Lecture 17: Learning and Memory Flashcards
Memory
- Memory is the faculty of the mind by which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved (wikipedia), it is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action
- The store of things learned and retained from an organism’s activity or experience as evidenced by modification of structure or behavior or by recall and recognition (Merriam-Webster)
- Learning and memory often increase fitness
PTSD
- Disorder that develops in some people who have experienced a shocking, scary, or dangerous event
Symptoms of PTSD
- Flashbacks, bad dreams, frightening thoughts
- Avoidance from reminders of trauma
- Being easily startled, feeling tense, having difficulty sleeping
- Negative thought about oneself or the world, distorted feelings, like guilt or blame, loss of interesting enjoyable activities
- Shows memory is not always beneficial
Long-Term Memory
Lasting storage of information
Short-Term Memory
- Capacity for storage of small amounts of information in an accessible states for short periods of time (seconds)
Declarative Memory
Long-term memories that we can consciously recall (explicit)
Non-Declarative Memory
A long-term memory that is expressed through action rather than recollection (implicit)
Immediate Free Recall Task
- Participants presented with a sequence of items
- After presentation of the final item, asked to report all items in any order
- Interpretation is that the final items are still in short term memory due to the recency effect
Distractor Task
- Similar to the immediate free recall task, but the participants perform a distraction task immediately after
- Eliminates the recency effect
- Interpretation is that by the end of the distraction task the recent items have been deleted from short term memory
Delayed Match to Sample (DMS) Task
- Presented with an image, a delay without the image, then the match, location mismatch, or object mismatch is shown and the animal has to choose the right one
Encoding
Senses are encoded in the brain
Extinction
Forgetting something that was stored
Storage
Sensory experiences are consolidated into long-term storage
Reconsolidation
Memories changing due to repeated retrieval
Retrieval
Getting memories out of storage
Procedural Memory
Non-declarative memory that is the knowledge of how to do something
Conditioning Memory
Non-declarative memory that is the association between items (green means go, red means stop)
Classical Conditioning Memory
- Conditioning memory
- Pavlov
- Found that dogs salivate to the sight of food
- Conditioned a dog to salivate at the sound of a bell by presenting the bell with food repeatedly
- Results in non-voluntary behavior
Unconditioned Stimulus
Stimulus that is there before anything is done (sight of food for a dog to salivate)
Unconditioned Response
Response that is there before conditioning (dog salivating)
Conditioned Response
Same as unconditioned response but driven by the conditioned stimulus
Conditioned Stimulus
Introduced stimulus paid with unconditioned stimulus (bell)
Operant (Instrumental) Conditioning
- Conditioning memory
- Learning through reward and punishment
- Rat more likely to go left when presented with a shock upon turning right
- Results in voluntary behavior, and strengths or weakens that response
Semantic Memory
Declarative memory of facts
