module 5 Flashcards
habituation
shows how a relatively unimportant stimulus comes to be ignored
sensitisation
shows how an organism becomes more vigilant about stimulus
classical conditioning
is when a previously neutral stimulus elicits the same response as another stimulus, after repeatedly being paired together
operant conditioning
In operant conditioning, learning depends on (1) the behaviours of the organism and (2) the consequences of those behaviours to the organism
reinforcement
outcome that increases the strength/frequency/probability of a behaviour
punishment
outcome that decreases the strength/frequency/probability of a behaviour
positive reinforcement
adding something good
negative reinforcement
removing aversive stimulus
positive punishment
adding something bad
negative punishment
removing something desirable
what does operant conditioning explian
how an organism learns associations between its behaviour and the consequences of its behaviour
continuous reinforcement
every instance of the behaviour is reinforced
varieties of partial reinforcement
interval and ratio schedulesi
interval
time based reinforcement
ratio
responses based reinforcement
fixed scehdules
reinforcement is provided regularly
variable schedules
reinforcement is ireegular
memory
the retention of information over time
multi-store model of memory
there is a sensory memory store for each of the sense modalities
characteristics of sensory memory stores
responsible for storing “raw” modality specific sensory information. sensor information must be attended to and transferred to short term memory to avoid being lost or forgotten.
iconic memory
the visual store. Storage capacity of 12 objects. only persists for less than one second.
echoic
the hearing store. Only around five distinct auditory can be stored. lasts around 5-10 seconds.
short term memory
approximately 7 items (plus or minus 2)
rehearsal
repeating as a way of maintaining in short-term memory. lasts 20-30 seconds. also improves the likelihood of transfer from short-term to long-term.
long-term memory
if it lasts more than 30 seconds
in order to demonstrate memory for any event, even for a few seconds, one must engage in which three processes?
selective attention, awareness, recognition
time based decay
according to time-based decay (or temporal decay) accounts, information in memory is progressively degraded by the simple passage of time.
what period of time does time based decay extend from
It follows that extending the retention interval - the period of time between stimulus presentation and report - will produce poorer memory performance
interference
counting backwards produces “distractor items” that are encoded into short-term memory making it harder to retrieve letters.
free recall
stimulus are presented and are reported back
recency effect
end of list items are remembered better
primary effect
beginning of list items are remembered better
what happens when STM capacity limit is hit
forget older items. New items could replace items currently held in STM
cues
cues are features of the environment that direct us toward information In memory that we are trying to access or recall. boost likelihood of successful retrieval
inference
sometimes, if an aspect of the environment changes, cues that used to signal appropriate responses can signal inappropriate responses - resulting in error
proactive interference
older information disrupts retrieval of more recent information
retroactive interference
more recent information disrupts retrieval of older information
problem solving
a hallmark of complex higher. When solving requires one transition a scenario from one state to another
algorithm
An algorithm is a fixed procedure for producing a solution to a problem. An algorithm will always produce a solution, but it may be inefficient
heuristic
are “rule of thumb” that may or may not produce a solution. They often require less information that algorithms and are easier to use.
means end analysis
Creates a sub-goal that moves you toward the end-goal. Complete steps to achieve the sib-goal
hill climbing
Perform an action that moves you toward the end-goal. Repeat this process. Stop if you cannot perform an action that brings you closer to the end-goal. Extremely general method of problem solving
catching a ball
Rule out decision alternatives on the basis of specific features. Attribute information Is not combined, minimising processing demands. Pool of viable options is rapidly reduced to a manageable number
