L5: Learning and Memory

Question 1

what is learning?

Answer 1

learning is a relatively permanent change in behaviour resulting from experience

Question 2

how is learning usually done?

Answer 2

• We form relationships between stimuli (S-S) close together in space and time
• S-S associations let us predict events and adjust our behavioral responses (R)

ex. Dark clouds (S1) suggest rain (S2) is coming. We know to get an umbrella (R)!

Question 3

what is classical conditioning?

Answer 3

• Two stimuli are repeatedly paired together causing a response

ex:
* S1 = clouds, S2 = rain
* S1 + S2 appear together many times

• After pairing, S1 becomes a signal that S2 is coming
• S1 can then elicit responses related to S2
  ex. With clouds (S1), we expect rain (S2) + bring an umbrella (R)

Question 4

what are neutral, conditioned, and unconditioned stimuli?

Answer 4

• Neutral stimuli: have no meaning to our body genetically when observed on their own
  ex. dark clouds
• conditioned stimuli CS: stimuli that gain meaning when associated through training
  ex. dark clouds when repeatedly paired with rain
• unconditioned stimulus UCS: stimuli that have meaning even without training
  ex. rain – our body reacts to it and tells us to seek shelter even if we don’t see the clouds.

Question 5

explain classical conditioned using the dog and Pavolvs experiment

Answer 5

dog salivation

before:
metronome = no salivation (neutral stimuli)
meat powder (UCS) = salivation
(unconditional response)

during: repeated pairing through space and time
metronome + meat powder = salivation

after:
metronome = salivation (conditioned response)

Question 6

what is higher order conditioning?

Answer 6

we know:
UCS evokes UCR
CS1 + UCS pairing (repeated many times)
CS1 evokes strong CR

higher order:
CS1 + CS2 pairing (repeated many times)
CS2 evokes weaker CR
You can repeat this for CS3, CS4 and so on (weaker response each time).

• the reason it is weaker is because it is conditioned through a chain of events

Question 7

how is higher order conditioning used in real life?

Answer 7

in advertising:
- christmas = social interaction = good feelings
christmas and coke paired repeatedly
- thus coke = good feelings

Question 8

what is the connection between UCS and aversive stimuli

Answer 8

• we are much better at pairing associations with aversive stimuli
• require less repeats to form a connection between UCS and aversive stimuli – usually one is enough

Question 9

how can phobias come to be?

Answer 9

• Phobias may begin with the pairing of a neutral stimulus (NS) with an aversive event (UCS)
• As a result, the NS becomes a CS which elicits the same unpleasant feelings as the UCS

ex. bees are NS. Being stung by a bee = NS –> CS bc of aversive UCS
* Aversive learning is generally strong and resilient

Question 10

what is fear conditioning?

Answer 10

• measure of fear and learning
• A shock (UCS) is paired with a certain environment (CS1, blue box) and a tone (CS2, bell)
• As a result, CS1 + CS2 come to signal the UCS
• When re-exposed to CS1 or CS2, the animal expects the UCS. The anticipation of the UCS is reflected in freezing behavior (CR, similar to fear)
• lots of freezing = strong learning

Question 11

what is acquired conditioning?

Answer 11

• a place or song acquires a bad or good signal because of a bad or good event

Question 12

how does conditioning in places change responses in different places (aka drugs)

Answer 12

A person regularly uses drugs in their bathroom. Here, they take a very high dose with no serious effects.
If the person were to take the same dose in a new place such as a friend’s basement, what would happen?
- their body would not develop a drug defense as soon as they enter the environment thus the drug dose may be more lethal

Question 13

how does little albert explain the reactions to stimuli that are similar to other stimuli?

