PSYC week 4

Question 1

what kinds of activities constitute learning.

Answer 1

-most things we do we are learning from

Question 2

Name multiple forms of learning.

Answer 2

perceptual learning: our perception changes as function of experience
-implicit learning: when we inquire information without intent we can easily express
-non-associative learning: single repeated exposure leads to changes in behaviour

Question 3

List some individual differences that affect learning.

Answer 3

-anxiety
-working memory
-organization and planning skills
-ability to access information
-how we chunk information: a process of grouping information together

Question 4

Describe the effect of various encoding activities on learning.

Answer 4

-how we learn things plays a large role
-restudying helps people to learn more
-repetition is important and spacing things out
-practice testing yourself

Question 5

Describe three general principles of learning.

Answer 5

-metacognition: describes the knowledge and skills people have in controlling their own learning
-transfer-appropriate processing: memory performance is superior when the test taps the same cognitive process as the original encoding activity
-the value of forgetting: slow learning leads to superior learning

Question 6

Chunk

Answer 6

The process of grouping information together using our knowledge.

Question 7

Classical conditioning

Answer 7

The procedure in which an initially neutral stimulus (the conditioned stimulus, or CS) is paired with an unconditioned stimulus (or US). The result is that the conditioned stimulus begins to elicit a conditioned response (CR). Classical conditioning is nowadays considered important as both a behavioral phenomenon and as a method to study simple associative learning. Same as Pavlovian conditioning.

Question 8

Encoding

Answer 8

The pact of putting information into memory.

Question 9

Habituation

Answer 9

Occurs when the response to a stimulus decreases with exposure.

Question 10

Implicit learning

Answer 10

Occurs when we acquire information without intent that we cannot easily express.

Question 11

Implicit memory

Answer 11

A type of long-term memory that does not require conscious thought to encode. It’s the type of memory one makes without intent.

Question 12

Incidental learning vs. Intentional learning

Answer 12

Incidental learning
Any type of learning that happens without the intention to learn.

vs.

Intentional learning
Any type of learning that happens when motivated by intention.

Question 13

Metacognition

Answer 13

Describes the knowledge and skills people have in monitoring and controlling their own learning and memory.

Question 14

Nonassociative learning

Answer 14

Occurs when a single repeated exposure leads to a change in behavior.

Question 15

Operant conditioning

Answer 15

Describes stimulus-response associative learning.
or
a method of learning that uses rewards and punishment to modify behavior.

Question 16

Sensitization

Answer 16

Occurs when the response to a stimulus increases with exposure

Question 17

Transfer-appropriate processing

Answer 17

A principle that states that memory performance is superior when a test taps the same cognitive processes as the original encoding activity.

Question 18

Working memory

Answer 18

The form of memory we use to hold onto information temporarily, usually for the purposes of manipulation.

Question 19

Distinguish between classical (Pavlovian) conditioning and instrumental (operant) conditioning.

Answer 19

-classical conditioning: is a stimulus-stimulus-based learning, neutral stimuli are associated with significant events
operant conditioning: behaviour is associated with an event, involves voluntary behaviour

Question 20

Understand how they work separately and together to influence human behavior in the world outside the laboratory.
Learning and Condintioning

Answer 20

-flavours of food: food with certain nutrients can be preferred without us being aware
-taste aversion conditioning: foods associated with sickness makes the organism dislike that taste in the future
-fear conditioning: certain stimulus causing fright
-conditioned compensatory response: functions to reduce the strength of the unconditioned response, conditioned response that opposes the unconditioned response
-reinforcing of behaviour depends on the outcome that the person receives (student going to a bar then failing a test, they are less likely to go to the bar)

Question 21

list the four aspects of observational learning according to Social Learning Theory.

Answer 21

-social learning theory: proposes people learn new responses and behaviours by observing others
-attention
-retention
-initiation
-motivation

Question 22

Blocking

Answer 22

In classical conditioning, the finding that no conditioning occurs to a stimulus if it is combined with a previously conditioned stimulus during conditioning trials. Suggests that information, surprise value, or prediction error is important in conditioning.
or
a phenomenon in classical conditioning in which conditioning to a specific stimulus becomes difficult or impossible because of prior conditioning to another stimulus.

Question 23

Conditioned compensatory response

Answer 23

In classical conditioning, a conditioned response that opposes, rather than is the same as, the unconditioned response. It functions to reduce the strength of the unconditioned response. Often seen in conditioning when drugs are used as unconditioned stimuli.
or
an automatic response that is opposite to the effect of alcohol or substance usage.

Question 24

Conditioned response (CR)

Answer 24

The response that is elicited by the conditioned stimulus after classical conditioning has taken place.

