Psych Ch. 5: Learning, Memory, and Behavior Flashcards
Nonassociative Learning
Occurs when the organism is repeatedly exposed to one type of stimulus
2 important types of non associative learning
Habituation and sensitization
Habit
An action that is performed repeatedly until it becomes automatic
Habituation
A person learns to “tune out” the stimulus
ex. you move to a new house near train tracks and notice every time the train passes, but eventually you get used to the noise and don’t hear it anymore
Dishabituation (and then what happens is stimulus is reintroduced?)
Occurs when the previously habituated stimulus is removed
- -> when person is habituated to a given stimulus, and that stimulus is removed, this leads to dishabituation: the person is no longer accustomed to the stimulus
- -> If stimulus is presented again, person will react as if it was a new stimulus and is likely to respond even more strongly to it than before
ex. leave new house and don’t hear train anymore, but notice it when you come back and it is extra annoying
Sensitization
Oppose of habituation; there is an increase in the responsiveness duets either a repeated application of a stimulus or a particularly aversive or noxious stimulus
- -> instead of being able to tune out or ignore the stimulus and avoid reacting (habituation) the stimulus produces a more exaggerated response
- *Usually temporary and may not result in long-term behavior change
Desensitization
Occurs when a stimulus that previously evoked an exaggerated response (something you were sensitized to) no longer evokes an exaggerated response
Associative Learning
A process of learning in which one event, object, or action is directly connected with another
2 categories of associative learning
Classical conditioning and operant conditioning
Classical (respondent) conditioning
A process in which 2 stimuli are paired in such a way that the response to one of the stimuli changes
EX: Pavolv’s dogs-dogs salivate at the sound of a ringing bell
Ivan Pavlov is ____ conditioning
Classical
B. F. Skinner is _____ conditioning
Operant
Neutral Stimulus
A stimulus that initially does not elicit any intrinsic response
-sound of bell before experiment
Unconditioned Stimulus
A stimulus the elicits an unconditioned response; NOT a learned reaction but a biological one
-presentation of food is the unconditioned stimulus and the salivation is the unconditioned response
Conditioned Stimulus
An originally neutral stimulus (the bell) that is paired with an unconditioned stimulus (food) until it can produce the conditioned response (salivation) WITHOUT the unconditioned stimulus (food)
Conditioned Response
The learned response to the conditioned stimulus; same as UR but now occurs without the US; salivating at the sound of the bell
Processes by which classically conditioned responses are developed and maintained:
Acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, and discrimination
Acquisition
The process of learning the conditioned response (when bell and food are always paired)
Extinction
Occurs when the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli are no longer paired, so the conditioned response eventually stops occurring
Spontaneous Recovery
When an extinct conditioned response occurs again when the conditioned stimulus is presented after some period of time
Generalization
Process by which stimuli other than the original conditioned stimulus elicit the conditioned response
Discrimination
Opposite of generalization; occurs when the conditioned stimulus is differentiated from other stimuli, so the conditioned response only occurs for conditioned stimuli
Taste-Aversion
Caused by nausea and/or vomiting
Operant (instrumental) Conditioning
Uses reinforcement (pleasurable consequences) and punishment (unpleasant consequences) to mold behavior **important for the reinforcement or punishment to occur around the same time as the behavior in order for learning to occur
B. F. Skinner
Worked with animals and designed an operant conditioning chamber (Skinner Box)
-Hungry rat inside box with lever, either gets food pellet or stops shock
Reinforcement
Anything that will increase the likelihood that a preceding behavior will be repeated; the behavior is supported by reinforcement
2 types of reinforcement
Positive and negative
Postive Reinforcement
Some sort of desirable stimulus that occurs immediately following a behavior
Negative Reinforcement
Some sort of undesirable stimulus that is REMOVED immediately following a behavior
ex. rat pushes lever to stop shock=removing undesired stimulus
Reinforcer
Anything the INCREASES desired behavior; both + and - reinforcement increase desired behavior
Brain structure important in negative conditioning:
Amygdala
Brain structure important in positive conditioning:
Hippocampus
Primary (unconditioned) reinforcers
Innately satisfying or desirable; we don’t need to learn to see them as reinforcers because they are integral to our survival
Ex. food-a primary + reinforcer
avoiding pain and danger-primary - reinforcers
Secondary (conditioned) Reinforcers
Learned to be reinforcers; neutral stimuli that are paired with primary reinforcers to make them conditioned (or with other secondary reinforcers) but MUST be paired with a primary reinforcer in order to produce a learned behavior
Operant conditioning relies on a reinforcement schedule, which is:
Continuous: every occurrence of the behavior is reinforced, or intermittent: occurrences are sometimes reinforced and sometimes not
Continuous reinforcement results in:
Rapid behavior acquisition (rapid learning), but also results in rapid extinction when the reinforcement ceases
Intermittent reinforcement results in:
Slower acquisition of behavior, but great persistence (or resistance to extinction)
Is it possible to condition a behavior with a continuous schedule and then maintain that behavior with an intermittent schedule?