Answer 13

• Albert was a boy who liked albino rats (white, furry creatures)
• In the study, albino rats were paired with loud noises that made Albert cry
• As a result, Albert came to fear the rats – as well as anything else that was white and furry. therefore stimuli that are similar to the original stimuli still trigger the same response –> stimulus generalization

ex. Rabbits, beards, masks and more

Question 14

what is stimulus generalization

Answer 14

New stimuli similar in physical characteristics to the
original CS may elicit responses conditioned to that CS

original stimuli = higher response
similar CS = moderate response
dissimilar CS = weak/no response

Question 15

connection between stimulus generalization and anxiety

• added concept

Answer 15

as we get more anxious, stimulus generalization increases
we respond to a lot more stimuli when we are anxious than when we are not.
for ex. we may respond to original, similar and even some dissimilar stimuli if we are anxious.

stimulus generalization is exaggerated with anxiety

Question 16

what is conditioned taste aversion (CTA)?

Answer 16

we are really good at pairing illness and food –> CTA

ex.
NS to CS
Taste of broccoli (normally neutral)

UCS
Illness after eating broccoli

CR
* Fear of illness
* Aversion to broccoli

Question 17

what is preparedness

Answer 17

We may be genetically hardwired for certain CS-UCS associations (prepared to learn them; referred to as preparedness)

Question 18

what are the two types of previous experiences that may effect our ability to learn CS-UCS associations?

Answer 18

In addition to our genetic programming…

• Latent inhibition
• Blocking

Question 19

what is latent inhibition?

Answer 19

• If we’ve experienced a stimulus alone many times in a neutral context, we might have difficulty pairing that stimulus with anything else in the future
• Familiar stimuli are more difficult to condition than unfamiliar stimuli
• In short: our prior learning can inhibit future learning. And this is not the only case where this occurs!

ex. if we have chai everyday then we cant associate it with anything

Question 20

what is blocking?

Answer 20

• After a UCS has been paired with one CS, it may be hard to pair that UCS with other CS in the future

ex.
if a dog is conditioned to salivate when hearing a sound as sound and food were repeatedly measured then….

later if sound and light were correlated to get food, a dog will not salivate just to the light, because of the strong and already established connection between the sound and the food.

Question 21

what is extinction (and acquisition)?

Answer 21

• Earlier, we paired a CS (bell) + UCS (food)
• As a result, CS presentation caused a CR (salivation) (acquisition)
• If we stop UCS-CS pairings, the CR will decline (extinction)

extinction: The unreinforced presentation of the CS that results in a decline (or elimination) of the CR

• forgetting is not the only explanation for extinction – actually one of the weakest ones and is very different
• Evidence suggests extinction results in the inhibition – not loss – of learned associations
• The memories are still there, just dormant/suppressed
• This argument is supported by the phenomenon of reinstatement, renewal and spontaneous recovery that are observable following extinction

Question 22

what is reinstatement?

Answer 22

After extinction, the CR can return to full strength following a single UCS-CS repairing (reinstatement)

Question 23

what is spontaneous recovery

Answer 23

A ‘rebound’ increase in the CR a prolonged time after extinction (time-dependent effect, no CS-UCS repairing involved)

Question 24

what is renewal?

Answer 24

• Extinction is highly specific to context
• Even if you extinguish a CS-UCS pairing (bell-shock) in one context (e.g. green box), the CS can still elicit a CR in other novel contexts (e.g. purple box)

Question 25

how is extinction used in therapy? aka exposure therapy

Answer 25

• In phobias and other disorders, we sometimes have clear triggers for episodes of anxiety/fear
• These reactions may have been acquired through experience and may be suppressed by experience too
• Repeated exposure to these triggers over time in a safe environment may diminish the expressed fear (exposure therapy)
• this is behaviourist principles in action

Question 26

what is operant conditioning?

Answer 26

Operant conditioning is when the frequency of a behavior (R) is controlled by its consequences (S)

• In classical conditioning, we are concerned primarily with S-S associations
• However, stimuli (S) may also be associated with behavioral responses (R) (S – R associations)
• R associated w/positive stimuli (S+) are performed frequently
• R associated w/negative stimuli (S-) are performed rarely

Question 27

what is the difference between classical and operant conditioning biologically? what is an example when these two conditioning methods may overlap?

Answer 27

in classical:
- the behaviour is elicited automatically
- involves the autonomic nervous system

operant:
- voluntarily emitted
- involves skeletal muscles

• Though we consider OC and CC separately, there are many situations where both might occur
• For example, the development of phobias (CC) might be followed by the avoidance of phobic stimuli to preserve mood (OC)

Question 28

how does operant conditioning encourage adaptive behaviours? use cat example

what is thorndikes law of effect?

