learning and memory Flashcards
what is learning?
process by which experience results in changes in behavior.
what is memory?
internal records of past experiences acquired through learning.
what is habituation?
a decease in the strength or occurrence of a behavior after repeated exposure to a stimulus
what is the acoustic startle reflex?
a defensive response to a startling stimulus.
an organism’s innate reaction to a stimulus is know as what?
the orienting response
what are three factors that influence the rate and duration of habituation?
- how arousing the stimulus is. (less arousing = faster habituation)
- the number of times it is experienced.
- the length of time b/w repeated exposure.
what do massed or closely spaced repetitions lead to?
faster habituation
what do spaced or repetitions spread out over time lead to?
longer duration habituation
what is sensitization?
concept in which an arousing stimulus leads to a stronger response to a later stimulus. (doesn’t have to be the same)
what are the basic concepts of classical conditioning?
- unconditioned stimulus
- unconditioned response
- conditioned stimulus
- conditioned response
what is operant conditioning?
- an organism learns to make a response in order to obtain or avoid important consequences.
what is a cognitive map?
an internal psychological representation of the spatial layout of the external world
what is latent learning?
learning that is unconnected to a consequence and remains undetected until explicitly demonstrated at a later stage.
In the latent learning/cognitive map experiment, which group of rats had less errors over time?
the group that was awarded food on day 11 of the experiment
A small area of increased activity is called …
a place field