Question 25

Conditioned stimulus (CS)

Answer 25

An initially neutral stimulus (like a bell, light, or tone) that elicits a conditioned response after it has been associated with an unconditioned stimulus.

Question 26

Discriminative stimulus

Answer 26

In operant conditioning, a stimulus that signals whether the response will be reinforced. It is said to “set the occasion” for the operant response.

Question 27

Extinction

Answer 27

Decrease in the strength of a learned behavior that occurs when the conditioned stimulus is presented without the unconditioned stimulus (in classical conditioning) or when the behavior is no longer reinforced (in instrumental conditioning). The term describes both the procedure (the US or reinforcer is no longer presented) as well as the result of the procedure (the learned response declines). Behaviors that have been reduced in strength through extinction are said to be “extinguished.”
or
the gradual weakening of a conditioned response that results in the behavior decreasing or disappearing

Question 28

Fear conditioning

Answer 28

A type of classical or Pavlovian conditioning in which the conditioned stimulus (CS) is associated with an aversive unconditioned stimulus (US), such as a foot shock. As a consequence of learning, the CS comes to evoke fear. The phenomenon is thought to be involved in the development of anxiety disorders in humans.

Question 29

Habit

Answer 29

Instrumental behavior that occurs automatically in the presence of a stimulus and is no longer influenced by the animal’s knowledge of the value of the reinforcer. Insensitive to the reinforcer devaluation effect.

Question 30

Law of effect

Answer 30

The idea that instrumental or operant responses are influenced by their effects. Responses that are followed by a pleasant state of affairs will be strengthened and those that are followed by discomfort will be weakened. Nowadays, the term refers to the idea that operant or instrumental behaviors are lawfully controlled by their consequences.

Question 31

Prediction error

Answer 31

When the outcome of a conditioning trial is different from that which is predicted by the conditioned stimuli that are present on the trial (i.e., when the US is surprising). Prediction error is necessary to create Pavlovian conditioning (and associative learning generally). As learning occurs over repeated conditioning trials, the conditioned stimulus increasingly predicts the unconditioned stimulus, and prediction error declines. Conditioning works to correct or reduce prediction error.

Question 32

Reinforcer

Answer 32

Any consequence of a behavior that strengthens the behavior or increases the likelihood that it will be performed it again

Question 33

Unconditioned response (UR)

Answer 33

In classical conditioning, an innate response that is elicited by a stimulus before (or in the absence of) conditioning.

Question 34

Unconditioned stimulus (US)

Answer 34

In classical conditioning, the stimulus that elicits the response before conditioning occurs.

Question 35

Vicarious reinforcement

Answer 35

Learning that occurs by observing the reinforcement or punishment of another person.

Question 36

Renewal effect

Answer 36

Recovery of an extinguished response that occurs when the context is changed after extinction. Especially strong when the change of context involves return to the context in which conditioning originally occurred. Can occur after extinction in either classical or instrumental conditioning.

Question 37

Identify the four knowledge emotions.

Answer 37

-surprise
An emotion rooted in expectancy violation that orients people toward the unexpected event.
-interest
curiosity and intrigue, interest motivates engaging with new things and learning more about them.
-confusion
conflicting and contrary information, such as when people appraise an event as unfamiliar and as hard to understand.
-awe
a state of fascination and wonder—is the deepest and probably least common of the knowledge emotions.

Question 38

Describe the patterns of appraisals that bring about these emotions.

Answer 38

surprise: “expectedness check”
-interest: “novelty/things that are complex” “coping potential”
-confusion: “confusion comes from appraising an event as high in novelty, complexity, and unfamiliarity as well as appraising it as hard to comprehend”
-awe: “vast/beyond the normal scope of their experience” “accommodation/changing their beliefs”

Question 39

Discuss how the knowledge emotions promote learning.

Answer 39

-encourage us to learn about what we are interested in
-make us want to know more/understand
-confusion allows us to thinking deeply and therefore learn better

Question 40

Apply the knowledge emotions to enhancing learning and education, and to one’s own life.

Answer 40

-motivate us to engage with things that are out of the ordinary
-help us learn better
-curious people try more things

Question 41

F​unctionalist theories of emotion

Answer 41

Theories of emotion that emphasize the adaptive role of an emotion in handling common problems throughout evolutionary history.

Question 42

Impasse-driven learning

Answer 42

An approach to instruction that motivates active learning by having learners work through perplexing barriers.

Question 43

Intrinsically motivated learning

Answer 43

Learning that is “for its own sake”—such as learning motivated by curiosity and wonder—instead of learning to gain rewards or social approval.