Answer 28

the most common behaviours are the ones with positive consequences. aka (Thorndike’s Law of Effect)

ex.
- a cat is trapped in a puzzle box and it wants to escape.
- it will engage with many stimuli trying to escape – all stimuli will be equally as frequent.
- when the cat finds the puzzle to the escape, that will be the most common stimuli it engages with as it has a positive outcome

Question 29

REVIEW from L1: explain positive and negative reinforcement and punishment

make sure understand and understand examples on slides

Answer 29

positive reinforcement: add pleasant stimulus to increase behaviour
negative reinforcement: remove aversive stimulus to increase behaviour

positive punishment: add aversive stimulus to decrease behaviour
negative punishment: remove pleasant stimulus to decrease behavior

positive = add
negative = remove
reinforcement = increase behaviour (frequency increase)
punishment = decrease behaviour (frequency decrease)

Question 30

how is the reinforcement and punishment used in the real world (2 ways)

Answer 30

1. Token economies in hospitals and classrooms
   * Tokens can be exchanged for goods and services (ice
   cream, watching a movie)
   * Good behaviors get tokens, bad behaviors cost tokens
   - essentially positive reinforcement
2. Applied behavior analysis (ABA) to teach new skills (most often used for children with autism spectrum disorders)
   * Intensive study of behavioral patterns, with the goal of encouraging certain behaviors through a personalized behavior modification program
   * Effective in some cases, though not without controversy

Question 31

what is the best approach with reinforcement and punishment? why cannot P be used alone (4)?

Answer 31

• a mix of both R and P is the best
• each alone is not as effective

Reasons why P alone is bad:
* Use of punishment alone is problematic
* Punishment does not tell you what to do, only what NOT to do
* Punishment elicits negative emotions which may interfere with learning, limiting growth
* Punishment can encourage secretive behavior (you simply won’t notify other people of your mistakes)

Question 32

outline reinforcement schedules

Answer 32

Schedules of reinforcement:
1. continuous reinforcement schedules
when you always get a consequence from a behaviour
ie. good behaviour = reward
bad behaviour = punishment
–
2.partial reinforcement schedules
when sometimes you get the consequence for the behaviour

a. interval reinforcement
consequence is always based around time.
i. fixed interval
consequence after a fixed amount of time.
ii. variable interval
consequence after a roughly estimated amount of time.

b. ratio reinforcement
amount of responses will elicit consequence.
i. fixed ratio
consequence after a fixed number of responses
ii. variable ratio
consequence after a variable number of responses

Question 33

explain fixed intervals reinforcement scheduling with two examples

Answer 33

• In a FI schedule, you receive reinforcement within a fixed amount of time

ex. paycheck every two weeks
* Ex: If you complete an assignment (R) by a specific date (interval), you will get a high mark (reinforcement)
* You often won’t start the assignment (show little responses) until near the end of the deadline because you will still get a grade no matter what (wont be not graded)

Question 34

explain variable interval reinforcement scheduling with an example

Answer 34

• In a VI schedule, you receive reinforcement after an average amount of time

ex. grades are posted 7-10 days after the exam.

• Ex: If you check your Quercus account (R) within the next 12 hours (interval average), you will eventually get to know your test mark (reinforcement)
• but you also check more frequently because its an average

Question 35

explain fixed ratio reinforcement scheduling with an example

Answer 35

• In FR, a behavior is reinforced after a specific amount of responses
• Many deals use the FR schedule
• Ex: For every three tires you buy (R x 3), you get a fourth one free (reinforcement)

Question 36

explain variable ratio reinforcement scheduling with an example

Answer 36

• In VR, reinforcement comes after an average number of responses
• Common in games of chance such as poker!
• If you keep betting on ‘good’ hands (R), you will
  eventually win (reinforcement) (please don’t do this lol)

