Learning and Memory Flashcards
habituation
decrease in response to the same stimulus (re: cadaver in an anatomy lab)
dishabituation
recovery of a response to a stimulus after habituation has occured
associative learning
creation of a pairing, or an association, either between two stimuli or between a behavior and a response
classical conditioning
type of associative learning that takes advantage of biological, instinctual response to create associations between two unrelated stimuli. for ex. Pavlov’s dogs
unconditioned stimulus
a stimulus that brings about a reflexive response
you rock
you’re awesome!
neutral stimuli
stimuli that do not produce a reflexive response
conditioned stimulus
a normally neutral stimulus that through association now causes a reflexive response called a conditioned stimulus
response to a conditioned stimulus
conditioned response
acquistion
process of taking advantage of a reflexive, unconditioned stimulus to turn a neutral stimulus into a conditioned stimulus
extinction
if the conditioned stimulus is presented without the unconditioned stimulus enough times, the organism can become habituated to the conditioned stimulus and extinction occurs
spontaneous recovery
if an extinct conditioned stimulus is presented again, a weak conditioned response can sometimes be exhibited, a phenomenon called spontaneous recovery
generalization
a broadening effect by which a stimulus similar enough to a conditioned stimulus can also produce the conditioned response (ex. Little Albert is afraid of white rats, also a white stuffed rabbit)
discrimination
an organism learns to distinguish between two similar stimuli
operant conditioning
links voluntary behaviors with consequences in an effort to alter the frequency of those behaviors
behaviorism
theory that all behaviors are conditioned, associated with BF Skinner/operant conditioning
Reinforcement
process of increasing the likelihood that an individual will perform a behavior
positive reinforcers
increase a behavior by adding a positive consequence or incentive following the desired behavior (ex. money)
Negative reinforcers
increase the frequency of a behavior by removing something unpleasant (like aspirin to remove a headache)
escape learning
the role of the behavior is to reduce the unpleasantness of something that already exists, like a headache
avoidance learning
meant to prevent the unpleasantness of something that has yet to happen (ex. study for the MCAT to avoid a bad score)
punishment
uses conditioning to reduce the occurrence of a behavior
positive punishment
adds an unpleasant consequence in response to a behavior to reduce that behavior (flogged for stealing)
negative punishment
reduction of a behavior by taking away a stimulus (ex. no TV as a consequence for bad behavior)
fixed-ratio (FR) schedules
reinforce a behavior after a specific number of performances of that behavior (rat pellet every third push)
Continuous reinforcement
a fixed-ratio schedule in which the behavior is rewarded every time it is performed
variable-ratio (VR) schedule
reinforces a behavior after a varying number of performances of the behavior (very rapid, very resistant to extinction) –> FASTEST FOR LEARNING A NEW BEHAVIOR
fixed-interval (FI) schedule
reinforces the first instance of a behavior after a specific time period has elapsed
variable-interval (VI) schedule
reinforces a behavior the first time that behavior is performed after a varying interval of time. Instead of waiting exactly 60 seconds, rat may wait 90 seconds, then 30
shaping
the process of rewarding increasingly specific behaviors
latent learning
learning that occurs without a reward but that is spontaneously demonstrated once a reward is introduced
prepardedness
how animals are predisposed to learn based off their natural abilities and instincts, like birds naturally peck at food, so able to reward them for pecking based behavior is easier
instinctive drift
difficulty in overcoming instinctual behaviors
observational learning
process of learning a new behavior or gaining information by watching others (ex. Bobo doll experiments)
mirror neurons
neurons located in the frontal and parietal lobes of the cerebral cortex and fire when both an individual performs an action and when that individual observes someone else performing the action
modeling
determining what behaviors are acceptable by watching others
encoding
process of putting new information into memory
automatic processing
gaining knowledge without effort
controlled processing
effortful processing, when you actively make flashcards to memorize details for the mcat
visual encoding
visualizing information
acoustic encoding
store the way it sounds
semantic encoding
putting the information in meaningful context
self-reference effect
we recall information the best when we can put it into the context of our own lives
maintenance rehersal
repetition of a piece of information to keep it within working memory or to store it in short-term and eventually long term memory
mnemonics