Yes
4 intermittent reinforcement schedules:
fixed-ratio, variable-ratio, fixed-interval, and variable-interval
Ratio schedules are based on:
Number of instances of desired behavior
Interval schedules are based on:
Time
Fixed-Ratio Schedule
Provides a reinforcement after a set number of instances of the behavior
Ex. rat receives food pellet after every 10 times it pushes the lever, so after it has been conditioned it will demonstrate a HIGH rate of response (it will push the lever rapidly many times to get the food)
Variable-Ratio Schedule
Provides the reinforcement after an unpredicted number of occurrences
Ex. gambling, produces a HIGH response rate, behavior is repeated with the hopes of reinforcement
–> SLOWEST rate of extinction
Fixed-Interval Schedule
Provides the reinforcement after a set period of time that is constant; behavior will increase as the reinforcement interval comes to an end
Ex. employee reinforced by attention from the boss, so learns that boss walks by only at a certain hour, so becomes a more effective worker near that time
Variable-Interval Schedule
Provides the reinforcement after an inconsistent amount of time; produces a slow, steady behavior response rate, because the amount of time it will take to get the reinforcement is unknown
Shaping
A way to learn more complex behaviors by breaking them down and reinforcing the inbtw behaviors until the whole behavior is strung together
Ex. baby learning to walk and the inbtw steps it takes to walk
Reinforcement ____ behavior while punishment ____ behavior
Increases, decreases
Punishment
Process by which a behavior is follow by a consequence that decreases the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated
Positive Punishment
Involves the application, or pairing, of an undesired stimulus with the behavior
Negative Punishment
Involves the removal of a desirable stimulus after the behavior has occurred
Escape
An individual learns how to get away form an aversive stimulus by engaging in a particular behavior; helps reinforce the behavior so they will be willing to engage in it again
Avoidance
Occurs when a person performs a behavior to ensure an aversive stimulus is not presented
Behaviorism
Most associated with Skinner, but includes classical and operant conditioning; all psychological phenomena are explained by describing the observable antecedents of behaviors and its consequences-not concerned with the unobservable events occurring within the mind–>called the “black box”
Cognitive Psychology
Researchers began to focus on the brain, cognitions (thoughts), and their effects on how people navigate the world; do not see learning as simply due to a stimulus pairing and reinforcement
Insight Learning
When previously learned behaviors are suddenly combined in unique ways
Latent Learning
Something is learned but not expressed as an observable behavior until it is required
Cerebellum and learning
Involved with learning how to complete motor tasks
Amygdala and learning
Involved with learning fear responses
Short-term memory
lasts for second to hours and can be converted into LTM through consolidation
Long-term potentiation
- When something is learned, the synapses btw neurons are strengthened and the process of long-term potentiation begins
- Occurs when, following brief periods of stimulation, and increase in synaptic strength btw 2 neurons leads to stronger electrochemical responses to a given stimuli
- The neurons involved in the circuit develop an increased sensitivity (the sending neuron needs less prompting to fire its impulse and release its NT, and/or receiving neurons have more receptors for the NT), which results in increased potential for neural firing after a connection has been stimulated
Synaptic Strength
Thought to be the process by which memories are consolidated for LTM
Observational Learning (Or social learning or vicarious learning)
Learning through watching and imitating others