Question 37

what do the reinforcement schedules look like graphically

Answer 37

fixed ratio and interval responses have a post reinforcement pause – when we get a reward, we wait to start the other task because we know exactly when the other one is coming and thus have some time to linger

variable ratio and intervals are steady and are typically yield higher responses because we dont know when the reward is coming exactly (highest for VR – average response and dont know exactly, thus higher responses)

Question 38

which reinforcement schedules will show the greatest extinction vs extinction resistance? COMMON TEST QUESTION

Answer 38

• highest extinction: continuous reinforcement –> if you always get a reward after, and suddenly the reward stops – extinction is rapid

of the partial reinforcement schedules:
* greater extinction: fixed schedules –> you know when to expect the reward
* greatest extinction resistance = variable ratio –> have the longest reinforcement waiting period – because your not expecting every response to get a reward, you keep responding.

Question 39

what is observational learning and who is a key researcher in this field?

Answer 39

• usually learning is a direct experience that happens to you
• we can also learn observationally

defn: When an animal learns through witnessing the behaviors of another animal
* No direct experience required

Bandura’s studies of aggression are key:
* Children who watch videos of aggressive acts are more likely to engage in them immediately afterward*
- even though the relationship in the lab is strong, we understand that dolls are fantasy, so the results don’t translate directly

Question 40

what is latent learning?

Answer 40

• Learning that is not being expressed, usually because of a lack of incentive
  ex. you may not do your laundry or clean up the dishes, not because you don’t know how to do it, but because there is no incentive – no reward or punishment
• If incentives are present, learning could be revealed

evidence seen in Tolman + Honzik’s studies

Question 41

how do you maximize learning?(4)

Answer 41

1. Longhand note-taking over laptop note taking
   * Nearby laptops can be distracting – even if you arent on your laptop
2. Pair note-taking with mental imagery (Dual Coding Theory)
3. Testing yourself (retrieval learning)
4. Spacing out your learning
   * Spaced practice more effective than massed practice, even though most people believe otherwise

Question 42

what are the different learning styles?

Answer 42

People might study in different ways
* Visual, auditory, reading, kinesthetic and more

Some attractive possibilities:
* People differ naturally in their study method (learning style)
* People perform best using a certain study method

However, neither idea is well-supported
* Most people study the exact same way (i.e. reading)
* Enforcing a study method does not improve performance

Interestingly, visual learners perform better

Question 43

what is memory – what are the three components involved in the process of memory?
what are the three types of stores?
what is serial processing?

Answer 43

• Process whereby information is stored, consolidated + retrieved
• Several types (or stores): sensory –> short-term/STM –> long-term/LTM ….with different properties
• this sequence is called serial processing where order matters

Question 44

what are the two properties of memory stores

Answer 44

Duration = Length of time information can be stored without rehearsal (limited by decay)

Capacity = Amount of information that can be stored

Question 45

explain the two properties of sensory memory

Answer 45

duration = very short – in the order of seconds (sometimes fractions of a second, i.e. for vision)
ex. seeing a flash of lightning
- the decay of information is rapid

capacity = theoretically large but functionally small, as you can only attend to/report on a few stimuli (e.g. 4 items)

Question 46

explain two properties of short term memory (STM)
does information decay? how do we test capacity?

Answer 46

• ‘Mental sketchpad’ where information is kept

Duration = is short (seconds to minutes) but longer than that of sensory memory
* Cognitive psychologists consider STM duration to be approximately 15 – 30 seconds (often citing 20 seconds)
* Some dispute over the exact duration (difficult to estimate precisely, due to logistic issues)
* Notably, this duration (in other order of seconds) strongly conflicts with public perceptions

• Information stored here decays unless it is emotionally salient and/or mentally rehearsed

Capacity = hold 7 items – 7 numbers or letters
* Tested using the digit span task
* Digit span = longest string of digits you can
remember without error; population average ~ 7

Question 47

what is chunking and how is it related to STM? what happens if chunking and rehersal is prevented?

