MT 1 Flashcards
1
Q
hermann ebbinghaus
A
he believed psychology could become rigorous natural science
- interested in forgetting: in how memory deteriorates over time
2
Q
pros and cons of hermann ebbinghaus
A
pros
- constant intervals between words
cons
- he worked by himself
- he was exposed to these words before (he invented them)
- not actual real words
- no cultural diffs or prior knowledge to these words analyzed
3
Q
diffs between marigold and ebbinghaus
A
- marigold used autobiographical content
- tested herself over several years
- forgetting curves looked different from ebbinghaus
- with naturalistic content, forgetting looks very different
4
Q
forgetting curves
A
showing that you lose a lot in the first 24 hrs and then forgetting slows down a little
5
Q
extinction
A
involves weakening learned response to a stimulus by no longer pairing that stimulus with reward or punishment (ringing bell but not providing food)
6
Q
single shock learning
A
just one accident/ thing can trigger a conditioned response
- e.g., when you pass through a place where you had a car crash, your physiological response is triggered even if it was only once
7
Q
generalization
A
a dog will transfer what it has learned about one stimulus to similar stimuli
- ex: diff shades of blue
8
Q
law of effect
A
- probability of a particular behavioral response could increase or decrease depending on consequences
- according to this law, an animal has a range of behaviors it can exhibit: behaviors that lead to positive outcomes for animal persist; those that do not die out
8
Q
instrumental conditioning
A
- organisms learn to make response to obtain/ avoid consequence
- organism’s behavior is instrumental in determining whether the consequences occurs
- now it is referred to as operant conditioning
9
Q
behaviorism
A
(john watson) school of thought that says psych should study only observable behaviors and not try to infer mental processes
- inspired by john locke’s tabula rasa
- little albert study
10
Q
radical behaviorism
A
he asserted that free will is an illusion
- humans, like other animals, simply produce learned responses to environmental stimuli
11
Q
Edward tolman
A
- believed rats are like humans: they intrinsically motivated to learn
- he studied rats learn the general layout of mazes by forming what he called cognitive map: internal representation of spatial layout of the world
12
Q
neo-behaviorism
A
demonstrated value of cognitive maps for understanding how rats could apply what they have learned in novel situations; rats can find food in mazes via alternative routes if their preferred route is blocked
- argued that during free exploration, rats were learning a cognitive map that they could use later
13
Q
latent learning
A
learning that is unconnected to positive or negative consequence and remains undetected (latent) until explicitly demonstrated
14
Q
what does neo-behaviorism suggest?
A
- animals are not just learning behaviors
- we can use experimental approaches to infer a mental state. provided bridge between cognitive and behavioral approaches
15
Q
endel tulving
A
introduced concept of multiple memory systems
16
Q
phrenology
A
notion that skull measurement can predict an individual’s personality and abilities
- pseudoscience- promoted sexism and racism
17
Q
neuropsychology
A
studies relationship between brain function and behaviors, often examining functioning of patients who have brain damage
18
Q
karl lashley
A
searched for location of engram- physical change (or trace) in brain that forms basis of memory
- group or rats were trained to navigate a maze —> after learning, diff small areas of cortex removed —> rats could STILL do the task
- lashley noticed bigger lesions could cause bigger learning impairment, but no single cortical area seemed to be more important than any other area
19
Q
theory of equipotentiality
A
states memories are not stored in one area of the brain —> brain operates as a whole unit to store memories
20
Q
was lashley correct?
