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MCAT psychology > Learning, memory and behavior > Flashcards

Learning, memory and behavior Flashcards

1
Q

dishabituation

A

occurs when previously habituated stimulus is removed

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2
Q

habituation

A

a person learns to tune out the stimulus

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3
Q

sensitization

A

there is an increase in the responsiveness due to either a repeated application of a stimulus or a particularly aversive or noxious stimulus

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4
Q

desensitization

A

occurs when a stimulus that previously evoked an exaggerated response no longer evokes an exaggerated response

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5
Q

associative learning

A

describes a process of learning in which one event, object, or action is directly connected with another

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6
Q

classical conditioning

A

is the process in which two stimuli are paired in such a way that the response to one of the stimuli changes

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7
Q

Neutral stimulus

A

is a stimulus that initially does not elicit any intrinsic response

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8
Q

Unconditioned stimulus

A

is a stimulus that elicits an unconditioned response think of this response like a reflex. ex: presentation of food and salivation

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9
Q

conditioned stimulus

A

is an originally neutral stimulus that is paired with an unconditioned stimulus until it can produce a conditioned response

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10
Q

conditioned response

A

is the learned response to the conditioned stimulus

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11
Q

acquisition

A

refers to the process of learning the conditioned response

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12
Q

Extinction

A

occurs when the conditioned and unconditioned stimulus are no longer paired. so the conditioned response eventually stops occurring

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13
Q

Spontaneous recovery

A

is when an extinct conditioned response occurs again when the conditioned stimulus is presented after some period of time

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14
Q

Generalization

A

occurs when stimuli other than the original conditioned stimulus elicit the conditioned response

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15
Q

Discrimination

A

is the opposite of generalization and occurs when the conditioned stimulus is differentiated from other stimuli

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16
Q

Operant conditioning

A

uses reinforcement (pleasurable consequences) and punishment (unpleasant consequences) to mold behavior

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17
Q

reinforcement

A

is anything that will increase the likelihood that a preceding behavior will be repeated

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18
Q

positive reinforcement

A

is some sort of desirable stimulus that occurs immediately following a behavior. Ex: food pellet

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19
Q

negative reinforcement

A

is some sort of undesirable stimulus that is removed immediately following a behavior Ex: rat is reinforced to repeat the desired behavior to remove the undesirable stimulus (painful shock)

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20
Q

difference between positive and negative reinforcement

A

Positive does it by adding a positive stimulus (something desirable) and negative reinforcement does it by removing a negative one

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21
Q

positive conditioning and negative conditioning brain areas

A

+= hippocampus -=amygdala

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22
Q

primary reinforcers

A

are things that are innately satisfying such as food and avoiding pain or danger

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23
Q

secondary reinforcers

A

are those that are learned to be reinforcers. secondary reinforcers must be paired with primary reinforcers in order to produce learned behaviors

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24
Q

fixed ratio schedule

A

provides the reinforcement after a set number of instances of the behavior. The rat will show a higher rate of responses because it will know how many times it has to do something to get a response

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25
variable ratio schedule
provides the reinforcement after an unpredictable number of occurrences. produce high response rates ex: gambling
26
fixed-interval schedule
provides the reinforcement after a set period of time that is constant.
27
variable-interval schedule
provides the reinforcement after an inconsistent amount of time. this schedule produces a slow, steady behavior
28
shaping
is a way of reinforcement and teaching something with small intermediate behaviors necessary to achieve the final desired behavior
29
punishment
is the process by which a behavior is followed by a consequence that decreases the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated
30
positive punishment
is giving something so the behavior does not persist example: a cadet out of line will have to do 20 pushups
31
negative punishment
involves the removal of a desirable stimulus after the behavior has occurred ex: a child throws a baseball in the house and loses tv privileges
32
avoidance
occurs when a person performs a behavior to ensure an aversive stimulus is not presented
33
escape
an individual learns how to get away from an aversive stimulus by engaging in a particular behavior
34
behaviorism
all psychological phenomena are explained by describing the observable antecedents of behaviors and its consequences
35
cognitive psychology
researchers began to focus on the brain, cognitions (thoughts) and their effects on how people navigate the world
36
term used to describe short term memory being converted to long term memory
consolidation
37
long-term potentiation
occurs when following brief periods of stimulation an increase in the synaptic strength between two neurons leads to stronger electrochemical responses to given stimuli
38
modeling
in modeling the observer sees the behavior being performed by another person later the observer imitates the behavior she or he observed
39
mirror neurons
have been found in various parts of the human brain including the premotor cortex, supplementory motor area. primary somatosensory cortex and the inferior parietal cortex. have been found in vicarious emotions such as empathy and to have an issue with the mirror neurons in autistic children
40
elaboration likelihood model
explains when people will be influenced by the content of the speech and when people will be influenced by other, more superficial characteristics like the appearance of the orator or the length of the speech
41
central route of an argument
people are persuaded by the content of the argument more likely to have longer-lasting persuasive outcomes than messages processed via the peripheral route
42
peripheral route of an argument
people focus on superficial or secondary characteristics
43
social cognitive theory
is a theory of behavior change that emphasizes the interactions between people and their environment
44
reciprocal determinism
is the interaction between a person's behaviors (conscious actions), personal factors (individual motivational forces or cognitions; personality differences that drive a person to act), and environment (situational factors)
45
transgenesis
the introduction of an outside gene
46
temperament
emotional excitability
47
Francis Galton idea of intelligence
believed that intelligence is inherited and is genetically determined
48
fluid intelligence
the ability to think on your feet
49
crystallized intelligence
which is the ability to recall and apply already-learned information
50
Howard Gardner
broke intelligence down into 8 different categories; logical, linguistic, spatial, musical, kinesthetic, naturalist, intrapersonal, and interpersonal
51
rudimentary movements
serve as the first voluntary movement performed by a child
52
fundamental movement
child is learning to manipulate his or her body through actions such as running, jumping, throwing, catching.
53
stranger anxiety happens around
8-12 months crying and clinging to caregiver
54
Harlow experiments
when the monkeys preferred the cloth mother over the wire one
55
Securely attached
in the presence of their mother will play and explore and miss her when the mother leaves the room
56
insecurely attached
infants in the presence of their mother are less likely to explore their surroundings and may even cling to their mother
57
encoding
is the process of transferring sensory information into our memory system
58
working memory
learning and solving a problem. is thought to include phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, central executive, and episodic buffer
59
serial position effect
occurs when someone attempts to memorize a series such as a list of words and it most likely to memorize words at the beginning and end of the list
60
chunking
is a strategy in which information to be remembered is organized into discrete groups of data
61
heirarchies
are organizing information into categories to better remember
62
depth of processing
is important for encoding memories and it is thought that information that is thought about at a deeper level is better remembered
63
dual coding hypothesis
it is easier to remember things when there is an image and words associated rather than them separately.
64
method of loci
this involves imagining moving through a familiar place and leaving a visual representation of a topic to be remembered
65
self-reference effect
we have better memory for things that personally affect us because we can relate to it and it can be linked to existing memories
66
sensory memory
the initial recording of sensory information in the memory system
67
iconic memory
is brief photographic memory for visual information which decays in a few tenths of a second
68
echoic memory
is memory for sound which lasts for about 3-4 seconds
69
short term memory
typically for an adult is 7 digits plus or minus 2
70
long term memory
is retained sometimes indefinitely it is believed to have an infinite capacity
71
implicit
procedural memory refers to coniditioned associations and knowledge of how to do something. includes procedural memory (motor skills, actions)
72
explicit
declarative memory involved being able to declare or voice what is known. includes episodic memory and semantic memory
73
semantic memory
is memory for factual information such as the capital of england
74
episodic memory
is autobiographical memory for information of personal importance such as the situation surrounding a first kiss
75
recall
is the ability to retrieve information
76
free recall
involves retrieving information out of thin air
77
cued recall
involves retrieving information when provided with a cue
78
recognition
involves identifying information from a set of information that is presented
79
hints may activate closely related nodes by making it easier to retrieve the node being searched
priming
80
anterograde amnesia
an inability to encode new memories
81
retrograde amnesia
an inability to recall information that was previously encoded
82
Decay for learning things
we will forget things more easily in the first few days before leveling off
83
proactive interferance
occurs when previously learned information interferes with the ability to recall information learned later
84
retroactive interferance
when newly learned information interferes with recall of information previously learned
85
schema
is a mental blueprint containing common aspects of some part of the world
86
neural plasticity
refers to the malleability of the brain's pathways and synapses based on behavior, environment, and neural processes

MCAT psychology (7 decks)

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