Answer 47

Chunking involves dividing a body of information into several meaningful groups – corresponding information with ideas already in your long term memory (ie meaningful abbrevations)
* Chunking increases STM capacity

• STM capacity is thus not ~7 items, but ~7 chunks

What if chunking and rehearsal are prevented?
* Capacity may drop to as little as 3 items

Question 48

what are the main limitation of the STM model? elaborate

Answer 48

V1 = STM model
V2 = WM/ working memory model

limitations:
* Multi-tasking is difficult to explain
* If we only had a single STM store, we would expect poor performance whenever two tasks are performed simultaneously (one store, divided two ways, less resources available and more interference)
* However, we can actually perform certain tasks simultaneously without problems, such as reasoning + holding digits
* These issues lead to the proposal of working memory, which incorporates several stores - one visual and one verbal etc.

Question 49

define working memory model

Answer 49

• Several processes that work together to manage information (visuospatial sketchpad, phonological loop and central executive)
• WM involves manipulating information

Question 50

how do you measure WM? OSPAN test

Answer 50

Count the number of unrelated words that can be remembered (temporary storage) while simultaneously carrying out a math task (active processing)

Question 51

what are the properties of STM and WM

what is interference

Answer 51

• Short duration (order of seconds) but longer than for sensory memory
• Decay of information and interference are issues (increase duration = increase capacity for interferance)
• interference = phenomenon where the retrieval or processing of information is disrupted due to the presence of competing or conflicting information.
• Capacity is small (but can be circumvented w/practices like chunking)

Question 52

memory is lost unless it is emotionally salient or rehearsed.
name the two ways of rehearsal

Answer 52

1. maintenance (simple repetition)
2. elaborative (complex, involves relating the information to other concepts)

Question 53

what is primary/recency effect? why does it occur? what is another name?

Answer 53

When given a short list of items, you will generally remember the first and last part well

also called serial position effect.

why does this happen?
primacy = rehearsed first and continued to rehearse
recency = no time to decay

Question 54

what are the types of LTM? list them…

Answer 54

1. declarative/explicit (memories you can recall)
   a. episodic
   b. semantic
2. nondeclarative/ implicit/procedural (procedural memories)
   a. skill learning
   b. priming
   c. conditioning

Question 55

explain the two types of declarative memories

Answer 55

• Episodic = A person’s unique memory of an event from their perspective
  “REMEMBERING”
• Semantic = General knowledge that anyone could know (almost like trivia)
• Who is the prime minister?
• How many calories are in a bagel?
• What does the acronym CBC stand for?
  “KNOWING”

Question 56

explain nondeclarative memories

Answer 56

• Experience influences future behavior (e.g. typing, drawing, athletics + music are learned w/experience)
• Involuntary
• No awareness of memory being utilized
• Contents of implicit memories cannot be reported

Question 57

recall HM case study with the lesion of the hippocampus and LTM

Answer 57

• HM had his hippocampus removed in an attempt to treat epilepsy
• HM could not acquire new declarative memories from the point of injury
• However, HM could acquire some new non- declarative memories (e.g. mirror tracing) after injury

Question 58

what are retrieval failures?

defn: tip of the toungue phenomenon + priming

Answer 58

• Sometimes we have a memory but cannot retrieve it fully (the infamous ‘tip-of-the-tongue’ phenomenon)
• Often times, all we need is a subtle cue (hint) to retrieve the full memory – this is called priming or queuing

Just because the information is stored in LTM does not mean it is accessible to you.

Question 59

what is a misconception of memory?

Answer 59

• Most people think of memory as a process wherein you retrieve something from the past (e.g. video or a book) and re- experience it in the present
• This popular idea presumes that a memory is stored in a permanent form which does not change
• This is not how memory works

Question 60

what is actually memory?

Answer 60

memory is (re)constructed

• Memory is not passively retrieved but actively assembled
• We do not ‘see the past’ but build a mental representation of it
• Construction is influenced by our current goals, expectations, knowledge + schemas
• Memories may change every time we recall them
• does not stay the same – the memories we made long ago were built on the foundations we were then. now we may view it differently because we are different.

Question 61

what are schemas?