A
- we have a network of regions that interact together! its not as extreme as lashley once states
- there is some degree of specialization
21
Q
brenda milner
A
studied patients with brain lesions, including patient HM (severe memory loss following removal of his medial temporal lobes to combate epilepsy)
22
Q
name the parts of the brain
A
- anterior (rostral), posterior (caudal), superior (dorsal), inferior (ventral)
23
Q
lobes of the brain
A
- frontal lobe: plan and perform actions
- occipital lobe: visual
- parietal lobe: processing somatosensory inputs (touch)
- temporal lobe: language and auditory processing and learning and memory
24
glia cells
cells of various types. provide functional or structural support to neurons
25
the synapse
- neurons contain neurotransmitters, chemical substances that can cross synapse to affect activity of nearby neuron
26
excitatory vs. inhibitory neurotransmitters
- excitatory: activate receptors that tend to increase likelihood of postsynaptic neuron firing
- inhibitory: activate receptors that tend to decrease likelihood of postsynaptic neuron firing
27
Neuromodulator
a neurotransmitter that modulates activity in a large number of neurons rather than at a single synapse
28
Long-term potentiation (LTP)
a process in which synaptic transmission (between neurons) becomes more effective as a result of recent, repeated activity
29
MRI (what can it be used for )
used to study structure of brain
- important for detecting and monitoring disease
- important for understanding brain plasticity
- e.g., posterior hippocampal volume is larger in taxi drivers
- suggestive that plasticity can change the structure of the brain
- OR people with larger hippocampus are drawn to activities like driving
- important for demonstrating a double dissociation: when two areas are functionally
dissociated by two cognitive
functions, with each being
affected to a lesion to one area
but not to the other
30
DTI
allows us to use axons / white matter tracks of the brain
- different diseases can affect white matter
- multiple sclerosis, dementia, etc
31
fMRI (how does it work?)
used to study action in the brain
- oxygen gets delivered to neurons by hemoglobin —> when neuronal activity increases, there’s an increase in oxygenated hemoglobin but not all of its absorbed by neurons —> increases changes magnetic properties, hence term BOLD imaging
- measuring changes in blood flow, using that to infer something about neural activity
32
pros and cons fMRI
pros
- good spatial resolution
- safe
cons
- indirect (not measuring neural activity)
- poor temporal resolution
- need to stay still (good for resting state scans for young babies)
33
fMRI use for learning and memory
figured out how when we think about past or imagine future, pattern of networks is really similar
- when remembering past events, individuals with superior memory showed increased activity in many different brain regions
34
EEG
- method for measuring electrical activity in the brain, via electrodes placed on scalp
- gives you great temporal resolution, bad spatial resolution
35
event related potential (ERP)
EEGs from single individual averaged over many repetitions of an event
- compared with fMRI, EEG is simple and inexpensive way to monitor changes in brain activity
36
memory is affected not only by ______ neurons fire but also by ______ they fire
which, how often
37
electromagnetic stimulation of neurons
researchers can use micro-electrodes to stimulate neural activity by delivering tiny amounts of electrical current into brain
- used as early as 1800s to show that neural activity in motor cortex produces motor behavior
- electrical stimulation can lead to changes in cognition
38
transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
changes activity in cerebral cortex by generating strong magnetic pulses over the skull
39
Episodic memories
consciously retrieved memories of unique events, bound by even specific contextual details, such as time and place
40
Semantic memories
consciously retrieved knowledge or facts
41
Can non-humans have episodic memory?
