MCAT Psych #3 Flashcards
learning
the way in which we acquire new behaviors. Change in behavior that occurs in response to a stimulus.
stimulus
anything to which an organism can respond including all sensory inputs.
habituation
repeated exposure to the same stimulus can cause a decrease in response.
dishabituation
the recovery of a response to a stimulus after habituation has occurred.
o Ex: driving on a road for awhile, habituate, then off ramp, start taking in sensory info again as you move onto a new highway (OG stimulus)
o Changes in response to the original stimulus, not the new one.
associative learning
the creation of a pairing, or association, either between two stimuli or between a behavior and a response.
classical conditioning
associative learning
a type of associative learning that takes advantage of biological, instinctual responses to create association between two unrelated stimuli. The process of taking advantage of a reflexive, unconditioned stimulus to turn a neutral stimulus into a conditioned stimulus.
- unconditioned stimulus
- neutral stimulus
- conditioned stimulus
- acquisitional/classical conditioning
- extinction
unconditioned stimulus
: any stimulus that brings about a reflexive response (jump to loud sound)
• Unconditioned response: the response.
unconditioned response
response to unconditioned stimulus
neutral stimuli
do not produce a reflexive response
Signaling stimuli: neutral stimuli that have the potential to be used as a conditioning stimulus.
Signaling stimuli
potential to be used as a conditioning stimulus.
describe Pavlov’s dogs
Unconditioned stimulus: meat
Unconditioned response: salivate
Neutral stimulus: bell became conditioned stimulus
Bell was wrung and then meat was placed in the dogs mouths. Eventually, after the bell was wrung, the dogs salivated regardless if meat was every presented.
conditioned stimulus
a normally neutral stimulus that through association now causes a reflexive response (conditioned response)
Acquisition/classical conditioning
the process of taking advantage of a reflexive, unconditioned stimulus to turn a neutral stimulus into a conditioned stimulus.
extinction
if the conditioned stimulus is presented without the unconditioned stimulus enough times, the organism can become habituated to the conditioned stimulus.
• Spontaneous recovery: after extinction, conditioned stimulus presented, get a weak conditioned response
You can _______ the response to a conditioned stimulus after acquisition
generalize
• Generalization: a broadening effect by which a stimulus similar enough to the conditioned stimulus can also produce the conditioned response.
o White bunny, rat, coat, beard
• Discrimination: an organism learns to distinguish between two similar stimuli (opposite of generalization)
o Pavlov’s dogs different tones of bells
generalization: conditioning
a broadening effect by which a stimulus similar enough to the conditioned stimulus can also produce the conditioned response.
o White bunny, rat, coat, beard
discrimination: conditioning
an organism learns to distinguish between two similar stimuli (opposite of generalization)
o Pavlov’s dogs different tones of bells
operant conditioning
links voluntary behaviors with consequences in an effort to alter the frequency of those behaviors.
behaviorism
operant conditioning
B.F. Skinner’s theory that all behaviors are conditioned
reinforcement
the process of increasing the likelihood that an individual will perform a behavior
positive reinforcers
increase a behavior by adding a positive consequence or incentive following the desired behavior. (money)
negative reinforcers
increase the frequency of the behavior but do so by removing something unpleasant (aspirin)
divided into 2:
o 1. Escape learning: the role of the behavior is to reduce the unpleasantness of some thing that already exists (headache)
o 2. Avoidance learning: meant to prevent the unpleasantness of something that has yet to happen
primary reinforcer
the reinforcer is something that the organism responds to naturally (fish treat for a dolphin performing a trick. Dolphin does trick and gets fish treat, responds to the fish treat naturally)
conditioned reinforcer (secondary reinforcer)
classical conditioning to pair primary reinforcer with something else to elicit a response (fish treat + whistle behavior)
the whistle is the conditioned reinforcer
discriminative stimulus
indicates that reward is potentially available in an operant conditioning paradigm (the trainer being there and the dolphin sees them)
reinforcement schedules
can be fixed or variable and can be ratio or interval
o Fixed-ratio (FR) schedules: reinforce a behavior after a specific number of performances of that behavior
Ex: rat gets pellet every 3rd time it hits bar
Continuous reinforcement: a fixed-ratio schedule in which the behavior is rewarded every time it is performed.
o Variable-ratio (VR schedules: reinforce a behavior after a varying number of performances of the behavior, but such that the average number of performances to receive a reward is relatively constant.
Ex: reward rat after 2, 4, 6, 8 button presses.
o Fixed-interval (FI) schedules: reinforce the first instance of a behavior after a specified time period has elapsed.
