Psych Class 6/30 Flashcards
Examples of functional techniques: imaging
PET, fMRI, EEG (measure what brain regions are doing)
Examples of structural techniques: imaging
MRI, CT scan (measure what the brain looks like)
Neural Plasticity
changes in the brain due to learning, thinking, behavior, emotions, etc. Change can occur from the cellular level to the anatomical level
Long-term potentiation
connections between neurons strengthen (what “fires together, wires together”)
what part of the brain is central to memory and learning?
hippocampus
encoding
transfer of sensations into our memory system
storage
retaining information in short-term or long-term memory
retrieval
extracting information that has been stored
Memory: Atkinson-Schiffrin (multi-store model)
sensory input, sensory memory, unattended information is lost OR sensory memory, attention, short-term memory (from here it can go 1 of 2 ways): if you keep maintenance rehearsal, memory will consolidate turning into long-term memory. If you do not rehearse, however, ST memory will be lost
Memory: Baddeley’s model of working memory
central executive phonological loop or visuospatial sketchpad or episodic buffer semantic verbal memory
Baddeley’s Model: central executive
responsible for the coordination of sub-systems, shifting between tasks, and selective attention and inhibition
Baddeley’s Model: phonological loop to semantic verbal memory
short-term phonological store, with auditory rehearsal
Baddeley’s Model: visuospatial sketchpad to sematic visual memory
temporary storage and manipulation of spatial and visual information
Baddeley’s Model: episodic buffer to episodic memory
information integration and linking to long term memory
encoding
process of transforming information into a form that is more easily stored in our brains
what are the 4 basic kinds of encoding?
semantic (meaning), acoustic (sound), visual (images), and elaborative (association with previous long-term memories)
rehearsal
repetition of information leading to increased retention
chunking
grouping related info together into chunks
elaboration
intertwining info to be remembered with well-entrenched pre-existing long term spatial, visual, acoustic, or semantic memories
self-reference
making info to be remembered personally relevant
spacing
memory works better when reviewed material is spaced out over time
mnemonics
any technique for improving retention of information
how quickly does sensory memory decay?
iconic < 1 sec, echoic 2-4 sec
short term memory: what is miller’s magic number? aka rehearsal bugger capacity
7 +/- 2
how quickly does short-term memory decay?
25-30 sec
long term memory: does it have an upper limit capacity? how long does it decay?
no known upper limit
permanent storage
encoding into STM is primarily?
acoustic
encoding into LTM is primarily?
semantic
LTM: explicit memory
declarative memory, conscious recall
LTM: explicit memory: episodic memory
events you have personally experienced
LTM: explicit memory: semantic memory
your general knowledge of facts, information
LTM: implicit memory
nondeclarative memory, no conscious recall
LTM: implicit memory: procedural memory
learning motor skills, physical actions
LTM: implicit memory: other than procedural, what are the 2 other forms?
classical conditioning and priming
retrieval cue
any stimulus that assists in memory retrieval
priming
occurs when exposure to one stimulus influences the response to another stimulus
does positive primary speed up or slow down processing?
speed up
does negative priming slow down processing?
yes
context-dependent memroy (context effect)
we are better at retrieving info in the same environmental context in which the info was learned
state-dependent memory (state dependency effect)
we are better at remembering when we are in the same internal (drug, comfort, pain, mood, etc) that we were in when the info was encoded
Stroop Effect
Decreased speed in naming the color of ink–shows that reading is an automated process that interferes with task
retrieval
process of finding info stored in memory
free recall example
trivia question
recognition example
multiple choice
dual coding theory
the theory that holds that the combination of words with visuals provides us with two different channels for later recall, which assists in memory retrieval. thus, learning works better when words are presented with relevant images or such images are imagined by the learner
flashbulb memory
people can (or at least claim to) remember great detail about their episodic memories of particularly emotionally arousing events, such as 9/11
eidetic memory (photographic memory)
ability to vividly recall images from memory after only a few instances of exposure with high precision for a brief time after exposure without using a mnemonic device
reproductive memory
accurate retrieval of information from memory, w/o significant alteration
prospective memory
remembering to perform a planned action or recall a planned intention at some future point in time, such as remembering to do your next assignment before our next class
levels of processing model
focusses on the DEPTH OF PROCESSING involved in memory; predict the deeper info is processed, the longer a memory trace will last
reminiscence bump
older adults generally remember events they experienced from 10 to 30 years old better than any other time period, including more recent time periods
practice effects
the improvement that would be expected to occur simply from repeated exposure to a specific memory test. this is important to consider when longitudinally testing a subject with a progressively debilitating memory disorder using the same memory test
method of loci
method of memory retention in which the individual uses visualized spatial info (such as a street on the way to their home) to recall lists of words to be memorized. also known as memory journey, memory palace, or mind palace.
peg words
memory technique in which an individual connects words to numbers and creates an association to improve retention. the item-number pairs often rhyme to assist in recollection
intrusion errors
substitution of an often semantically meaningful word during free and serial recall of word lists
reconstructive process
each time a memory is retrieved, the memory trace is strengthened, but also potentially altered
can intrusion errors occur in episodic memories?
yes, when info that is consistent but did not actually occur is appended during memory retrieval…this is due to retrieval of both related episodes and generic info previously stored that is consistent with that type of event
displacement
occurs in short-term memory when one item in the list to be remembered bumps out another. most people can store 7 +/- 2 items in STM
interference
when competing for material makes it more difficult to encode or retrieve information
proactive interference
PROactive = PRio interferes: prior learning interferes with new learning
retroactive interference
REtroactive = REcent interference; recent learning interferes with old learning
semantic memory improves until what age?
60, then stabilizes
does emotional intelligence improve with age?
yes
with age, what occurs to implicit memory and crystallized intelligence?
they stabilize
crystallization intelligence (ability to retrieve general info)
what declines with age?
episodic memory, source memory, divided attention, an operational span in working memory, and processing speed
source monitoring errors
misidentifying the origins of our knowledge. also called source amnesia. source information is stored in our source memory
false memories
an invented or distorted recollection of an episodic event that did not actually happen. which and how many adult manifested memories of child abuse are truly recovered memories that had been previously repressed or dissociated and which and how many are false memories is a subject of great controversy
misinformation effect
when episodic memories become less accurate because post-event info works backward in time to distort the memory of the original event through retroactive interference
anterograde amnesia
loss of the ability to create new (anterograde) memories after the event that caused the amnesia, leading to a partial or complete inability to recall the recent past, while long-term memories from before the event remain intact
retrograde amnesia
loss of access to retrograde memories (events that occurred or info that was learned) before the onset of a disease
korsakoff’s syndrome
chronic memory disorder caused by a severe deficiency of thiamine (vitamin B1), most commonly caused by alcohol misuse
nonassociative learning
when an organism changes the magnitude of its response due to the repeated exposure to a particular stimulus
habituation
getting used to a repeated stimulus
dishabituation
occurs when an organism that had become habituated to a stimulus recovers its responsiveness bc of the removal of the stimulus and/or the experience of a different stimulus
sensitization
occurs when instead of exhibiting habituation, the organism demonstrates increasing responsiveness to a repeated stimulus; usually associated with increased arousal
classical conditioning (associative learning)
process in which 2 stimuli are. paired in such a way that the response to one of the stimuli changes. closely connected to the behaviorist perspective
Ivan Pavlov
described CC with famous dog experiment:
- ) Present dogs with food (unconditioned stimulus), they begin to salivate (unconditioned response) (
- present dogs with food along with bell (neutral stimulus), they still salivate in response to the food
- over time, the bell (conditioned stimulus), will produce salivation (conditioned response) even w/o food
- the neutral stimulus becomes the conditioned stimulus when it alone can elicit the conditioned response
generalization
occurs when stimuli other than the original conditioned stimulus elicit the conditioned response
discrimination
occurs when the conditioned stimulus is distinguished from other similar stimuli and is the only thing that elicits the conditioned response
operant conditioning (associative learning)
process in which reinforcement (pleasurable consequences) and punishment (unpleasant consequences) are employed to mold behavioral responses
operant conditioning: BF skinner, experiment?
invented the skinner box to test how animal behavior can be conditioned with reinforcement and punishment
reinforcement
anything that increases the likelihood of the desired behavior
punishment
anything that decreases the likelihood of the undesired behavior
Positive Reinforcement
ADDS something desirable to INCREASE likelihood of behavior happening again
ex: prize, money, food
Positive Punishment
ADDS something undesirable to DECREASE likelihood of behavior happening again
Negative Reinforcement
TAKES AWAY something undesirable to INCREASE the likelihood of behavior again
Negative Punishment
TAKES AWAY something desirable to DECREASE likelihood of behavior happening again
dopamine reward pathway
reward pathway begins in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and connects to the nucleus accumbens
rewards activate this pathway and lead to dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens
addictive drugs stimulate the release of dopamine in the NA
Primary reinforcement
something that is innately desirable
ex: food
Primary punishment
something that is innately undesirable
ex: pain
Secondary Reinforcement
something that has been conditioned to be desirable (had to learn the value)
ex: money, good grades
Secondary Punishment
something that has been conditioned to be undesirable (learned bad happening)
ex: bad grade, docked pay, losing a promotion
token economy
system in which behaviors are reinforced with tokens (secondary reinforcers) and can later be exchanged for desirable stimuli, such as playing time, screen time, or toys
variable ratio ***
provides reinforcement after an unpredictable number of behaviors
ex: gambling
produces the most durable behaviors
fixed ratio
provides reinforcement after a set number of behaviors
ex: every fifth sub free
variable interval
provides reinforcement after an inconsistent period of time
ex: fishing with a limit
fixed interval
provides reinforcement after a consistent period of time
ex: weekly allowance
continuous
the reinforcer is given after every single response
response rate: slow
extinction rate: fast
best way to teach a new behavior, but fastest rate of extinction
acquisition
describes the process in which the rate of the reinforced response increases
extinction
refers to the decrease in the rate of previously reinforced responses when reinforced ceases
extinction burst
increase in response rate that typically occurs when a previously reinforced response is initially no longer paired with any reinforcement; especially likely to occur when continuous reinforcement is removed abruptly, as demonstrated by what you do first when your remote does not respond
shaping
rewarding of successive, close approximations of the desired behavior
discriminative stimulus
the stimulus that increases responses when present because the subject has learned that this stimulus signals more likely reinforcement
insight learning
aha experience
process in which the solution to a problem suddenly comes to us in what might be described as a “flash of insight”
person: Wolfgang Kohler
latent learning
process in which learning occurs without any immediate expression or obvious reinforcement; later, when helpful, this learning demonstrates itself.
