lecture 26: learning and memory

Question 1

learning

Answer 1

change in organisms behavior as a result of experience

Question 2

memory

Answer 2

ability to recall or recognize previous experience

memory trace: mental represnetation of previous experience corresponding to physical change in brain synapses

Question 3

what is pavlovian conditioning

Answer 3

learning procedure whereby neutral stimulus such as tone elicits a response becasue of its repeated pairing with some event such as delivery of food

Question 4

pavlovian conditioning stimuluses

Answer 4

unconditioned stimulus: triggers unconditioned response naturally and automatically
unconditioned response: unlearned naturallly occuring response to unconditioned stimulus
conditioned stimulus: originally neutral stimulus that triggers conditioned response after association with unconditioned stimulus
conditioned response: learned response to formerly neutral conditioned stimulus

Question 5

eye blink conditioning

Answer 5

blinking to puff of air UR
tone CS paired with puff to eye US
blink in response to CS (CR)
- driven by cerebellar circuits)

Question 6

fear conditioning

Answer 6

tone presented before brief mild electric shock
when tone presented without shock, animal shows fear
difference from eye blink is emotional response recruits amygdala

Question 7

operant conditioning

Answer 7

learning procedure in which consequences of behavior increase or decrease probability of behavior occuring again

consequences: obtaining reward, punishment
behavior: pressing bar

Question 8

thorndikes puzzle box

Answer 8

cat learned that its actions have consequences- touch releasing mechanism and learn that it can open door
repeat behaviors from before door opened

Question 9

2 categories of memory

Answer 9

implicit, unconscious memory: demonstrate knowledge but cannot explicitly retrieve information
- priming
explicit conscious memory: can retrieve item and indicate that they know they retrieved the correct item

Question 10

amnesia

Answer 10

partial or total memory loss

implicit memory is usually preserved

Question 11

gollin figure test

Answer 11

testing implicit memory

• participants identify image on successive presentations
• participants identify image sooner indicating some form of memory

Question 12

pursuit rotr task

Answer 12

participants hold a stylus on a rotating disc that revolveson a turntable
presented with same task a week later, both controls and amnesiacs take less time to perform it
amnesiacs cant remember performing task before

Question 13

testing explicit memory

Answer 13

verbal recall: word lists
visual recall: complex figures
spatial recall: navigation paradigms
contextual recall: of stories

Question 14

declarative memory

Answer 14

ability to recount what one knows, to detail the time, place and circumstances of events often lost in amnesia

Question 15

procedural memory

Answer 15

ability to recall a movement sequence or how to perform some act or behavior

Question 16

encoding memories

Answer 16

implicit information processed bottom up or data driven

epxlicit information processed top down or conceptually driven

Question 17

processing short vs long term memories

Answer 17

short term (a few mins): info held in memory briefly then discarded, involves frontal lobes
long term (indefinite): info is held in memory indefinitely, perhaps for a lifetime, involves temporal lobe

Question 18

storing memories

Answer 18

information from each sensory modality is processed and stored in different areas
ex. color words, action words

Question 19

episodic memory and amnesia

Answer 19

autobiographical memory for events pegged to specific place and times contexts
amnesia: inability to recall any personal experience, frontal lobe injury

Question 20

highly superior autobiographical memory

Answer 20

people display virtually complete recall for events in their lives, usually beginning around age 10
many can describe any event including date and day of event
0 increased gray matter in temporal and parietal lobes, increased size in fiber projection between temporal and frontal lobes

Question 21

HM

Answer 21

seizures in amygdala, hippocampus and subcortical structures were removed bilaterally (medial temporal)
severe amnesia- lacking explicit memory
- above average IQ and could recall childhood
- implicit memory intact

Question 22

JK

Answer 22

impaired implicit memory with intact explicit memory

parkinsons: damage to basal ganglia
- impaired ability to perform tasks but could recall explicit events