Ex: rat gets pellet, can’t get another pellet until lever push that occurs after 60 seconds.
o Variable-interval (VI) schedules: reinforce a behavior the first time that behavior is performed after a varying interval of time.
Ex: rat has to wait different amounts of times, after interval elapses, the next press gets the rat a pellet.
Fixed-ratio (FR) schedule
reinforce a behavior after a specific number of performances of that behavior
Ex: rat gets pellet every 3rd time it hits bar
Continuous reinforcement: a fixed-ratio schedule in which the behavior is rewarded every time it is performed.
continuous reinforcement
a fixed-ratio schedule in which the behavior is rewarded every time it is performed.
Variable-ratio (VR schedule)
reinforce a behavior after a varying number of performances of the behavior, but such that the average number of performances to receive a reward is relatively constant.
Ex: reward rat after 2, 4, 6, 8 button presses.
The rat will continue pressing the bar quickly with the hope that the next press will be the “right one”
Fixed-interval (FI) schedules
reinforce the first instance of a behavior after a specified time period has elapsed.
Ex: rat gets pellet, can’t get another pellet until lever push that occurs after 60 seconds.
Variable-interval (VI) schedules
reinforce a behavior the first time that behavior is performed after a varying interval of time.
Ex: rat has to wait different amounts of times, after interval elapses, the next press gets the rat a pellet.
which reinforcement schedule is most and least efficient for teaching a new task
best: variable ration
worst: fixed interval
punishment
uses conditioning to reduce the occurrence of a behavior
positive vs. negative operant conditooning
positive: do something
negative: take something away
reinforcement vs. punishment
reinforcement: want them to do it again
punishment: want them not to do it again
positive punishment
adds an unpleasant consequence in response to a behavior to reduce that behavior (flog a thief for stealing)
negative punishment
the reduction of a behavior when a stimulus is removed (do not let child watch tv for bad behavior to try and reduce the behavior)
operant conditioning: shaping
the process of rewarding increasingly specific behaviors
• Reward for gradual improvements to what the full action should be
• Can take a long time but can get an organism to do extremely specific things
latent learning
learning that occurs without a reward but that is spontaneously demonstrated once a reward is introduced.
o Ex: Rats carried through maze can get through it better once a reward is introduced than rats that were operant conditioning trained to get through it.
problem solving
take a step back, observe the situation, and take decisive action to solve the challenge
o Puzzle solving: when we are younger, just try to jam pieces in. Now, base our attempts on the shape of the pieces and what picture the puzzle is making.
preparedness
organisms are most able to learn or not learn behaviors based on their own natural abilities and instincts
o Ex: bird getting rewarded for pecking motion (usually pecks for food)
o Ex: tried to train racoons to put coins in a piggy bank but they wouldn’t let go of the coins (wash nuts in river and then pull them out to eat them). Instinctive drift: difficulty in overcoming instinctual behaviors.
instinctive drive
difficulty in overcoming instinctive behaviors
observational learning
the process of learning a new behavior or gaining information by watching others.
o Ex: adult beats up a doll, children watched, children left to play in the room, they ignored the other toys and also inflicted violence on the doll.
Not simply imitation: if adult was scolded after doing this, then the children were less likely to do it.
o 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.
Largely involved in motor processes, but also empathy and vicarious emotions.
Ex: monkeys sticking tongue out with adult.
o Modeling: people learn what behaviors are acceptable by watching others perform them.
Observe and perform important for determining an individual’s behavior throughout their life.
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.
modeling
people learn what behaviors are acceptable by watching others perform them.
Observe and perform important for determining an individual’s behavior throughout their life.
what are the three major processes for memory formation
encoding, storage, retrieval
encoding
The process of putting new information into memory.
storage
memory must be stored to be remembered after encoding.
retrieval
being able to pull memories back out and use them. Process of demonstrating that something that has been learned has been retained.
automatic processing
encoding
information that is gained without effort, info that we gain passively absorbed from the environment. Absorb info without thinking.
controlled (effortful processing)
encoding
active memorization such as flashcards
visual encoding
visualize the meaning of info (weakest)
included with acoustic and semantic encoding
acoustic encoding
store the way it sounds
included with visual and semantic encoding
semantic encoding
put it into a meaningful context (strongest)
included with acoustic and visual encoding
self-reference effect
encoding
we recall info better when we can put it into the context of our own lives.
maintenance rehearsal
encoding
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.
mnemonics
encoding
acronyms or rhyming phrases that provide a vivid organization of the information we are trying to remember.
method of loci and peg-word are other types of mnemonics