- Some researchers believe that animals cannot maintain episodic memories; other hold opposite view
- Scrub jars hid either worms or nuts in diff parts of sand-filled ice tray
- Later, club jays were given opportunity to retrieve good
- If delays as short, jays preferentially retrieved worms, if delay was longer, jays retrieves nuts —> was as though they anticipated quick spoilage of worms
- Some believe that this behaviour is evidence that scrub jays possess episodic memory
- Remembers what, where and when they hid their food
42
autonoetic experience
we know these memories are from ourselves, they are OUR memories
43
Amnesic syndrome
profound impairment in ability to store and retrieve consciously experienced long-term memories in context of otherwise relatively spared cognition
- Prototypical amnesic synod caused by acquired, stable damage to extended hippocampal network
- Episodic memory is most severely impaired
44
Causes
- Stroke (most commonly in the hippocampal region)
- Virus
- Anoxia/ hypoxia (reduce or complete loss of oxygen)
- Hippocampus is more vulnerable due to its high metabolic demand (needs tons of oxygen)
- Traumatic brain injury
- Surgical resections (for tumor or epilepsy)
- Hippocampus is vulnerable to seizures
45
Transient global amnesia
for a short period of time, people can’t remember events of their past
- causes unclear but several candidates
46
Psychogenic amnesia
temporary but extend to loss of identity
- Linked to psychological factors (stress)
47
H.M case
Post surgery
- IQ unchanged
- Relatively intact short-term memory
- Relatively intact perception, attention, language
- But severe long-term memory loss
Episodic vs. Semantic memory
- When HM was asked abut past, he could remember facts about himself and world but could not remember any specific events
- Suggest damage to hippocampus affects episodic memory but less so semantic memory
- Depends on whether you are examining pre vs post amnesia information and what types of tests you use
48
Retrograde vs. anterograde
Retrograde: memories derived from experiences that occurred prior to onset of amnesia
Anterograde: memories derived from experience that occurred after onset of amnesia driving
49
memory consolidation
semantic and episodic memories are subject to a consolidation period, time window during which new memories are vulnerable and easily lost
50
consolidation
process of strengthening stability of stored info
- stabilize memories
- incorporate new mems with old ones
- different types of consolidation
51
standard consolidation theory
hippocampus is envolved in encoding of episodic or semantic memories but its involvement fades with time, as memories are stored in the cortex
52
multiple trace theory
hippocampus is involved in encoding of episodic and semantic memories, but its involvement in semantic memory fades with time, as memories are consolidated in the cortex BUT hippocampus continues to be involved in episodic memory in perpetuity
- when an event is experienced, it can be stored as episodic memory by group of neurons in hippocampus
- each time memory is retrieved, it creates a new path
53
amnesia data
earlier studies show data consistent with view 1 (standard consolidation theory), which shows temporarily graded amnesia, but later studies show data consistent with view 2 (multiple trace theory, being flat amnesia
54
neuroimaging
- sense of participant knowing they saw something but NOT know from where, no hippocampal activity
- patients have smaller hippocampus, poor episodic memory, and other tests of cognition tends to be pretty intact
- semantic memory seems to be intact
55
why was developmental amnesia paper so important?
- are episodic and semantic memory associable or not?
- maybe in developmental cases damage to hippocampus is more focal
- OR maybe there is something in neuroplasticity
- and the earlier the injury is the more plasticity in the brain so the brain has more time to recover !
56
what is an emotion?
cluster of 3 distinct but interrelated sets of phenomena- physiological responses, overt behaviours, and conscious feelings- produced in response to situation
57
Results of airplane trauma study
Airplane event associated with more detailed memory
- Passengers remembered more than double the amount of details for airline incident in comparison to neural condition
- This does NOT tell us anything about accuracy
58
Flashbulb memories
vivid enduring memory associated with personally significant and emotional event, often including such details as where individual was or what they were doing at the time of the event
59
9/11 memories
In comparison to neutral events, 9/11 memories were more vivid/detailed and folks were more confident in tier memory for the event
- BUT 9/11 event did not differ in accuracy from neutral even
60
what is PTSD?
- May develop when someone lives through or witnesses an event in which they believe that theres a threat to their life or physical integrity and safety and experience fear, terror, helplessness
- Individuals with PTSD often relieve trauma in painful recollection, they avoid activities associated with traumatic event, they experience higher physiological arousal
61
How can we treat PTSD?
- Include psychotherapy of psychopharmacological intervention
- Some therapy involves changing the memory of the event
- Reliving event in safe context
62
Fear response
a cluster of physiological changes, overt behaviours, and conscious reactions the accompany emotion of fear, in the lab, the physiological changes and motor behaviours are often taken to imply presence of fear, whether or not accompanying conscious experience of fear can be documented
63
Can we edit memories?