Answer 61

• A schema is a cognitive framework that is developed through experience
• A script is a type of schema consisting of a sequence of events predicted by the individual

for ex. if you forget what happened at a wedding, you will assume what happened via schemas. we know every wedding has a cake cutting part, speeches, dances, food etc. so we fill in the gaps of what may have happened with our schemas

Memory has gaps. We fill in these gaps with schemas (e.g. we estimate what has happened based on what happened in the past).

Question 62

what is source monitoring?

Answer 62

• When we are trying to identify the source of information
• Attributions of information are often schema-based (particularly when we lack time/details)
• Sometimes, we have trouble identifying whether or not the source is ourselves
• Source monitoring errors may explain some cases of plagiarism or artistic theft

Question 63

what are flashbulb memories? how do our memories + emotionally arousing events change overtime? does our confidence change? do we remember smaller details too? overall, what effects our memory storage?

Answer 63

flashbulb memories: we remember arousing experiences much better than typical daily events.

however,
Memories for everyday + emotionally arousing events become inaccurate over time, though confidence in arousing memories remains high

so for arousing events we may recall the central ideas, but through time inconsistent memories arise

Therefore, our memory for certain details of arousing experiences is excellent. For example you’re unlikely to forget:
* Who won the game
* A weapon used in a crime that you witnessed

However, our memory for many other details of the event is normal (i.e. poor). You might forget:
* where you watched the game
* what the individual carrying the weapon looked like

The physiological state of arousal affects memory storage (changes in cortisol and noradrenaline are particularly meaningful)

Question 64

what is a major implication of wrongly retrieved memories?

what is the effect this implication resembles and how?

Answer 64

major implication = eye-witness testimonies

Plays a pivotal role in the legal system, but unfortunately it is not perfectly reliable

3⁄4 of wrongful convictions are due to erroneous testimony

Though eyewitnesses are often confident in their testimony, their accounts can be inaccurate
* Eyewitnesses are just as confident in incorrect accounts as they are with correct ones
* Confidence is not perfectly related to memory accuracy

After the crime, an eyewitness’ memory can be modified by interviews, media coverage and other events. This is an example of the misinformation effect, aka memory is reconstructive.

Question 65

what is the misinformation/framing effect?

Answer 65

when intervening effects can disrupt an original memories and make it inaccurate.

example: 90 people recall an event they saw

encoding = everyone is given the same stimulus

post-event information = interviewer asks questions about the event
- these questions can be framed to be consistent, neutral, or inconsistent to what happened

retrieval = there will be alternative forced choice recognition depending on the question asked. they forget and alter to a different degree.

thus the question asked, has an effect on memory.

Question 66

who are more vulnerable to the misinformation effect? what qualities do these people have?

Answer 66

We are all vulnerable, but some groups are more vulnerable than others

Younger children + older adults generally more vulnerable

Individual traits may matter; high empathy and low intelligence are linked to increased vulnerability

Even individuals with exceptional memory (extreme outliers) are vulnerable to misinformation

Question 67

what are false memories and their implications?

Answer 67

• May be inadvertently created by interactions with law enforcement, media or therapists and more.
  ex. a therapist may ask leading questions making you exaggerate a scenario in your mind and change your perception
• Implications serious; false memories of crimes can result in wrongful convictions

Question 68

what are repressed memories?

Answer 68

• Aversive memories too traumatic for the individual to handle may be hidden beneath consciousness
• These memories may re-emerge later in life
• Repressed memories are a very controversial idea;
  their existence is disputed (memory wars)1
• Skeptical psychologists believe that repressed
  memories are likely false memories

Question 69

what are state-dependent memories?

Answer 69

sober encoding = sober recall
drunk encoding = drunk recall

you recall better in the physiological state you learned in the info in.

not that backed up

Question 70

what are mood-dependent memories?

Answer 70

Memory recall is influenced by the individual’s mood
* When you’re angry, you might think of other times you were angry
* Depressed people might be more likely to recall negative information

pretty backed up

Question 71

what are context-dependent memories?

Answer 71

OISE encoding for PSY100 = OISE recall for PSY100
underwater encoding = underwater recall

If you encoded in a certain environment, recall will be best in that environment.
This is because your environment gives you cues on what you are trying to remember.