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MCAT Psychology > Learning and Memory > Flashcards

Learning and Memory Flashcards

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1
Q

Habituation

A

The phenomenon by which repeated exposure to the same stimulus can cause a decrease in response

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2
Q

Dishabituation

A

The recovery of a response to a stimulus after habituation has occurred. Often occurs when, late in the habituation of a stimulus, a second stimulus is presented. It is temporary and always refers to chages in response to the original stimulus, not the new one.

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3
Q

Associative learning

A

Creation of a pairing, or association, either between two stimuli or between a behavior and a response

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4
Q

Unconditioned stimulus

A

Any stimulus that brings about an innate or reflexive response

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5
Q

Unconditioned response

A

The innate or reflexive response to an unconditioned stimulus

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6
Q

Neutral stimuli

A

Stimuli that do not produce a reflexive response

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7
Q

Signaling stimuli

A

Neutral stimuli that have the potential to be used as a conditioning stimulus

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8
Q

Conditioned stimulus

A

A normally neutral stimulus that, through association, now cause a reflexive response

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9
Q

Conditioned response

A

A reflexive response caused by a conditioned stimulus

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10
Q

Acquisition

A

The process by which an unconditioned stimulus is used to turn a neutral stimulus into a conditioned stimulus

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11
Q

Extinction

A

The process by which a conditioned response is lost because an organism has become habituated to the conditioned stimulus

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12
Q

Spontaneous recovery

A

The process by which the representation of an extinct conditioned stimulus can cause the exhibition of a weak conditioned response

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13
Q

Generalization

A

A broadening effect by which a stimulus similar enough to the conditioned stimulus can also produce the conditioned response

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14
Q

Discrimination (behaviorism)

A

The opposite of generalization. The ability to distinguish between two similar stimuli

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15
Q

Behaviorism

A

The theory that all behaviors are conditioned

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16
Q

Escape learning

A

The role of behavior is to reduce the unpleasantness of something that already exists. A type of negative reinforcement

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17
Q

Avoidance learning

A

Mean to prevent the unpleasantness of something that is meant to happen (e.g. studying to avoid the unpleasant consequent of getting a bad MCAT score)

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18
Q

Primary reinforcers

A

Reinforcers that an organism responds to naturally

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19
Q

Conditioned/secondary reinforcer

A

A reinforcer that, though classical conditioning has become a reinforcer because it’s been associated with something that yields a positive response

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20
Q

Discriminative stimulus

A

One that indicates that reward is potentially available in an operant conditioning paradigm

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21
Q

Fixed-ratio (FR) schedule

A

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

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22
Q

Variable-ratio (VR) schedules

A

Reinforce 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 fastest and is most resistant to extinction.

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23
Q

Fixed-interval (FI) schedules

A

Reinforce the first instance of a behavior after a specified period has elapsed.

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24
Q

Variable-interval (VI) schedules

A

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

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25
Q

Shaping

A

The process of rewarding increasingly specific behaviors

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26
Q

Latent learning

A

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

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27
Q

Preparedness

A

Animals’ predisposition towards learning behaviors that coincide with their natural behaviors

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28
Q

Instinctive drift

A

A difficulty in overcoming instinctual behaviors when learninG

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29
Q

Observational learning

A

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

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30
Q

Mirror neurons

A

Neurons located in the frontal and parental lobes of the cerebral cortex and fire both when an individual performs an action and when that individual observes someone else perform that action

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31
Q

Encoding

A

The process of putting new information into memory

32
Q

Automatic processing

A

Information that is gained without effort

33
Q

Controlled (effortful) processing

A

The act of actively working to gain information

34
Q

Visual encoding

A

Visualizing information

35
Q

Acoustic encoding

A

Storing the way something sounds

36
Q

Semantic encoding

A

Putting information into a meaningful context

37
Q

Self-reference effect

A

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

38
Q

Maintenance rehearsal

A

The repetition of a piece of information to either keep it within working memory (to prevent forgetting it) or to store it in short-term and eventually long-term memory

39
Q

Method of loci

A

Involves associating each item in the list with a location along a route through a building that has already been memorized

40
Q

Peg-word system

A

Associates numbers with items that rhyme with or resemble the numbers

41
Q

Chunking (aka clustering)

