Learning And Memory

Question 1

Learning

Answer 1

. Process by which nervous system acquires new info

. Can occur in absence of overt behavior but can only be inferred from changes in behavior

Question 2

Memory

Answer 2

. Mechanism for storage and retrieval of new info

Question 3

Non-associative learning

Answer 3

. Exposed once or repeatedly to a single type of stimulus

. Habituation and sensitization

Question 4

Classical conditioning

Answer 4

. Pairs a neutral stimulus (novel stimulus) w/ a second stimulus (unconditioned stimulus)
. Unconditioned stimulus reliably elicits a respons (unconditioned response)
. Repeated pairing of novel stimulus and unconditioned stimulus result in novel eliciting unconditioned response (now conditioned response)

Question 5

Operant conditioning

Answer 5

. Delivery of reinforcing stimulus contingent on expression of designated behavior
. Law of effect: behaviors that are rewarded tend to be repeated, behaviors that are punished are usually not repeated

Question 6

positive Reinforcement

Answer 6

. Inc. freq. of behavior by presenting good stimulus following behavior

Question 7

Negative reinforcement

Answer 7

. Inc. freq. of behavior by removing an aversive stimulus following the behavior

Question 8

Positive punishment

Answer 8

. Dec. freq. of behavior by presenting aversive stimulus

Question 9

Negative punishment

Answer 9

. Dec. frequency of behavior by removing good stimulus following behavior

Question 10

Social learning/modeling

Answer 10

. New responses acquired through observation and imitation of role models
. Through this individuals develop understanding of social consequences of behavior that leads to new patterns of behavioral expression and self-regulation

Question 11

Cognitive behaviorism

Answer 11

. Learner develops cognitive map that influences subsequent learning and performance
. Gives person expectation of rewards or punishment and the kind of responses appropriate in social situations

Question 12

Explicit memory

Answer 12

. Storage and retrieval of material that is available to consciousness and can be expressed by language
. Subtypes: episodic, semantic (factual), autobiographical, and spatial memory
. Recall is by a deliberate conscious effort
. Acquired through processing in 1+ of the 3 polymodal association cortices (parieto-occipital-temporal cortices) that synthesize visual, auditory, and somatic info
. From there info is conveyed to parahippocampal and peririhinal cortices and then entorhinal cortex, hippocampus, then back to neocortical areas for storage

Question 13

Implicit memory

Answer 13

. Memory not in consciousness
. Procedural
. Builds up slowly through repetition over many trials and is expressed primarily in performance and not words
. Memory acquired through fear is from amygdala
. Memory from operant conditioning is from striatum and cerebellum
. Memory from classical conditionings sensitization, and habituation changes sensory and motor systems involved in learning

Question 14

Sensory memory

Answer 14

. Routine ability to hold ongoing experiences in mind for fractions of a second
. Usually it does not reach level of consciousness
. Provides an ongoing sense of the present
. Subliminal advertising utilizes this

Question 15

Short term memory

Answer 15

. Hold in consciousness for seconds to minutes once present moment has passed
. Items must be rehearsed so they don’t leave consciousness
Max capacity for remembering relatively meaningless info is 7-9 items
. Most info in short term memory is lost

Question 16

Intermediate term memory

Answer 16

. Transition btw short-term memory and long-term memory

. Items can be retained for a few hours but may not reach permanency of long term memory

Question 17

Long term memory

Answer 17

. Retention of info in permanent form of storage for days, weeks, or longer
. Items acquired, dropped from consciousness, and then recalled some time later

Question 18

What is key to memorization?

Answer 18

Concentration

Question 19

Potential causes for forgetting

Answer 19

. Lack of need
. Lack of interest
. Lack of motivation 
. Lack of attention or concentration 
. Lack of organization

Question 20

Reverberating circuits

Answer 20

. Possible mechanism for short-term memory is ongoing neural activity that is maintained by excitatory feedback connections btw neurons
. If all neuronal activity is temporarily stopped, memories represented by reverberating circuit will be permanently lost

Question 21

Habituation in aplysia

Answer 21

. Reduced behavioral response to a repeated non-noxious stimulus
. Caused. By dec. Ca channel activity in presynaptic cells which acts to dec. NT release

Question 22

Sensitization in aplysia

Answer 22

. Enhanced response to a repeated intense stimulus

. Acts through second messenger system to inc. Ca channel activity in presynaptic cell which enhances NT release

Question 23

What is responsible for long term memory

Answer 23

. Permanent physical changes in nervous system
. Formation of new synaptic connections, altered NT synthesis and changes in pre or post-synaptic membranes cause of this
. May involve altered protein expression

Question 24

Long term potentiation.

Answer 24

. Patterns of synaptic activity that produce long-lasting inc. in synaptic strength
. Last for days to weeks
. Prevalent in hippocampus
. Involves changes in both presynaptic and postsynaptic neurons at a given synapse

Question 25

Long term depression

Answer 25

. Patterns of synaptic activity yeast produce long-lasting dec. in synaptic strength

Question 26

Long term potentiation and depression contribute to ___

Answer 26

Synaptic plasticity

Question 27

Complementary actions of long term potentiation and depression are mediated by ___

Answer 27

. Different intracellular signal transduction pathways

. May reversible affect synaptic efficiency by acting at a common neuronal site

Question 28

Changes presynaptically in long term potentiation

Answer 28

. Enhancement of transmitter release

Question 29

What occurs postsynaptically during long term potentiation

Answer 29

. Inc. nu,new or effectiveness of Glu receptors (AMPA and NMDA)
. Induction of LTP depends on an inc. in postsynaptic intracellular Ca conc. Levels through NMDA receptor channels
. Inc. in postsynaptic Ca conc. Activates 2 kinases
. This produces cascade of events that results in altered protein synthesis and relatively permanent changes in synaptic structure
. Rapidly diffusing retrograde messenger (NO) may carry a signal from postsynaptic neuron back to presynaptic terminal

Question 30

Earliest pathological changes in Alzheimer’s occur in ___

Answer 30

Entorhinal cortex

. Negatively affects explicit memory storage

Question 31

Parts of brain important in making decision about which thoughts are important enough to be stored

Answer 31

. Hippocampi

. Some thalamic nuclei

Question 32

Consolidation of explicit memories likely occurs during ___

Answer 32

Sleep

Question 33

Lesions of medial temporal lobe

Answer 33

. Encompass dental gyrus, hippocampus, and subiculum
. Interfere w/ long-term storage of new memories
. Long term storage of episodic and semantic knowledge occurs in assoc. areas that initially processed sensory info

Question 34

Working memory

Answer 34

. Short-term memory store in prefrontal cortex that is required for encoding and recall of explicit knowledge
. Temporary storing of info is used to guide future actions
. Refers to the active maintenance of info relevant to an ongoing behavior

Question 35

People w/ hippocampus lesions

Answer 35

. Difficulties w/ explicit memories, but implicit are intact

Question 36

People w/ stratum and cerebellum lesions in regard to memory

Answer 36

. Have difficulty w/ implicit memories but can recall facts normally

Question 37

Most amnesias are due to problems in ___

Answer 37

. Storage

. In cases of damage to certain thalamic nuclei there can be trouble w/ retrieval

Question 38

Retrograde amnesia

Answer 38

. Inability to remember past
. Loss of short term memories prior to consolidation
. Very long term memories are stored and used still

Question 39

Anterograde amnesia

Answer 39

. Inability to form new long-term memories
. Due to lesion in temporal lobe (hippocampus)
. Can retain memories prior to trauma/surgery but nothing after