acronyms or rhyming phrases to memorize information
method of loci
associating each item in a list with a location along a route through a building that has already been memorized
peg-word
associates numbers with items that rhyme with or resemble the numbers
chunking
taking individual elements of a larger list and grouping them together into groups of elements with related meanings
sensory memory
consists of both iconic (visual) and echoic (auditory) memory; last a very short time, generally under one second, maintained by the occipital lobe (vision) and temporal lobe (hearing)
short-term memory
fades quickly, over the course of approximately 30 seconds without rehearsal, limited by 7 +- 2 rule
hippocampus
short term memory housed here, responsible for consolidation of short term memory into long-term memory
eidetic memory
ability to recall, with high precision, an image after only a brief exposure
working memory
allows 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
elaborative rehersal
the association of the information to knowledge already stored in long-term memory, closely tied to self-reference effect; long-term memories eventually move from hippocampus to cerebral cortex
implicit memory
non-declarative or procedural memory, consists of our skills and conditioned responses
explicit memory
declarative memory, consists of those memories that require conscious recall (semantic and episodic)
semantic memory
facts that we know, a type of explicit/declarative memory
episodic memory
our experiences, a type of explicit/declarative memory
retrieval
process of demonstrating that something that has been learned has been retained
recall
retrieval and statement of previously learned informaiton
recognition
process of merely identifying a piece of information
relearning
way of demonstrating that information has been stored in long-term memory
spacing effect
the greater the spacing between learning something, the greater the retention of information later on, why cramming isn’t effective
semantic network
a network of interconnected ideas
spreading activation
when one node of a semantic network is activated, other linked concepts around it are also unconsciously activated
priming
retrieval cue, recall is aided by first being presented with a word or phrase that is close to the desired semantic memory
context effects
memory is aided by being in a physical location where encoding took place
state-dependent memory
state-dependent effect, people who learn something while drunk recall it better while drunk, why i should study in silence bc i’ll be testing in silence too
serial position effect
retrieval cue that appears while learning a list, first and last items are remembered better in general
primacy effect
remember the first items
recency effect
remember the last items
Alzheimer’s disease
degenerative brain disorder linked to a loss of acetylcholine in neurons that link to the hippocampus, marked by progressive dementia (loss of cognitive functioning); neurofibrillary tangles and B-amyloid plaques; sundowning
Sundowning
increase in dysfunction in the late afternoon and evening
Korsakoff’s Syndrome
memory loss caused by thiamine deficiency in the brain, marked by retrograde 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, typically thought to be an attempt made by the brain to fill in gaps of missing memories, example of the creation of false memories
agnosia
the loss of the ability to recognize objects, people, or sounds (usually just one of the three), usually caused by a stroke or neurological disorder like MS
interference/interference effect
a retrieval error caused by the existence of other, usually similar, information
proactive interfence
old information is interfering with new learning (ex. when you move and your old address messes with your ability to learn your new address)
retroactive interference
when new information causes forgetting of old information (when a teacher learns a new set of student names so she/he forgets her/his old students)
prospective memory
remembering to perform a task at some point in the future
misinformation effect
experiment when participants were shown a car stopping at a yield sign, later read things that say it was a stop sign, so then they insist on seeing a stop sign (FAKE NEWS!)
source-monitoring error
confusion between semantic and episodic memory, a person remembers the details of an event, but they confuse the context in which it happen (if you watch a movie then remember the events happen to yourself)
neuroplasticity
neural connections form rapidly in response to stimuli via a phenomenon called neuroplasticity
synaptic pruning
as we grow older, our brains change via synaptic pruning, weak neural connections are broken, strong ones are bolstered
long-term potentiation
strengthening of a “long-term” synaptic connection; responsible for the conversion of short-term to long-term memory, is the strengthening of neuronal connections resulting from increased neurotransmitter release and adding of receptor sites
