Learning and Memory Flashcards
Habituation
The process of becoming used to a stimulus
Dishabituation
Can occur when a second stimulus intervenes, causing a resensitization to the original stimulus
Associative Learning
A way of pairing together stimuli and responses, or behaviours and consequences. Includes Classical and Operant Conditioning
Observational learning or Modeling
The acquisition of behaviour or gaining information by watching others
Classical Conditioning
An unconditioned stimulus that produces an instinctive, unconditioned response is paired with a neutral stimulus.
With repetition, the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus that produces a conditioned response
Operant Conditioning
Links voluntary behaviours with consequences in an effort to alter the frequency of those behaviours
Reinforcement
Increases the likelihood of behaviour
Punishment
Decreases the likelihood of a behaviour
What are different types of Schedules of Reinforcement
Ratio (of behaviour to reward) or interval (reward after amount of time), and fixed (guaranteed schedule) or variable.
Behaviours learned through which schedule have the fastest response rate and are most resistant to extinction
Variable-ratio schedules
Encoding
The process of putting new information into memory
Is semantic encoding stronger or acoustic/visual encoding
Semantic (visual is the weakest)
Working memory
Requires short-term memory, attention, and executive function to manipulate information (involves frontal and parietal lobes). Supported by the hippocampus
Long-term memory
Requires elaborative rehearsal and is the result of increased neuronal connectivity and comes in 2 forms
Explicit (declarative) memory
Consists of those memories that require conscious recall; further divided into semantic and episodic memory
Implicit (non-declarative) memory
Consists of our skills and conditioned responses
Extinction
If the conditioned stimulus is presented without the unconditioned stimulus enough times, the organism can become habituated to the conditioned stimulus and conditioned response disappears
Spontaneous recovery
After some time, if extinct conditioned stimulus is presented again, a weak conditioned response can sometimes be exhibited
Generalization
A broadening effect by which a stimulus similar enough to the conditioned stimulus can also produce the conditioned response
Discrimination
Opposite of generalization; an organism learns to distinguish between two similar stimuli
Behaviourism
The theory that all behaviours are conditioned; B.F Skinner considered the father of behaviourism
Adding a stimulus is called….
positive (used for reinforcement or punishment)
Removing a stimulus is called….
Negative (used for reinforcement or punishment)
Escape learning
The role of the behaviour 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
Discriminative stimulus
Indicates that reward is potentially available in an operant conditioning paradigm
Fixed-ratio (FR) schedule
Reinforces a behavior after a specific number of performances of that behaviour
Continuous reinforcement
A fixed-ratio schedule in which the behaviour is rewarded every time it is performed
Variable-ratio (VR) schedule
Reinforces a behaviour after a varying number of performances of the behaviour, but such that the average number of performances to receive a reward is relatively constant
Fixed-interval (FI) schedule
Reinforces the first instance of a behaviour after a specified time period has elapsed
Variable-interval (VI) schedule
Reinforces a behaviour the first time that behaviour is performed after a varying interval of time.
Shaping
The process of rewarding increasingly specific behaviours
Latent learning
Learning that occurs without a reward but that is spontaneously demonstrated once a reward is introduced
Preparedness
Predisposition to better learn behaviours that coincide with natural behaviours
Instinctive drift
Difficulty in overcoming instinctual behaviours
Mirror neurons
Located in the frontal and parietal lobes of the cerebral cortex and fire both when an individual performs an action and when that individual observes someone else performing that action
Automatic processing
When information is gained without effort
Controlled (effortful) processing
Active memoriziation/learning
Visual encoding
Encoding information by visualizing it
Acoustic encouding
Encoding info by storing the way it sounds
Semantic encoding
Storing info by putting it into a meaningful context
Self-reference effect
We tend to recall info the best when can put it into the context of our own lives
Maintenance rehearsal
The repetition of a piece of information to either keep it within working memory (to prevent forgetting) or to store it in short-term and eventually long-term memory
Method of loci
Involves associating each item in a list with a location along a route through a building that has already been memorized
Peg-word system
Associates numbers with items that rhyme with or resemble the numbers
Chunking/clustering
A memory trick that involves taking individual elements of a large list and grouping them together into groups of elements with related meaning.
Sensory memory
First and most fleeting kind of memory storage, consists of both iconic (visual) and echoic (auditory) memory
Short-term memory
When we do pay attention do some of the info that we are exposed to; fades quickly, over the course of approximately 30 seconds without rehearsal. Also is limited in capacity to approximately seven items
Where is short-term memory primarily housed?
The hippocampus, which is also responsible for consolidation of short-term memory into long-term memory
What is one way that information is consolidated into long-term memory
Elaborative rehearsal
Elaborative rehearsal
The association of the information to knowledge already stored in long-term memory
Brain areas involved in long-term memory
Primarily controlled by the hippocampus, but over time memories are moved back to the cerebral cortex
Semantic memory
Part of explicit memory which is facts that we know
Episodic memory
Part of the explicit memory which is our experiences
Retrieval
The name given to the process of demonstrating that something that has been learned has been retained
Recall
The retrieval and statement of previously learned information
Recognition
The process of merely identifying a piece of info that was previously learned, is much easier than recall
Relearning
Another way of demonstrating that information has been stored in long-term memory
Spacing effect
The longer the amount of time between sessions of relearning, the greater the retention of the info later on
How does the brain organize ideas?
Semantic network
Semantic network
Concepts are linked together based on similar meaning
Spreading activation
When one node of our semantic network is activated, the other linked concepts are also unconsciously activated
Priming
Recall is aided by first being presented with a word or phase that is close to the desired semantic memory
Context effects
Memory is aided by being in the physical location where encoding took place
State-dependent effect
Memory will be better for information learned when in a similar mood/internal state
Serial position effect
A retrieval cue that appears while learning lists; participants have higher recall for both the first few and last few items on the list
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, memory loss, atrophy of the brain, and proceeds in a retrograde fashion (loss of recent memories first)
Biological components of Alzheimer’s
Neurofibrillary tangles and beta-amyloid plaques
Sundowning
An increase in dysfunction in late afternoon and evening in individuals with middle to late stage Alzheimer’s
Korsakoff’s syndrome
A form of memory loss caused by thiamine deficiency. Marked by both retrograde amnesia (loss of previously formed memories) and anterograde amnesia (inability to form new memories). Another symptom is confabulation, which is the process of creating vivid but fabricated memories
Agnosia
Loss of the ability to recognize objects, people, or sounds, though usually only one of the three. Usually caused by physical damage to the brain
Interference
A retrieval error caused by existence of other, usually similar, information.
Proactive interference
Old information is interfering with new learning
Retroactive interference
New information causes forgetting of old information
Does event-based prospective memory or time-based prospective memory decline more with age
Time-based prospective memory
Source-monitoring error
Involves confusion between semantic and episodic memory: a person remembers the details of an event, but confuses the context under which those details were gained.
What is the neurophysiological basis of long-term memory
Long-term potentiation, where when a stimulus is repeated, the stimulated neurons become more efficient at releasing their neurotransmitters and at the same time receptor sites on the other side of the synapse increase, increasing receptor density.
