Learning and Memory Flashcards
habituation
when response to a stimulus is decreased after repeated exposure
dishabituation
recovery of a response to a stimulus after habituation has occurred; temporary and generally happens after a new stimulus has been presented
associative learning
creation of a pairing either between two stimuli or between a behavior and a response; two types are classical and operant conditioning
classical conditioning (acquisition)
type of associative learning that takes advantage of biological responses to create associations between two unrelated stimuli
unconditioned stimulus
stimulus that brings an innate, reflexive response
unconditioned response
innate or reflexive response
neutral stimuli
do not produce a reflexive response
signaling stimuli
neutral stimuli that has the potential to be used as a conditioning stimulus
conditioned stimulus
normally neutral stimulus that now causes a reflexive response
conditioned response
reflexive response from a normally neutral stimulus
extinction
when the conditioned stimulus has no more effect
spontaneous recovery
weak conditioned response when an extinct conditioned stimulus is presented
Generalization
a stimulus smilar enough to the conditioned stimulus can also produce the conditioned response
discrimination
organism learns to distinguish between two similar stimuli
operant conditioning
links voluntary behaviors with consequences in an effort to alter the frequency of these behaviors
behaviorism
theory that all behaviors are conditioned
reinforcement
process of increasing the likelihood that an individual will perform a behavior
positive reinforcer
increase a behavior by adding a positive consequence or incentive following desired behavior
negative reinforcer
increase the frequency of a behavior by removing something unpleasant
escape learning
role of the behavior is to reduce the unpleasantness of something that already exists
avoidance learning
behavior to prevent the unpleasantness of something that has yet to happen
primary reinforcer
positive reward that naturally elicits a response
conditioned (secondary) reinforcer
positive reward that does not naturally elicit a response; must be classically conditioned
discriminative stimulus
indicates that reward is potentially available in an operant conditioning paradigm
punishment
uses conditioning to reduct the recurrence of a behavior
positive punishment
adds an unpleasant consequence to reduct a behavior
negative punishment
reduction of a behavior when a stimulus is removed
fixed-ratio schedules
reinforce a behavior after a specific number of performances of that behavior
continuous reinforcement
behavior is rewarded every time it is performed
variable-ratio schedules
reduce a behavior after a varying number of performances of the behavior, but such that the average number of performances to receive a reward is relatively constant (works best)
fixed-interval schedules
reinforce the first instance of a behavior after a specified time period has elapsed
variable-interval schedules
reinforce a behavior the first time that behavior is is performed after a varying interval of time
shaping
rewarding increasingly specific behaviors
latent learning
learning that occurs without a reward but that is spontaneously demonstrated once a reward is introduced
problem solving
using trial and error to test behaviors until they yield an award
preparedness
animals are most able to learn behaviors that coincide with their natural behaviors
instinctive draft
difficulty in overcoming instinctual behaviors
observational learning
process of learning a new behavior or gaining information by watching others
mirror neurons
neurons that are located in the frontal and parietal lobes and fire when individual performs an action and when that individual observes someone else performing an action
modeling
people learn what behaviors are acceptable by watching others perform them
encoding
refers to the process of putting new information into memory
automatic processing
information gained without effort; passively absorbed from the environment
controlled (effortful) processing
active memorization that takes active work
different ways of encoding
- visual encoding
- acoustic encoding
- semantic encoding
self-reference effect
we tend to recall information best when we can put it into the context of our own lives
maintenance rehearsal
repetition of a piece of information to either keep it in working memory or store it into short/long term memory
method of loci
associating each item in list with a location along a route that has already been memorized
peg-word system
associates numbers with items that rhyme or resemble the numbers
chunking (clustering)
taking individual elements of a large list and grouping them into groups of elements with related meaning
sensory memory
first and most fleeting memory: iconic (visual) and echoic (auditory); maintained by the occipital lobe; lost shortly after unless it is attended to
short-term memory
lasts only about 30 seconds; usually limited in capacity to about 7 items (7+2 rule); housed in hippocampus
working memory
closely related to short-term memory is is also supported by hippocampus; tables us to keep a few pieces of information in our consciousness simultaneously to manipulate it
elaborative rehearsal
one of the ways that information is consolidated into long-term memory; association of the information knowledge already stored in long-term memory; hippocampus and eventually cerebral cortex
implicit (non declarative or procedural) memory
consists of our skills and conditioned responses
explicit (declarative) memory
consists of those memories that require conscious recall
semantic memory
facts we know
episodic memory
our experiences
retrieval
name given to the process of demonstrating that something that has been learned has been retained
recall
retrieval and statement of previously learned information
recognition
merely identifying a piece of information that was previously learned
relearning
another way of demonstrating that information has been stored in long-term memory
spacing effect
longer the amount of time between sessions of learning, he greater the the retention later on
semantic network
way of organizing information ideas as a network of connected ideas
spreading activation
then one node of the semantic network is activated, connected ones light up
priming
recall is aided by first being presented with a word or phrase that is close to the desired memory
context effects
memory is aided by being in the physical location where encoding took place
state-dependent memory/effect
person’s mental state can affect recall
serial position effect
retrieval cue that appears while learning lists; better recall of first and last items on a list; primacy and recency effect
Alzheimer’s disease
degenerative brain disorder thought to be linked to a loss of acetylcholine in neurons that link to the hippocampus; marked by progressive dementia and memory loss with atrophy of the brain; retrograde memory loss (recent memories go first); neurofibrillary tangles and B-amyloid plaques
dementia
loss of cognitive function
sundowning
increase in dysfunction in the late afternoon and evening
Korksakoff’s syndrome
another form of memory loss caused by thymine deficiency in the brain; retrograde amnesia and anterograde amnesia; confabulation
retrograde amnesia
loss of previously formed memories
anterograde amnesia
inability to form new memories
confabulation
process of creating vivid but fabricated memories
agnosia
loss of ability to recognize objects, people, or sounds (usually only one of the three); usually caused by physical damage to the brain
decay
curve of forgetting; memories degrade on their own given time
interference effect
retrieval error caused by the existence of other similar information
proactive interference
old information interfering with new learning
retroactive interference
new information causes forgetting of old information
prospective memory
remembering to perform a task at some point in the future
misinformation effect
many participants will identify misinformation
source-monitoring error
confusion between semantic and episodic memory; person remembers the details of an event but confuses the context under which those details were gained
neuroplasticity
neural connections form rapidly in response to stimuli
synaptic pruning
weak neural connections are broken while strong ones are bolstered
long-term potentiation
as stimulus is repeated, stimulated neurons become more efficient a releasing their neurotransmitters and at the same time receptor sites on the other side increase, increasing receptor density