Modeling
An observer sees the behavior being performed by another person and then later with the model in mind the observer imitates the behavior they observed
Albert Bandura
Observational learning; did experiments with the Bobo Doll; showed children videos of adults being aggressive to the doll or ignoring it, and they imitated the behavior they saw
Mirror Neurons
Have been identified in the premotor cortex, supplementary motor area, primary sensory cortex, and the inferior parietal cortex
Vicarious emotions
Ex. empathy; some have proposed minor neurons are responsible for this, problems may underlie disorders sues as autism
Elaboration Likelihood Model
Explains when people will be influenced by the content of speech (logic of arguments) and when people will be influenced by other, more superficial characteristics like the appearance of the orator or the length of the speech
Message Characteristics
The features of the message itself, such as the logic and number of key points in the argument; also include more superficial things, such as the length of the speech or article and its grammatical complexity
Source Characteristics
The person or venue delivering the message, such as expertise, knowledge, and trustworthiness
Target Characteristics
Are of the person receiving the message, such as self-esteem, intelligence, mood, and other such personal characteristics-they have an important influence on whether the message will be perceived as persuasive
Central Route
People are persuaded by the content of the argument; allow features of the argument to influence their decision to change their point of view
Peripheral Route
When people focus on superficial or secondary characteristics of the speech or orator; people are persuaded by the attractiveness of the orator, the length of the speech, whether the orator is considered an expert in the field
When will people choose the central route?
When they are both motivated to listen to the logic of the argument (they are interested in the topic) and they are not distracted, thus focusing their attention on the argument
–>If they choose the peripheral route they will be persuaded by superficial factors
Social Cognitive Theory
A theory of behavior change that emphasizes the interactions btw people and their environment; focuses on how we interpret and respond to external events, and how our past experiences, memories, and expectations influence our behavior
According to social cognitive theory, what can influence our attitude change?
Social factors observational learning ,and environmental factors
Reciprocal Determinism
The interaction btw a person’s behaviors (conscious actions) personal factors (individual motivational forces or cognitions; personality differences that drive a person to act), and environment (situational factors)
3 different ways that individuals and environments interact:
- People choose their environments which in turn shape them
- Personality shapes how people interpret and respond to their environment
- A person’s personality influences the situation to which he/she then reacts
Behavioral Genetics
Attempts to determine the role if inheritance in behavioral traits; the interaction btw heredity and experience determines an individual’s personality and social behavior; seeks to understand how the genotype and environment affect the phenotype
Which cells in the human body do NOT contain DNA?
Mature RBCs
Twin Studies
Compare traits in monozygotic and dizygotic twins; attempts to assess the variance of a phenotype (behavior, psychological disorder) in a large group in order to estimate genetic effects (heritability) and environmental effects (both from shared experiences and unshared)
Adoption Studies
Creates 2 groups: genetic relatives and environmental relatives, and then adopted people are compared to each group to see which group they are more like
Transgenesis (and knockout and which is useful for what??)
