Learning and Memory Flashcards
What is learning?
The process of acquiring new information
What is incidental learning?
Not all learning is intentional
What is memory?
Encoding, storage, and recall of information
What is memory is the outcome of?
Learning
What are the stages of memory?
Encoding, storage, and retrieval
What is encoding?
The acquisition and consolidation of information that creates a memory trace
How does encoding occur?
Through structural and chemical changes
What is consolidation?
Changes in the brain that stabilize memory over time and create a stronger representation
What is storage?
The retention of memory traces in a permanent record
How are memories stored?
As a pattern of neuronal activity
What is retrieval?
Process of accessing a stored memory trace from LTM
Three ways to learn about memory?
Human studies, animal studies, and computational science
What are short term forms of memory?
Sensory memory, short-term memory, and working memory
What is working memory?
The limited capacity store for retaining info over short term and performing mental operations (maintenance and manipulation)
What is Baddley and Hitch’s model of working memory?
It is a three part system non-unified system with the central executive mechanism, the phonological loop, and the visuospatial “sketch pad”
Evidence of the model of working memory?
More likely to produce similarly sounding letters when asked to recall (depends on acoustic code rather than semantic code)
In working memory, which hemisphere is involved in verbal memory?
The left hemisphere
In working memory, which hemisphere is involved in spatial memory?
Right hemisphere
What are the types of LT memory?
Declarative and nondeclarative memory
What is declarative memory?
Memory for events and facts that we have conscious access to and can verbally report
What are the types of declarative memory?
Episodic and semantic
What is episodic memory?
Memories of events that a person experienced and the context surrounding it
What is semantic memory?
Objective knowledge that is factual in nature but doesn’t include the context in which it was learned
What is nondeclarative memory?
Memory expressed through performance (implicit)
What is procedural memory?
Skills without explicit knowledge
What structures are involved in procedural memory?
Basal ganglia and subcortical structures
What is priming?
A change in the response to a stimulus or in the ability to identify a stimulus following prior exposure to the stimulus
What is the perceptual representation system?
The place where the structure or form of objects can be primed and benefit from prior experience
Is there a difference between conceptual and semantic priming?
Not really
What is classical conditioning?
CS is paired with US and becomes associated with, causing a CR due to a CS
where does classical conditioning occur in the brain?
Cerebellum
What is non-associative learning?
Consists of forms of simple learning
Two types of non-associative learning?
Habituation and sensitization
What is habituation?
A response to an unchanging stimulus decreases over time
What is sensitization?
A response increases with repeated presentation of a stimulus
What pathways does non-associative learning involve?
Sensory inputs
What brain structures does declarative memory involve?
MT lobe, neocortex, middle diencephalon
What is Atkinson and Shiffrin’s model of memory?
Sensory inputs that are attended to move to ST storage. If they are rehearsed, they can be moved to LT memory
What are the strengths of the modal model?
Separate LTM and STM a
What are the weaknesses of the modal model?
Too simple and there is evidence that STM may not be needed for LTM
What is amnesia?
Memory deficits and loss
What is anterograde amnesia?
Lesion/physiological trauma leads to inability to learn new things
What is retrograde amnesia?
Loss of memory for events and knowledge because of a traumatic event
What does amnesia show about the brain structures?
The HC is critical in LTM formation but not STM or non-declarative memory
What happened to patient HM?
His HC was lesioned, resulting in an inability to form new memories and new information about surroundings. He was still able to form STM and procedural memories
What is the delayed nonmatch-to-sample task?
A food reward is hidden underneath the new object, which a primate can lean over time
What did the delayed nonmatch-to-sample demonstrate?
The HC cannot function if connections to amygdala and cortical regions are lesioned. The more lesioning, the more disruptions in the function
What is the water maze task?
Rats are dropped in the water with an invisible platform and learn where it is over time
What did the water maze task demonstrate?
The MT lobe and HC are important for LTM, but not critical for non-declarative or STM
What neural region is activated during encoding?
Hippocampus
What is Ranagath study with red and green words?
Participants made size and animacy judgements and were tested on familiarity and confidence
What did the Ranagath study show?
The HC/PHC cortex is important for recollection, while the perirhinal cortex is important for recognition
What brain region is activated during retrieval?
HC
What is the Eldridge experiment?
Participants memorized a list of words and decided if they were new or old words
What did the Eldridge experiment show?
HC is selectively active for recollected items in retrieval
What is posterior parietal activation linked with?
Retrieval, and decreased with encoding
What is relational memory?
Memory for relations among elements of an experiment
What kind of memory is relational context linked to?
Episodic memory
How does relational information work?
Reactivation of original neocortical areas that provided input to the HC during original encoding
What did White’s experiment show?
Relational context may be stored in the cortex rather than the HC because neocortex was activated correlating to the type of perception
What is White’s experiment?
Participants learned a set of sounds and pictures with a memory test later on
What is Hebbian learning?
“Cells that fire together wire together” meaning that synaptic connections change depending on activity and coactivation
When will synapse be strengthened in Hebbian learning?
When both synapse and postsynaptic cell are co-activated because neural pathway is strengthened
What is long term potentiation?
Stimulation of synapses lead to greater long term synaptic strength so that when activated again there is a larger response
How does LTP work?
NMDA produce LTP which is dependent on glutamate. AMPA receptors are inserted overtime with depolarization and become more sensitive to glutamate
What are the three rules of LTP?
Cooperativity, associativity, and specificity
What is cooperativity in LTP?
There must be more than one input active at the same time
What is associativity in LTP?
Weak inputs potentiated when they co-occur with strong inputs
What is specificity in LTP?
Only the stimulated synapse shows potentiation
