Test 1 Flashcards
Learning
The process if acquiring theough experience new and relatively enduring information or behaviours
Associative learning
Learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (as in classical) or a response and its consequence (as in operant)
Classical conditioning
Process includes pairing neutral stimulus with a response until neutral stimulus elicits same response.
A type of learning in which we link two or more stimuli
Created by Ivan Pavlov
Stimulus
Any event or situation that evokes a response
Respondant behaviour
Behaviour that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus
Operant conditioning
Type of learning in which a behaviour becomes more likely to reoccur if followed by a reinforcer or less likely to reoccur if followed by a punisher.
- give treat to dig for tricks
- cat in box accidentally oressed lever and lever opened door to food. Car put bscj in and when hungry, opens door on purpose.
Operant behaviour
Behaviour that operates on the environment, producing a consequence
Cognitive learning
Acquisition of mental information, whether by observibg events, by watching othwrs, or through language
Behaviourism
The view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behaviour without reference to mental processes.
- John Watson(founder): focused on envrionment and associated effects as key determinants of learning. (Little albert)
- Ivan Pavlov: classical conditioning
- Skinner: Operant conditioning
- Bandura: Social learning
Neutral stimuli
In classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning. Anything seen or heard that must not be associated with unconditioned response
Ex: A tone
Unconditioned response
In classical conditioning, unlearned, naturally occurring response (such as salivating) to an unconditioned stimulus such as food in mouth
Unconditioned stimulus
In classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally, naturally and automatically triggers a unconditioned response without prior learning
Aka food
Before conditioning and after conditioning Dog example
Before:
U.S=food in mouth causes U.R=Salivation
Trials:
N.S=Tone causes no salivation to start
After:
N.S(tone) +U.S(food)=U.R (salivation)
C.S. (Tone)=C.R.(salivation)
Conditioned response
In classical conditioning, a learned response to a previosuly neutral stimulus
Conditioned stimulus
In classical conditioning, an original neutral stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response
Acquisition
In classical conditioning, the inital stage-when one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response
-strongest conditioning occurs when CS is presented slightly before US, usally 1/2 second to a fee seconds
Higher-order conditioning
Procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paried with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned stimulus.
Ex: Tone=Food, theb learns light=tone=food so then light=food
Extinction
Gradual weakening and apparent disappearance of conditioned behaviour
-occurs when the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the hnconditioned stimulus
Spontaneous recovery
The reappearance after a pause of an extinguished conditioned response
Generalization
The tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses. (In operant-responses learned in one situation occur in other situations)
Ex: salavate to sinilar tones with 1000hz
Discrimination
In classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between conditioned stimulus and similar stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimuli (in operant, ability to distinguish responses that are reinforced from similar responses that are not reinforced)
Occurrence of a learned response to a soecific stimulus but not to other, sinular stimuli. Ex: CS (Bell), dog wint salivate to a whistle
Law of effect
Thordikes principle that behaviours followed by favourable consequences become more likely and that behaviours followed by unfavourable consequences become less likley
Operant chamber
Chamber containing a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer; attached devices record the animals rate of bar pressing or key pecking (skinner box)
Reinforcement
Any event that strengthens the behaviour if follows
Shaping
An operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behaviour toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behaviour
Positive reinforcement
Increasing behaviours by presenting a pleasurable stimulus. A postive reinforcer is any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response. (+)
Negative reinforcement
Increasing behaviours by stopping or reducing an aversive stimulus. When removed after a response, strengthens the response (-)
Ex: beeling stops when you put on seatbelt.
Primary reinforcers
Secondary reinforcers
An innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisifes a bioligical need
Ex: Food or water
Stimulus or event that has acquied reinforcing value by being associated with a promary reinforcer.
EX: money, awards, freqent flyer points
Conditioned reinforcers
A stimulus that gains its reinforcing power, through its association with a primary reinforcer.
Reinforcement schedules
A pattern that defines how often a desired response will be reinforced.
Continuous reinforcement
Reinforcing the desired response everytime it occurs
Partial (intermittent) reinforcement schedules
Reinforcing a response only part of the time; results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater resisitence to extinction than continous.