A

A memory trick that involves taking individual elements of a large list and grouping them together into groups of elements with related meaning

42
Q

Sensory memory

A

The most fleeting kind of memory. Consists of both iconic and echoic memory. Lasts a very short time (about one second)

43
Q

Short-term memory

A

Fades quickly, 30 s without rehearsal. Limited in capacity to seven items. Housed in hippocampus

44
Q

Working memory

A

Enables us to keep a few pieces of information in our consciousness simultaneously and to manipulate that information. Allows us to do simple math in our heads

45
Q

Long-term memory

A

An essentially limitless warehouse for the knowledge that we are then able to recall on demand, sometimes for the rest of our lives

46
Q

Elaborative rehearsal

A

One of the ways information is moved into long-term memory. The association of the information to knowledge already stored in long-term memory

47
Q

Implicit (non-declarative or procedural) memory

A

A type of long-term memory that involves our skills and conditioned responses

48
Q

Explicit (declarative) memory

A

A type of long-term memory that involves those memories that require conscious recall. Consists of semantic and episodic memory

49
Q

Semantic memory

A

Facts we know

50
Q

Episodic memory

A

Our experiences

51
Q

Retrieval

A

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

52
Q

Recall

A

The retrieval and statement of previously learned information

53
Q

Recognition

A

The process of merely identifying a piece of information that was previously learned

54
Q

Relearning

A

A way of demonstrating that information has been stored. If you’ve learned something before, it doesn’t take as long to learn it subsequent times

55
Q

Spacing effect

A

The phenomenon by which the longer the amount of time between sessions of relearning, the greater the retention of information.

56
Q

Semantic network

A

Characterized by linkage of concepts based on similar meaning

57
Q

Spreading activation

A

When one node of our semantic network, the other linked concepts around it are also unconsciously activated

58
Q

Priming

A

Recall is aided by first being presented with a word of phrase that is close to the desired semantic memory

59
Q

Context effects

A

The phenomenon by which memory is aided by being in the same place where encoding took place

60
Q

State-dependent memory/effect

A

The phenomenon by which a person’s mental state when learning affects recall (e..g If you learn a task when drunk, you will have better recall when drunk than when sober)

61
Q

Serial position effect

A

The phenomenon by which people show higher recall for the first few and last few items on a list

62
Q

Alzheimer’s disease*

A

Linked to loss of acetylcholine in hippocampal neurons. Associated with neurofibrillary tangles and B-amyloid plaques

63
Q

Dementia

A

A loss of cognitive function and memory loss with atrophy of the brain

64
Q

Sundowning

A

An increase in dysfunction in the late afternoon and evening (as seen in AD)

65
Q

Wernicke-Korsakoff’s syndrome

A

A form of memory loss caused by thiamine deficiency in the brain. Marked by retrograde and anterograde amnesia and associated with confabulation. Also characterized by loss of motor skills. Can be a consequence of alcoholism.

66
Q

Agnosia

A

The loss of ability to recognize objects, people, or sounds, though usually only one of the three. Usually caused by physical damage to the brain caused by a stroke or a disorder like MS

67
Q

Interference (effect)

A

A retrieval error caused by the existence of other, usually similar information

68
Q

Proactive interference

A

Old information interfering with new learning

69
Q

Retroactive interference

A

New information interfering with recall of ld information

70
Q

Prospective memory

A

Remembering to perform a task at some point in the future.

71
Q

Misinformation effect

A

incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event. Involves misattribution and suggestibility

72
Q

Source-monitoring effect

A

Involves confusion between semantic and episodic memory. A person remembers the details of an event, but confuses the context under which those details were learned.

73
Q

Neuroplasticity

A

A phenomenon in infants and young children in which, as the brain develops, neural connections form rapidly in response to stimuli

74
Q

Synaptic pruning

A

The process by which, as we grow older, weak neural connections are broke, while strong ones are bolstered, increasing the efficiency of the brain’s ability to process information

75
Q

Long-term potentiation

A

As a stimulus is repeated, these simulated neurons become increasingly efficient at releasing their neurotransmitters and receptor sites density increases. The theory for the neurophysiological basis of long-term memory

MCAT Psychology (12 decks)

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