(The introduction of an exogenous or outside gene) or knockout genes to alter genotype while controlling for environment
- -> transgenic mice are useful for helping researchers understand what happens when a certain gene is present
- -> knockout mice are useful for helping researchers understand what happens when a gene is absent
Temperament
Emotional excitability
Francis Galton
Theory of general intelligence; believed that intelligence had a strong biological basis and could be quantified by testing certain cognitive tasks; his book argues that intelligence is genetically determined
Alfred Binet
Administered intelligence tests to schoolchildren in France, with the goal of developing a measure to determine which children were in need of special education
–> His test was revised at Stanford and renamed to Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, or IQ Test
Charles Spearman
First coined the term “general intelligence” or “g,” like Binet, believed that intelligence could be strictly quantified through cognitive tests, and those who possessed high general intelligence would do well on lots of different measures of cognitive ability
Raymond Cattell
Proposed 2 types of intelligence: fluid intelligence (Gf): the ability to think on your feet and solve novel problems, and crystallized intelligence (Gc): the ability to recall and apply already-learned info (basically what you do in school when you take tests)
Howard Gardner
Put forth a theory on multiple intelligences, which breaks intelligence dow into 8 different modalities: logical, linguistic, spatial, musical, kinesthetic, naturalist, intrapersonal, and interpersonal
Edward Thorndike
First proposed the idea of social intelligence in the 1920s-defined as the ability to manage and understand people
Emotional Intelligence
Being well attuned to one’s own emotions, being able to accurately intuit the emotions of others, and using this info as a guide for thinking and acting
Intellectual Disability
Having below a 70 intelligence score and having difficulty adapting to everyday demands of life
Developmental Psychology
The study of how humans develop physically, cognitively, and socially throughout heir lifetime
Prenatal Stage (from conception to birth)
Genetic and environmental factors have an impact on development
Newborns have reflexes that originate in the CNS and exhibited by all normal infants (7 of them):
- Moro (startle) reflex: in response to a loud sound or sudden movement, an infant will startle
- Rooting Reflex: in response to touching or poking the baby’s cheeks, the baby will turn its head in that direction and open its mouth to “root” for a nipple
- Sucking Reflex: Linked with rooting reflex, in response to anything touching the roof of the baby’s mouth, it will begin to suck
- Babinski Reflex: in response to the sole of the foot being touched, the baby’s big toe moves up or toward the top surface of the foot and the other toes fan out
- Tonic Neck Reflex: in response to its head being turned to one side, the baby will stretch out its arm on the same side and the opposite arm bends up at the elbow
- Palmar Grasp Reflex: in response to touching the baby’s palm, the baby’s hand will grasp
- Walking/Stepping Reflex: in response to the soles of a baby’s feet touching a flat surface, they will attempt to “walk” by placing one foot in front of the other
Motor Development throughout a lifetime
Reflexive movement–>rudimentary movement–>fundamental movement–>specialized movement–>application of movement
Reflexive Movements
Primitive, involuntary movements that serve to “prime” the neuromuscular system and form the basis for the more sophisticated movement to come
Rudimentary Movements
The first voluntary movement performed by a child; dictated by genetics
Fundamental Movement
Child learns to manipulate their body through actions such as running, jumping, throwing, catching; highly influenced by the environment, kids are typically in school at this age
Specialized Movement
Children learn to combine the fundamental movements and apply them to specific tasks; can be subdivide into 2 shorter stages: a transitional stage and an application stage
Transitional Substage
Where the combination of movements occur
Application Substage
More conscious decisions to apply these skills to specific types of activity
Lifelong Application Stage
Beginning in adolescence and progressing through adulthood; movements are continually refined and applied to normal daily activities as well as recreational and competitive activities
Networks are reinforced by _____ and ______
Learning and behavior
The most rapid growth occurs in the frontal lobes at ages ____ and corresponds to an increase in:
3-6, rational planning and attention
The last cortical areas to develop are:
The association areas, linked with thinking, memory, and language
Maturation
Sequence of biological growth processes in human development; largely genetic but influenced by the environment as well
The development of which brain region is a necessary precursor to walking?
