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MCAT Behavioural Sciences > Learning and Memory > Flashcards

Learning and Memory Flashcards

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MCAT flashcards
1
Q

Learning Definition

A

the way in which we acquire new behaviours

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2
Q

Stimulus

A

anything an organism can respond to

-includes all the sensory inputs

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3
Q

Habituation

A

Decrease in response following repeated exposure to a stimulus

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4
Q

Dishabituation

A

Recovery of a response to a stimulus after habituation has occurred due to the presentation of a second stimulus that “interrups” habituation

  • temporary
  • refers to change in response to the original stimulus
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5
Q

Associative learning

A

creation of pairing between two stimuli of between a behaviour and a response

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6
Q

Classical conditioning

A

Uses instinctual responses to create associations between two unrelated stimuli
-Ivan Pavlov and his puppers

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7
Q

Unconditioned stimulus

A

any stimulus that brings about a reflexive response

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8
Q

Unconditioned response

A

innate or reflexive response to certain stimuli

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9
Q

Neutral stimuli

A

stimuli that do not produce reflexive responses

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10
Q

Pavlovs experiment (stimuli)

A

Neutral stimulus: bell ringing

Unconditioned stimulus: meat

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11
Q

Conditioned stimulus

A

normally neutral stimulus that is made to cause a reflexive response through association
-causes a conditioned response

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12
Q

Acquisition

A

taking advantage of a reflexive, unconditioned stimulus to turn a neutral stimulus into a conditioned stimulus

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13
Q

Extinction

A

Habituation to the conditioned stimulus

-occurs if the conditioned stimulus is presented without the unconditioned stimulus too many times

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14
Q

Spontaneous recovery

A

Some time after extinction occurs, presenting the extinct conditioned stimulus again will sometimes result in a weak conditioned response

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15
Q

Generalization

A

Stimulus similar enough to the conditioned stimulus can produce the conditioned response

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16
Q

Discrimination

A

Organism learns to distinguish between 2 similar stimuli

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17
Q

Operant conditioning

A

Links voluntary behaviours with consequences in an effort to alter the frequency of certain behaviours
-B.F. Skinner & Behaviourism
= theory that all behaviours are conditioned

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18
Q

Positive reinforcement

A

Increases behaviour by adding a stimulus

-ex getting money for working

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19
Q

Negative reinforcement

A

Increases a behaviour by removing a stimulus
-ex: getting rid of a headache by taking advil

Subdivided into escape leaning and avoidance learning

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20
Q

Positive punishment

A

Adds an unpleasant stimulus in order to reduce a behaviour

-ex: arrested for stealing

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21
Q

Reinforcement

A

Process of increasing the likelihood of a behaviour

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22
Q

Escape learning

A

role of behaviour is to reduce the unpleasantness of an existing stimulus
-advil example

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23
Q

Avoidance learning

A

behaviour to prevent the unpleasantness of something that has yet to happen
-studying to avoid failing an exam

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24
Q

Negative punishment

A

Removing a stimulus in order to reduce a behaviour

-ex: taking away toys from kids for bad behaviour

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25
Q

Fixed ratio schedules (FR)

A

reinforce a behaviour after a specific number of performances of the behaviour

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26
Q

Continuous reinforcement

A

A type of FR schedule where the behaviour is rewarded every time

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27
Q

Variable ratio schedules (VR)

A

reinforce a behaviour after a varying number of performances

  • average # of performances is usually constant
  • have the fastest response rate
  • most resistant to extinguishing
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28
Q

Fixed interval schedules (FI)

A

reinforce the first instance of a behaviour after a specific time period has elapsed

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29
Q

Variable interval schedules (VI)

A

reinforce the first instance of a behaviour after a variable interval of time

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30
Q

Shaping

A

Process of rewarding increasingly specific behaviours

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31
Q

Latent learning

A

learning that occurs without reward but that is spontaneously demonstrated when a reward is introduced

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32
Q

Problem-solving

A

Trial and error approach, testing behaviours until they yield a rewards
-humans and chimps tend to avoid this and analyze the situation first