- Retrieved memories become fragile and are consolidated again —> reconsolidating
- Overtime we retrieve a memory, something neurobiological needs to take place
- Memory is a work in progress… constantly constructed and remodelled in response to learning and conditions
64
consolidation when injected with anisomycin
- They blocked protein synthesis with anisomycin by injecting in the amygdala (important for consolidating memory)
- Results: rat did NOT freeze when put in the box because they encoded memory, but did not consolidate it
- If they gave the anisomycin the NEXT day, then there will be freezing because you blocked the protein synthesis too late
- 3rd condition: gave protein synthesis inhibitor in day 2, but before doing that he gave the tone (that opens up the retrieval process and makes memory in a fragile state), then blocked synthesis
- results: It DID work! He used re-consolidation to get rid of the memory
65
Reconsolidating in human models
- Participants reactive a trauma memory
- Drug (propranolol) administered to block amygdala stress receptors while reconsolidating of memory is taking place; control group receives placebo
- One week later, reactivation of same memory = lower stress responses in experimental group
66
Emotion affects
- Encoding- how we take in info
- Consolidation- how we lay down permanent/ semi-permanent records of that information
- begins minutes and hours after event
- Retrieval- how we retrieve that information
67
Arousal (increase and decrease in what?)
a collection of bodily response that prepare body to face threat
- increases in blood pressure, respiration, blood glucose level, pain suppression, etc
- decreases in digestion, ,immune system function, sexual arousal, growth, etc
68
adrenal glands in physiological response
- When there is a challenge or threat, adrenal glands release stress hormones
- Major stress hormones include epinephrine (adrenaline) a nd glucocorticoids (cortisol in humans and corticosterone in non-human)
- Can strengthen memory encoding (depends on how much is released)
69
role of amygdala in memory
almond shaped region, critical for:
- Learning and expressing emotion
- Emotional modulation of memory formation
- Yet its role in emotional learning and memory is debated
- Some argue that batter characterization is salience detector
70
role of hippocampus in memory
projects to amygdala, region that works in tandem with amygdala to trigger emotional responses and encode emotional memories
71
lesion of amygdala and hippocampus disrupts what?
- Human patients with bilateral amygdala adage often show deficits in learning emotional response
- Here a CS could be a tone that was paired with a shock
- Hippocampal damage: INTACT conditioned response
- Amygdala damage: removes conditioned response (as though memory is no longer in existence)
- Hippocampal lesions in humans will abolish episodic memory of the US-CS event (they can’t tell you they participated in a study)
- Amygdala lesions they remember episode itself, they know that pairing of tone and shock (they show OPPOSITE patterns)
72
1. cog. science of learning enhancement, 3 main points
- spacing effect is observed across different learning domains and sensory modalities (though there are some exceptions)
- It is seen in humans and other species (even in worms)
- study participants overwhelmingly believed the massed practice is better than spaced practice!
- We cannot always trust our intuition about how best to learn!
- spaced practice: if you space out studying, you'll do better
- testing effect: testing yourself is better than re-studying in long-term retention
73
2. Transformations of memory inequality very life, 3 main points
- marigold used autobiographical content (tested herself over many yrs)
- forgetting curves looked different from ebbinghaus (hers were linear)
- ebbing. invented his own words
74
3-4. is brain mostly modular vs. distributed?, 3 main points
localization vs. equipotentiality?
- we stand in the middle!
- was Lashley correct? we do have a level of specialization, but brain is interconnected/ network!
75
5. Amnesic syndromes, 3 main points
- Episodic memories: unique events in time and place
- consciously retrieved memories of unique events, bound by even specific contextual details, such as time and place
- Semantic memories: knowledge or facts
- consciously retrieved knowledge or facts
76
6. developmental amnesia, 3 main points
- hippocampus is smaller in individuals who had damage @ birth (hypoxia or anoxia)
- delayed recall, they can't recall/ draw shape previously showed to them
- they acquire semantic memory, can't lay down episodic
77
7. remembering the details, 3 main points
- Emotion does not enhance accuracy for all detail types
- Emotion enhance central details but not peripheral details
- People remember seeing a brown bear (central detail) but NOT where they saw it (peripheral detail)
- This might be strongest for negative memories
- Negative memories might be more sensory (central), and positive memories more semantic (peripheral)