The cerebellum
Infantile amnesia
Unable to recall memories until ~3.5yrs of age, but learning and memory can still occur before this
Harry and Margaret Harlow
Monkey experiment with wire mother vs. cloth mother
Mary Ainsworth
Conducted the “strange situation experiments,” where mothers would leave their infant in an unfamiliar environment to see how the infants would react
–> attachment styles
Securely attached
In presence of mother, they will play and explore, when the mother leaves the room, the infant is distressed, and when mother returns infant will seek contact with her and is easily consoled
Insecurely attached
In the presence of their mother are less likely to explore their surroundings and may even cling to their mother, when the mother leaves they will either cry loudly or remain upset or will demonstrate indifference to her departure and return
3 types of parenting styles:
Authoritarian, permissive, and authoritative
Authoritarian Parenting Style
Involves attempting to control children with strict rules that are expected to be followed unconditionally; utilize punishment instead of discipline and will not explain their reasoning behind rules; they are very demanding but not very responsive to their children and don’t provide much warmth or nurturing; children may be more aggressive or more shy and fearful
Permissive Parenting style
Allow their children to lead the show, have few rules and demands and rarely discipline their children, very responsive and loving towards children but are very lenient, rules are enforced inconsistently, children lack self-discipline, may be self-involved and demanding, and may have poor social skills
Authoritative Parenting Style
Listen to their children, encourage independence, place limits on behavior and consistently follow through with consequences when behavior is not met, express warmth and nurturing, and allow children to express opinions and discuss options, have expectations and when children break rules they are disciplined in a fair and consistent manner, produces children that are happier, have good emotional control and regulation, develop good social skills, and are confident in their abilities
During adolescence, the brain undergoes 3 major changes:
Cell proliferation (in certain areas, particularly the prefrontal lobes and limbic system), synaptic pruning (of unused or unnecessary connections), and myelination (which strengthens connections btw various regions)
Abstract thought, planning, anticipating consequences, and personality are functions of what brain region?
The prefrontal cortex
Encoding
The process of transferring sensory info into our memory system
Working Memory
Where info is maintained temporarily as part of a particular mental activity
- -> thought to include a phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, central executive, and episodic buffer
- -> WM is quite limited, and helps to explain the serial position effect
Serial Position Effect
Occurs when someone attempts to memorize a series, such as a list of words
–> in an immediate recall situation, the person is more likely to recall the first and last items on the list (primacy effect and recency effect)
Primacy Effect
1st items are more easily recalled because they have had the most time to be encoded and transferred to LTM
Recency Effect
Last times may be more easily recalled because they may still being in the phonological loop so they are readily available
Mnemonic
Any technique for improving retention and retrieval of info from memory
Depth of Processing
Information that is thought about at a deeper level is better remembered
Dual Coding Hypothesis
Indicates that it is easier to remember words with associated images than either words or images alone
–> By encoding both a visual mental representation and an associated word, there are more connections made to the memory and an opportunity to process the info at deeper level
Method of Loci
Involves imagining moving through a familiar place, such as your home, and in each place, leaving a visual representation of a topic to be remembered
Self-reference effect
Easier to remember things that are personally relevant
Sensory Memory
The initial recording of sensory info in the memory system, a very brief snapshot that quickly decays
2 types of sensory memory:
Iconic memory and echoic memory
Iconic Memory
Brief photographic memory for visual info, which decays in a few tenths of a second
Echoic Memory
Memory for sound, which lasts about 3-4 seconds
Short-term memory
~7 items, +/-2, info in STM is retained only for about 20sec unless it is actively processed so it can be transferred to LTM
–> Strongly correlated with the hippocampus-when new info sought to be remembered resides temporarily and is then encoded to LTM or forgotten
Long-term memory
Info that is retained sometimes indefinitely, believed to have an infinite capacity
Working Memory
Strongly correlated with the prefrontal cortex-a storage bin to hold memories (ST or LT) that are needed at a particular moment in order to process info or solve a problem
Implicit/procedural Memory
Knowledge of how to do something
Explicit/declarative memory
involves being able to “declare” or voice what is known
2 subdivisions of explicit memory:
Semantic and episodic memory
Semantic Memory
Memory for factual info, such as the capital of England
–> Typically deteriorates before episodic memory does
Episodic Memory
Autobiographical memory for info of personal importance, such as the situation surrounding a first kiss
Brain structures involved in memory:
Hippocampus, cerebellum, and amygdala
Hippocampus is responsible for:
the encoding of new explicit memories
Cerebellum is involved in:
Learning skills and conditional associations (implicit memory)
Amygdala is involved in:
Associating emotion with memories, particularly negative memories; for example a fear response that involves fear conditioning
Nodes (in brain)
In LTM network, can be thought of like cities on a map
Associations (in network)
Connect nodes, which are like roads connecting the cities
A node does not become activated until:
It receives input signals from its neighbors that are strong enough to reach a response threshold
Effect of input signals is:
cumulative
How is the response threshold reached?