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33
Q

Prepardness

A

animals are most able to learn behaviours that coincide with their natural behaviours

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34
Q

Instinctive drift

A

Difficulty in overcoming instinctual behaviours

-animals don’t tend to do well with behaviours that counteract their natural instincts

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35
Q

Observational learning

A

Learning a new behaviour/gaining info by watching others
-ex: Alberto Bandura and the Bobo doll

*not just imitation, can be used to teach individuals to avoid behaviour as well

36
Q

Mirror neurons

A

Located in the frontal and parietal lobes

  • fire when an individual performs an action and when they observe someone else performing that action
  • largely involved in motor processes
  • related to empathy and vicarious emotions
37
Q

Modeling

A

Observational learning by watching others perform actions

-children tend to model actions more than what people say

38
Q

Encoding

A

Process of putting new information into memory

39
Q

Automatic processing

A

form of encoding that happens spontaneously, information is gained without effort

40
Q

Controlled (effortful) processing

A

Actively working to gain information

41
Q

Visual encoding

A

visualizing the meaning of information

-weakest form of encoding

42
Q

Acoustic encoding

A

storing the way information sounds

43
Q

Semantic encoding

A

Putting the information into a meaningful context

-strongest

44
Q

Self-reference effect

A

Tend to recall information best when we put it into the context of our own lives

45
Q

Maintenance rehearsal

A

repetition of a piece of information to keep it in your working memory or to store it in short or long term memory

46
Q

Mnemonics

A

acronyms or rhyming phrases that provide organization for the information

47
Q

Method of loci

A

Associating each item in the list with a location along a previously memorized route (through a building or down a street)

48
Q

Peg-word system

A

associated numbers with items that rhyme or resemble the numbers
-eg. one and sun

49
Q

Chunking/clustering

A

Involves taking individual elements of a large list and lumping them into groups with related meaning

50
Q

Sensory memory

A

First and most fleeting form of memory

  • consists of iconic (visual) and echoic (auditory) memory
  • only lasts 1 second, will fade unless attended to
  • memory is maintained by the major projection area of each sensory system
51
Q

Whole report vs. partial report experiment

A

If a 3x3 list of letters is flashed on a screen, participants can correctly identify 3-4 letters when asked to list all the letters (whole report) but can very accurately list any of the rows of letters immediately after (partial report)

52
Q

Short term memory

A

Fades quickly, usually after 30 seconds unless rehearsed

  • limited to ~7 items (7+/- 2 rule)
  • space can be increased by clustering and time extended by maintenance rehearsal

Housed primarily in the hippocampus

53
Q

Working memory

A

Enables retention of a few pieces of information and manipulation of that information

  • need to integrate short term memory, attention, and executive function
  • supported by the hippocampus
  • frontal and parietal lobes are also involved
54
Q

Long-Term Memory

A

Limitless storage for the information moved here from short term memory
-done through elaborative rehearsal = association of the information to knowledge already stored in long term memory (tied to the self reference effect)

Controlled by the hippocampus but some very long term memories are moved to the cerebral cortex

2 types

  • Implicit (nondeclarative or procedural)
  • Explicit (declarative)
55
Q

Implicit memory

A

Also called non-declarative or procedural

  • consists of skills/tasks and conditioned responses
  • “unconscious memory”
56
Q

Explicit memory

A

Also called declarative memory

  • consists for memory that require conscious recall
  • further divided into:
    1. semantic memory (known facts)
    2. episodic memory (experiences)
57
Q

Retrieval

A

process of demonstrating that something has been learned and retained

  • not simply recall
  • applies to the recognition or quick relearning of info
58
Q

Recall

A

retrieval + statement of previously learned information

59
Q

Recognition

A

Process of identifying a piece of info that was learned

60
Q

Relearning experiment

A

Hermann Ebbinghaus and the list memorization
-found that the more times he studied a list of words the better he could remember them AND the longer the time between study sessions, the better the recall

61
Q

Spacing effect

A

Longer time between sessions of relearning equates better retention of the information later on