(More common in real world)
Fixed ratio schedule
A reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses
Ex: paid by the completion a task, money for doing chores, buy 3 coffess and get 4th free cards
- often yields better rates than fixed interval
- appears with short pauses in responding after reinforcement provided
Variable ratio schedule
A reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after an unpredictavle number of responses, which varies unpredictably frim trial to trial
Ex: slot machine, kinder egg prizes
Most powerful
-responding occurs at a high, strady rate
Fixed interval schedule
Reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed
Ex: Paycheck, report cards, weekend, exam study
(long pauses in responding after reinforcement is provided)
Variable interval schedule
Reinforement schedule that reinforces a response after an average time interval, which varies unpredictably frim trial to trial.
Ex: pop quiz, donuts at work, dont know when supervisor is doing checks
Causes straught line and more consistent response than fixed-interval
Punishment
An event that tends to decrease the behaviour that it follows
Two types: positive and negative punishement
Preparedness
A biological predisposition to learb associations, such as between taste abd nausea, that have survival value
Instinctive drift
Tendency of learned behaviour to gradually revert to biologically predisposed patterns
Cognitive map
A mental representation of the latout of ones environment. For example: after exploring a maze, rars act as if they hsve kearned a cognigive map of it
Latent learning
Learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it
Ex: bus everyday, then drive that route. Make a few mistakes first time but know lots already.
Observational learning
Learning by observing others
Modelling
The process of observing and imitating a specific behaviour
-more likely to imitate actions of attractive, high status models similar yo ourselves
Mirror neurons
Frontal lobe neurons that some scientists believe fire when we perform certain actions or observe another doing so. The brains mirroring of anothers actions may enable imitation and empathy
Prosocial behaviours
Positive, constructive, helpful behaviour
Memory
The persistence of learning over time through the encoding, sotage and retrieval of information
Recall
A measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as in a fill-in-the-blank test
-test of long term memory that involves retaining memory without cues
Recognition
Measure of memory in which the person identifies items previously learned, as in multiple choice tests
Test of long term memory that involves identifying correct info from a series of possible choices (MC)
Relearning
A measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material again
Encoding
The process of getting information into the memory system-by extracting meaning for example
Storage
Reatining info
Retrieval
Getting info back out from storage
Parallel processing
Processing many aspects of a stimulus or problem simultaneously
Sensory memory
Immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system
- envrionmental information is registered
- large capacity for information
- 1/4-3 second duration
Short term memory
Briefly activated memory of a few items(such as digits of a phone number) thats later stored or forgotten
- limited capacity
- 20 second duration
- can be retained longer through maintenance rehearsal
- mental or verbal repetition of information
- information loss may be due to decay or interference from new or competing information
Long term memory
Relatively permanent and limitless archive of the memory system. Includes knowlegde, skills and experience
- unlimited capacity
- potentially permanent duration
- involves quick retrieval with little effort
Working memory
A newer understanding of short-term memory; conscious, active processing of both incoming sensory information and information retrieved from long term memory
Explicit memory
Retention of facts and experiences that we can consciously know and “declare”
Effortful processing
Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort
Automatic processessing
Unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time and frequency, and of familiar or well-learned information, such as sounds, smells and word meanings.
Implicit memories
Retention of leanted skills or classically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection.
Iconic memory
A momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second
Also called visual sensory memory
Echoic memory
A momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3-4 seconds
Chunking
Organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically
Mnemonics
Memory aids; especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices
Spacing effect
Tendency for distributed study or pracitce to yield better long-term retention that is acheived through massed study or prsctice
Testing effect
Enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading information
Shallow processing
Encoding on a basis level, based on the structure or appearance of words
Deep processing
Encoding semantically, based on the mesning of the words; tends to yield the best retention
Semantic
Explicit memory of facts and general knowledge; one of our teo conscious memory systems
Episodic
Explicit memory of personally experienced events; one of our two conscious memory systems (women better)
Memory consolidation
Neural storage of a long-term memory
Flashbulb memory
A clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event
- vivid
- very specific details or images
Both flashbulb and everyday memories gradually decay over time. Flashbulb memories are emotionally charged, but are not necessarily more accurate than common memories
Long-term potentiation
An increase in a nerve cell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; a neural basis for learning and memory
Infantile amnesia caused by
Explicit memory indexed by language and hippocampus not fully developed yet
Priming
Activation, iften unconsciously of particular associations in memory
Ex: after hearing “rabbit” and then asked to spell “hair” more people write “Hare”
Encoding specificity principle
Idea that cues and contexts specific to a particular memory will be most effective in helping us recall it.
