Learning and memory (BS 3) Flashcards
habituation
a decrease in response caused by repeated exposure to a stimulus
dishabituation
the recovery of a response to a stimulus after habituation
associative learning
forming a connection between two stimuli or between behavior and response; examples are classical and operant conditioning
classical conditioning
a form of associative learning in which a neutral stimulus becomes associated with an unconditioned stimulus; neutral stimulus produces same response as unconditioned stimulus, neutral stimulus becomes conditioned stimulus
generalization
a broadening effect where similar stimuli both produce a conditioned response
discrimination
when an organism learns to distinguish between two similar stimuli
operant conditioning
a form of associative learning in which the frequency of a behavior is modified using reinforcement or punishment
positive and negative reinforcement
(to promote continuation of behavior) positive adds an incentive, negative takes away an unpleasant stimulus
avoidance learning
a form of negative reinforcement in which one avoids the unpleasantness of something that has yet to happen
escape learning
a form of negative reinforcement in which one reduces the unpleasantness of something that already exists
positive and negative punishment
(to prevent behavior) positive is the addition of an unpleasant stimulus, negative takes away a desired stimulus in response to bad behavior
variable ratio reinforcement
reinforcement happens after a varying number of performances (ex. gambling; continuous response); most effective
fixed ratio reinforcement
reinforces a behavior at a specific number of performances
variable interval reinforcement
reinforcement occurs the first time that behavior is performed after an interval, the interval constantly changes
fixed interval reinforcement
reinforcement occurs at the first instance of behavior after a set time interval; least effective
shaping
process of rewarding increasingly specific behaviors (a type of operant conditioning)
instinctive drift
the tendency of animals to resist learning when a conditioned behavior conflicts with the animal’s instinctive behaviors
observational learning
the process of learning a new behavior or gaining information by watching others (ex. Bandura’s Bobo doll); mirror neurons play a role
encoding
the first step in creating a new memory; may be automatic or controlled (active memorization)
sensory memory
visual (iconic) and auditory (echoic) stimuli briefly stored in memory; fades quickly unless attention is paid to the info
short term memory
memories may fade within 30secs without rehearsal; limited in capacity to seven items (the 7±2 rule); mainly in hippocampus
working memory
related to short-term memory and is supported by hippocampus, frontal, and parietal lobes; allows us to integrate short-term memory, attention, and executive function to manipulate information
implicit long term memory
memory that does not require conscious recall, consists of skills and conditioned behavior
explicit long term memory
memory that requires conscious recall, divided into facts (semantic memory) and experiences (episodic memory); aka declarative memory
retrieval/recall
the process of demonstrating something has been learned and retained
recognition
a retrieval process; identifying a piece of information that was previously learned (easier than recall)
relearning
a retrieval process; learning something the second time through is quicker because information has been stored even if it is not ready for recall
context and state dependent effects
memory is aided by being in the same place or same mental state as when the information was encoded
primacy and recency effects
the tendency to remember early and late items from a list; primacy effect is stronger
Alzheimer’s disease
a progressive dementia due to mis-folded proteins; retrograde memory loss (lose recent memories first)
Korsakoff’s disease
memory loss caused by thiamine deficiency; retrograde amnesia (loss of recent memories) AND anterograde amnesia (can’t form new memories); includes confabulation
agnosia
the loss of the ability to recognize objects, people, or sounds (usually only one of the three); may result from stroke
interference effect on memory
a retrieval error caused by existence of other similar info; may be proactive (old info interferes with new) or retroactive (new causes forgetting of old)
confabulation
generating vivid fabricated memories
misinformation effect
memories are affected by outside influencers
source monitoring error
confusion between semantic and episodic memory; remember the details of an event but confuse the context under which the details were gained
neural plasticity
change in neural connections caused by learning or a response to injury
synaptic pruning
adjustment of neural connections throughout life, involving breaking weak neural connections and bolstering strong ones
