Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

MCAT Behavioral Sciences > Learning and Memory > Flashcards

Learning and Memory Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
MCAT flashcards
1
Q

habituation

A

when response to a stimulus is decreased after repeated exposure

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

dishabituation

A

recovery of a response to a stimulus after habituation has occurred; temporary and generally happens after a new stimulus has been presented

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

associative learning

A

creation of a pairing either between two stimuli or between a behavior and a response; two types are classical and operant conditioning

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

classical conditioning (acquisition)

A

type of associative learning that takes advantage of biological responses to create associations between two unrelated stimuli

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

unconditioned stimulus

A

stimulus that brings an innate, reflexive response

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

unconditioned response

A

innate or reflexive response

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

neutral stimuli

A

do not produce a reflexive response

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

signaling stimuli

A

neutral stimuli that has the potential to be used as a conditioning stimulus

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

conditioned stimulus

A

normally neutral stimulus that now causes a reflexive response

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

conditioned response

A

reflexive response from a normally neutral stimulus

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

extinction

A

when the conditioned stimulus has no more effect

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

spontaneous recovery

A

weak conditioned response when an extinct conditioned stimulus is presented

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Generalization

A

a stimulus smilar enough to the conditioned stimulus can also produce the conditioned response

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

discrimination

A

organism learns to distinguish between two similar stimuli

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

operant conditioning

A

links voluntary behaviors with consequences in an effort to alter the frequency of these behaviors

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

behaviorism

A

theory that all behaviors are conditioned

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

reinforcement

A

process of increasing the likelihood that an individual will perform a behavior

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

positive reinforcer

A

increase a behavior by adding a positive consequence or incentive following desired behavior

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

negative reinforcer

A

increase the frequency of a behavior by removing something unpleasant

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

escape learning

A

role of the behavior is to reduce the unpleasantness of something that already exists

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

avoidance learning

A

behavior to prevent the unpleasantness of something that has yet to happen

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

primary reinforcer

A

positive reward that naturally elicits a response

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

conditioned (secondary) reinforcer

A

positive reward that does not naturally elicit a response; must be classically conditioned

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

discriminative stimulus

A

indicates that reward is potentially available in an operant conditioning paradigm

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

punishment

A

uses conditioning to reduct the recurrence of a behavior

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

positive punishment

A

adds an unpleasant consequence to reduct a behavior

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

negative punishment

A

reduction of a behavior when a stimulus is removed

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

fixed-ratio schedules

A

reinforce a behavior after a specific number of performances of that behavior

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

continuous reinforcement

A

behavior is rewarded every time it is performed

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

variable-ratio schedules

A

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)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
31
Q

fixed-interval schedules

A

reinforce the first instance of a behavior after a specified time period has elapsed

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
32
Q

variable-interval schedules

A

reinforce a behavior the first time that behavior is is performed after a varying interval of time

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
33
Q

shaping

A

rewarding increasingly specific behaviors

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
34
Q

latent learning

A

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

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
35
Q

problem solving

A

using trial and error to test behaviors until they yield an award

36
Q

preparedness

A

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

37
Q

instinctive draft

A

difficulty in overcoming instinctual behaviors

38
Q

observational learning

A

process of learning a new behavior or gaining information by watching others

39
Q

mirror neurons

A

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

40
Q

modeling

A

people learn what behaviors are acceptable by watching others perform them

41
Q

encoding

A

refers to the process of putting new information into memory

42
Q

automatic processing

A

information gained without effort; passively absorbed from the environment

43
Q

controlled (effortful) processing

A

active memorization that takes active work

44
Q

different ways of encoding

A
  • visual encoding
  • acoustic encoding
  • semantic encoding
45
Q

self-reference effect

A

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

46
Q

maintenance rehearsal

A

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

47
Q

method of loci

A

associating each item in list with a location along a route that has already been memorized

48
Q

peg-word system

A

associates numbers with items that rhyme or resemble the numbers

49
Q

chunking (clustering)

A

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

50
Q

sensory memory

A

first and most fleeting memory: iconic (visual) and echoic (auditory); maintained by the occipital lobe; lost shortly after unless it is attended to

51
Q

short-term memory

A

lasts only about 30 seconds; usually limited in capacity to about 7 items (7+2 rule); housed in hippocampus

52
Q

working memory

A

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

53
Q

elaborative rehearsal

A

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

54
Q

implicit (non declarative or procedural) memory

A

consists of our skills and conditioned responses

55
Q

explicit (declarative) memory

A

consists of those memories that require conscious recall

56
Q

semantic memory

A

facts we know

57
Q

episodic memory

A

our experiences

58
Q

retrieval

A

name given to the process of demonstrating that something that has been learned has been retained

59
Q

recall

A

retrieval and statement of previously learned information

60
Q

recognition

A

merely identifying a piece of information that was previously learned

61
Q

relearning

A

another way of demonstrating that information has been stored in long-term memory

62
Q

spacing effect

A

longer the amount of time between sessions of learning, he greater the the retention later on

63
Q

semantic network

A

way of organizing information ideas as a network of connected ideas

64
Q

spreading activation

A

then one node of the semantic network is activated, connected ones light up

65
Q

priming

A

recall is aided by first being presented with a word or phrase that is close to the desired memory

66
Q

context effects

A

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

67
Q

state-dependent memory/effect

A

person’s mental state can affect recall

68
Q

serial position effect

A

retrieval cue that appears while learning lists; better recall of first and last items on a list; primacy and recency effect

69
Q

Alzheimer’s disease

A

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

70
Q

dementia

A

loss of cognitive function

71
Q

sundowning

A

increase in dysfunction in the late afternoon and evening

72
Q

Korksakoff’s syndrome

A

another form of memory loss caused by thymine deficiency in the brain; retrograde amnesia and anterograde amnesia; confabulation

73
Q

retrograde amnesia

A

loss of previously formed memories

74
Q

anterograde amnesia

A

inability to form new memories

75
Q

confabulation

A

process of creating vivid but fabricated memories

76
Q

agnosia

A

loss of ability to recognize objects, people, or sounds (usually only one of the three); usually caused by physical damage to the brain

77
Q

decay

A

curve of forgetting; memories degrade on their own given time

78
Q

interference effect

A

retrieval error caused by the existence of other similar information

79
Q

proactive interference

A

old information interfering with new learning

80
Q

retroactive interference

A

new information causes forgetting of old information

81
Q

prospective memory

A

remembering to perform a task at some point in the future

82
Q

misinformation effect

A

many participants will identify misinformation

83
Q

source-monitoring error

A

confusion between semantic and episodic memory; person remembers the details of an event but confuses the context under which those details were gained

84
Q

neuroplasticity

A

neural connections form rapidly in response to stimuli

85
Q

synaptic pruning

A

weak neural connections are broken while strong ones are bolstered

86
Q

long-term potentiation

A

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

MCAT Behavioral Sciences (6 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions