Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Learning & Memory > Task 4 - Conditioning > Flashcards

Task 4 - Conditioning Flashcards

1
Q

Name the four basic terms in classical conditioning

A

US -> Unconditioned stimulus
CS -> Conditioned stimulus
UR -> Natural / Unconditioned response to the US
CR -> Conditioned response

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Appetitive Conditioning

A

Conditioning where the US is a positive event

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Aversive Conditioning

A

Conditioning where the US is a negative event

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What are the CS, US, UR and CR in the “eye-blink paradigm”?

A

CS: Tone
US: Air puff
UR: blinking
CR: Eyeblink (in response to tone)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What are conditioned compensatory responses and why do they occur?

A
  • > They are learnt responses in anticipation of a certain stimulus, which will decrease the stimulus’ effect.
  • > They occur because our bodies want to maintain homeostasis.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What are US-modulatory theories?

A

Conditioning theories that say that how a stimulus is associated with an US (through conditioning) is determined by the resulting change in how the US is processed

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What are CS-modulatory theories?

A

They focus more on the attentional aspect. The way attention is given to different CS’s determines which one of them becomes more associated with the US.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Name one popular case for each of the types of modulatory theories.

A
  • US-modulatory: Rescorla-Wagner-Model

- CS- modulatory: Mackintosh’s Limited processing capacity

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What does Mackintosh say with his theory about “limited processing capacity”?

A

He says that paying attention to one stimulus will decrease the attention we can give to another one. If we give attention to a certain stimulus is determined by this stimulus’s previous success in predicting the US.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Name the core assumptions of the Rescorla-Wagner Model.

A
  • A cue has a certain weight, that predicts the US

- Learning corresponds to an increase in cue weight and a corresponding reduction in prediction error

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What is a prediction error and what are its consequences?

A
  • > Falsely anticipating the US after experiencing the CS

- > Reduces the cue weight of the CS

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What are the weaknesses of the Rescorla-Wagner Model?

A
  • Can’t explain latent inhibition
  • Can’t describe how attention is modulated during learning
  • Doesn’t account for the influence of the Hippocampus
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What is latent inhibition?

A

If a cue has been presented without predicting anything for multiple times, learning about a CS-US connection with this particular CS is inhibited
- The Hippocampus is necessary for this.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

How can the prediction error be calculated mathematically?

A

Actual US - expected US

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

How can the increase in predictive value / cue weight be calculated mathematically?

A

Learning rate * prediction error

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Over multiple learning trials in the Rescorla Wagner Model, how can we estimate the next prediction error?

A

First prediction error - IPV / increase in cue weight

17
Q

What is the concept of blocking?

A

Once an association is fully learned, adding another stimulus to the US will not result in this stimulus being used as a predictive CS for the US.
If the second cue however is added during the learning process, learning is accelerated.

18
Q

What is the experiment called, that showed how learning is cut in half if one stimulus of a compound cue is removed?

A

Kamin’s blocking paradigm

19
Q

What is overshadowing?

A

When one cue in a compound cue is more salient than the other and takes up more of the cue weight.

20
Q

Explain positive and negative error

A

Positive: US is stronger than expected -> increase in association
Negative: US is weaker than expected -> decrease in association

21
Q

What is the Cerebellum for when it comes to learning?

A

It is responsible for learnt / conditioned responses.

22
Q

One folia (fold of the Cerebellum) contains…

A
  • Molecular layer
  • Purkinje Layer
  • Granular Layer
  • White Matter
23
Q

What are key characteristics of the Purkinje Cell?

A
  • 2 dimensional
  • connected via parallel mossy fibers and climbing fibers
  • Gives the learned output
  • Its output is a strong inhibitory pulse to the nucleus interpositus
  • the Purkinje cell gets inhibited by CS-input
24
Q

Explain how the Purkinje cell is connected via climbing and mossy fibers

A

Mossy fibers:

  • parallel
  • CS comes through here
  • small input but many synapses

Climbing Fibers:

  • US comes through here
  • One climbing Fiber per Purkinje cell
  • one climbing Fiber can be connected to up to 3 Purkinje cells
25
Q

How is the nucleus interpositus connected and what is its function?

A
  • Gives inhibitory output to the inferior olives
  • Gives excitatory output to the corresponding motor areas, resulting in a CR
  • Is by default inhibited by the Purkinje cells
26
Q

Describe the pathway that a CS in the brain takes

A
  1. Pontine Nucleus (Brainstem)
  2. Nucleus Interpositus directly, or Granule Cell
  3. Parallel Fibers
  4. Purkinje Cell
    (5. Interpositus Nucleus)
27
Q

Describe the pathway of the US in the brain.

A
  1. Inferior Olives (brainstem)
  2. Interpositus Nucleus directly, or Climbing Fibers
  3. Purkinje Cell
    (4. Interpositus Nucleus)
28
Q

The Cerebellum has a …

A

somatotopic map

29
Q

How does the sculpturing analogy apply to learning in the Cerebellum?

A

The climbing fibers convey an error signal to the purkinje cell. The stronger the input from climbing fibers, the more the purkinje cell will get inhibited in the future, through LTD. Since the Purkinje cell inhibits the Nucleus Interpositus, inhibiting the purkinje cell will result in a “double-minus” and thus the Nucleus Interpositus will be less inhibited.
-> Learning in the Cerebellum works by carving away unwanted responses at the synapse of climbing Fiber, mossy Fiber and Purkinje cell.

30
Q

How does the LTD process in the Purkinje cell work?

A

When activated through the parallel fibers, PKC will be produced in the Purkinje cell, which labels the AMPA receptors, that are also active during excitation.

When now an US excites the synapse with the climbing Fiber, Calcium flows into the Purkinje cell.

This is where LTD happens: Calcium binds with Calmodulin and activates PKC, which will result in AMPA receptors being internalized.

Now not only is the number of excitatory receptors decreased, but it is even outnumbered by metabotropic receptors, which hyperpolarize the Purkinje cell, inhibiting it even more.

31
Q

What happens during extinction?

A

A CR to a CS is shown less frequently due to repeated prediction errors.
It has been shown that extinction is more like learning a new connection (CS -> No US) than unlearning the old association (CS -> US)

32
Q

What is the principle of rapid reacquisition?

A

Even if a response is said to be extinct, it is still relearned more quickly than initial learning of another response.

33
Q

What could be a reason for that so many people overdose in hotel rooms?

A

The environment you’re in when taking a drug can serve as CS for your body to prepare for the intake by releasing hormones that help break down the drug. If this CS is not given (a new environment), the body will not be prepared for the incoming drug.

34
Q

How can latent inhibition be related to addiction?

A

If a CS has been experienced many times, but without a following intake of the drug, this can lead us to associating the drug and the stimulus more slowly.

35
Q

How can conditioning be used in clinical applications?

A

Use of placebo - when all the CS’s of taking a medicine are given (the environment, the timing, the looks and taste of the medicine, the form of intake etc.), but it is actually a placebo, the body will not know this at first and present the conditioned response.

36
Q

Which effect has activation of the Interpositus on the US-Pathway?

A

The US-Pathway gets inhibited -> Tolerance

37
Q

What happens, when there is a lesion in the Cerebellum?

A
  • It prevents the acquisition of new conditioned responses and abolishes previously learned ones
38
Q

The Interpositus by default inhibits the inferior olives (US). Why do we still have a strong eye-blink reflex in response to an air-puff?

A

Because this system in the Cerebellum is only responsible for learned/conditioned responses and not natural responses (UR’s).

Learning & Memory (9 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions