Learning Flashcards
Learning
Process of acquiring new information
Our experiences change our nervous system and behavior (changing based on environmental input)
Process of learning/memory
Encoding (learning) –> Consolidation (memory) –> Storage (memory) –> Retrieval (memory)
3 types of learning
Stimulus-response
Perceptual learning
Relational learning
2 types of stimulus-response
Classical conditioning/Operant conditioning
Motor learning
Classical conditioning
Involves unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, conditioned stimulus, conditioned response
Pavlov example
Unconditioned stimulus (US)
Stimulus that produces defensive or appetitive response
Natural response, not learned
Unconditioned response (UR)
Response to unconditioned stimulus
Conditioned stimulus (CS)
Stimulus, which when paired with US during training, comes to elicit a learned response
Conditioned response (CR)
Response to the presentation of a conditioned stimulus
Operant conditioning
“Instrumental conditioning”
Association between stimulus and response
Employs rewards (positive/add) and punishers (negative/remove)
Positive punishment, negative punishment, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement
Positive punishment
Giving something to decrease the likelihood of a behavior occuring
Negative punishment
Taking something away to decrease the likelihood of a behavior occuring
Positive reinforcement
Giving something to increase the likelihood of a behavior occuring
Negative reinforcement
Taking something away to increase the likelihood of a behavior occuring
Operant conditioning (neural level)
Selectively strengthens connections between neural circuits that produce a particular response
Neural circuits begin in sensory association cortex (perception) and end in the motor association cortex of the frontal lobe (movement)
Two pathways in operant conditioning
Transcortical pathways
Basal ganglia and thalamic pathways
Transcortical pathways
Direct connections between different areas of the cerebral cortex
Involved with declarative, episodic memories, complex perceptual memories of sequences (ex: learning to drive)
Basal ganglia and thalamic pathways
Learned behaviors become automatic/habitual/routine
Motor learning
Type of stimulus-response learning (riding a bike)
Learning to make a new response through the establishment of changes within the motor system
Motor learning (neural level)
The more novel the behavior, the more neural circuits in the motor system must be modified
Involves cortex and basal ganglia
Perceptual learning
Involves learning to recognize things that you have perceived before (changes in environment from the last time you saw it)
We learn that specific stimuli are found in specific situations
We learn sequences of episodes/events
Cortex plays important role
Perceptual learning is mediated by
Extrastriate cortex (ventral stream and dorsal stream)
Relational learning
Complex learning involving associations between multiple stimuli
Involved in most learning
Hippocampus plays major role