By the summation of input signals from multiple nodes
Stronger memories summate more ____ because there are more ___ and ____
quickly, neural connections and dendrites
Activation of a few nodes can lead to:
the activation within a network that can spread
Spreading Activation
When trying to retrieve info, we start the search from one node, then, we don’t choose where to go next but rather that activated node spreads it’s activation to other nodes around it to an extent related to the strength of association btw that node and each other
Free Recall
Retrieving an item “out of thin air”
Cued recall
Retrieving the info when provided with a cue
Recognition
Identifying specific info from a set of info that is presented
Ex. multiple choice question
Relearning
Involves the process of learning material that was originally learned; relearning is quicker-which suggests that the info was in the memory system to be retrieved
Mood-dependent Memory
What we learn in one state is most easily recalled when we are once again in that emotional state
Remembering info is achieved by:
paying attention, encoding, retaining info (storage), and then retrieval
This type of info shows less decline in older adults:
Info that is meaningful and connects well to that existing web of info and info that is skill-based
Prospective Memory
Remembering to do things in the future; stronger when there are cues in the environment
–> difficulty with this also makes time-based tasks difficult
Anterograde Amnesia
Comes with damage to the hippocampus, inability to encode new memories
Retrograde Amnesia
Comes with damage to the hippocampus, inability to recall info that was previously encoded
Decay happens ____ memories are encoded
after
Retention Interval
Time since info was learned
Forgetting Curve
The longer the retention interval, the more info will be forgotten, with the most forgetting happening rapidly in the first few days before leveling off
Interference results in a failure to ____ info that is in storage
retrieve
Proactive Interference
When info previously learned interferes with the ability to recall info learned later
Retroactive Interference
When newly learned info interferes with the recall of info learned previously
Positive Transfer
When old info facilitates the learning of new info
Schema
A mental blueprint containing common aspects of some part of the world
Misinformation Effect
A tendency to misremember when presented with or exposed to subtle misinformation
Ex. car accident in court
False Memories
Inaccurate recollections of an event and may be the result of the implanting of ideas; or repeatedly imagining that you did something
Source Monitoring
Info source error during memory recall
Process of forming memories involves: (what kind of impulses and where??)
Electrical impulses sent through brain circuits; these impulses leave permanent neural traces that are physical representations of info
–> synapse and communication with NTs = very important for memory and learning
Neural Plasticity
The malleability of the brain’s pathways and synapses based on behavior, the environment, and neural processes
Neurogenesis
Birth of new neurons-occurs to a small extent in the hippocampus and cerebellum (before neurons were thought to be irreplaceable)
“Neurons that fire together, wire together”
- Neurons that fire impulses simultaneously forms associations with each other
- Associations form neural nets, or patterns of activation, that represent info that is learned or stored in memory-so any part of the neural net that is activated can recall a memory
- Increased interconnectivity of the brain through increasing synapse btw existing neurons=what is involved in the process of learning and memory
- As neurons fire together, more associations are formed–>strength of these associations is based on the frequency with which simultaneous firing occurs (& other aspects like presence of emotion)