62
Q

Semantic network

A

Concepts/memories are linked together in the brain based on similar meaning

63
Q

Spreading activation

A

When one node of a semantic network is activated, the other linked concepts are also subconsciously activated
-linked to priming

64
Q

Priming

A

Recall is aided by presenting someone with a word/phrase that is close to the desired semantic memory

65
Q

Context effects

A

Memory is aided by being in the physical location where the encoding took place

66
Q

State-dependent memory

A

Mental state can alter recall

  • being drunk means you will recall tasks/facts better when you’re drunk
  • bad mood primes negative memories (helping the mood persist)
67
Q

Serial position effect

A

In learning lists, people have a higher recall for the first few items and the last few items on the list

  • early items = primacy effect
  • later items = recency effect

*when asked to remember the list later, show strong recall for first items but recall of later ones fade

68
Q

Alzheimer’s disease

A

Degenerative brain disorder thought to be linked to a loss of acetylcholine in neurons that links to the hippocampus

  • dementia
  • memory loss
  • brain atrophy
69
Q

Dementia

A

progressive loss of cognitive function

70
Q

Memory loss in alzheimer’s tends to proceed in _____?

A

Retrograde fashion

-loss of recent memories before distant memories

71
Q

5 brain pathologies of alzheimer’s

A
  1. Neurofibrillary tangles
  2. ß-amyloid plaques (incorrectly folded precursor proteins)
  3. Shrunken hippocampus
  4. Shrunken cerebral cortex
  5. Enlarged ventricles
72
Q

Sundowning

A

Increase in dysfunction in the late afternoon/evening in Alzheimer’s patients

73
Q

Korsakoff’s Syndrome

A

Memory loss caused by thiamine deficiency in the brain

  • causes both retrograde and anterograde amnesia
  • also causes confabulation (creation of vivid but false memories)
74
Q

Agnosia

A

loss of ability to recognize objects, people, or sounds

  • usually only one of the 3
  • caused by physical damage to the brain like stroke or MS
75
Q

Decay

A

Loss of memories naturally over time due to fading of neurochemical trace

76
Q

Ebbinghaus’s curve of forgetting

A

For a day or 2 after learning a list, the recall falls down sharply but then levels out

77
Q

Interference

A

Retrieval error caused by the existence of other, similar information
-proactive and retroactive

78
Q

Proactive interference

A

Old information prevents the learning of new, similar information
-ex: new address after moving

79
Q

Retroactive interference

A

New information causes the forgetting of old information

-can be reduced by minimizing the # of interfering events

80
Q

Memory change with age

A
  • Recognition & skill based memory does not decline
  • Semantically meaningful recall does not decline
  • Prospective memory (remembering to perform a task in the future) remains intact when event based (primed by a trigger event)
  • time based prospective memory (ie. pills) does tend to decline with age
81
Q

Misinformation effect

A

People will remember being shown things a certain way if misleading information is provided (ie cat being in a picture if they were told it was)

applies to recall as well. People will remember something as more intense than it was if they are asked about it using more descriptive and intense language

82
Q

Source monitoring effect

A

Confusion between episodic and semantic memory

-can remember the details of an event but confusion about the source

83
Q

Neuroplasticity

A

Ability of our brain to form rapid neural connections in response to stimuli

84
Q

Synaptic pruning

A

Weak neural connections are broken while strong ones re bolstered as we grow older
-increases the brain’s efficiency in processing info

85
Q

Long term potentiation

A

Neurophysiological basis of long term memory
Neural activity forms a memory trace by repeated or rehearsal of a stimulus
-stimulated neurons become more efficient at releasing their neurotransmitters
-receptor neuron density is increased

86
Q

Memory pathway

A
  1. Sensory memory in the projection area of a sensory modality
  2. Sensory memory is maintained and moved as a short term memory into the hippocampus (temporal lobe)
  3. Can be manipulated via working memory while in the hippocampus (in tandem with the frontal and parietal lobes) AND/OR stored for later recall
  4. Over very long times memories are gradually moved from the hippocampus to the cerebral cortex

MCAT Behavioural Sciences (12 decks)

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