Memory processing tree
- Automatic
- implicit (without conscious recall)
- processed in cerebellum and basal ganglia
- space, time, frequency/motor+cognitive skills/classicsl conditioning - Effortful
- explicit memories (with conscious recall)
- processed in hippocampus and frontal lobe
- semantic(facts)/episodic(events)
Mood congruent
Tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with ones current good or bad mood
Serial position effect
Our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list
In a graph is shaped like a U
Anterograde amnesia
An inability to form/ store new memories
- related to hippocampus damage
- H.M Case
- E.P. Case- documentary where participant could not remember that he met with researchers 200 times
Retrograde amnesia
An inability to remember information from ones past
- loss if memory, especially for episodic information
- common after head injury; interrupted consolidaion (less REM means less memory so as you age, less memory)
Proactive interference
The forward-acting disruptive effect of older learning on the recall of new information
Ex: new combination lock disrupted by memory of old one
Retroactive interference
Backward acting disruptive effect of newer learning on the recall of old information.
Ex: new lyrics to old song make you forget original
Repression
In psychoanalytic theory, the basic mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings and memories
Reconsolidation
A process in which previously stored memories, when retrieved, are potentially altered before being sotred again.
Misinformation effect
Occurs when a memory had been corrupted by misleading information
Source amnesia
Faulty memory of how, when, or where information was learned or imagined
Déjà vu
The eerie sense that you’ve experienced something before. Cues from current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience
Intelligence
Ability to learn from experiences, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations
General intelligence (G)
According to spearman and others, underlies all mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence tedt
-persons overall performance on tests of mental ability
Fluid Intelligence (GF)
Our ability to reason sleedily and abstractly; tends to decrease with age, especially during late adulthood
Crystallized Intelligence (GC)
Our accumulated knowledge snd verball skills; tends to increase with age
Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory:
The theory that our intelligence is based on G as well as sepcufuc abilities, brudged by GF and GC
Gardners 8 intelligences
Naturalist, linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, kinesthetic, intrapersonal, interpersonal
Savant sydrome
A condition which a person otherwise limitied in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as in computation or drawing
Emotional intelligence
Ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions
Intelligence test
Method for assessing an individuals mental aptitudes and comparing then with those of others, using numerical scores
Achievement tests
A tedt designed to assess what a person has learned
Apritude tests
A test deigned to predict a persons future performance
Mental Age
A measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the level of performance typically associated with children of a certain chronilogical age. Thus, a chuld who does as well as an avergae 8 yr ild, is said to have the mental age 8.
Stanford Binet
The widely used Amerucab revision of Binet’s original intelligence test
Intelligence quotient
Defined originally as the ratio of mental (ma) to chronoligical age (ca) multiplied by 100. On contemporary tests, the average performance for a given age is assigned as a score of 100.
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
Most widely used intelligence tests; contain verbal and performance (nonverbal) subtests.
Standardization
Defining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group
Normal curve
The bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes. Most scores fall neat the average, and fewer and fewer scores lie nesr the extremes
Reliability
The extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, and alternative form of the test, or on retesting.
Validity
The extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to
Predictive validity
The sucess with which a test predicts the behaviour it is designed to predict; it is assessed by computing the correlation between test scores and the criterian behaviour
Cohort
A group of people sharing a common characterisitc, such as being from a given time period
Cross-sectional study
Research that compares people of different ages at the same time
Longitudional studies
Research that follows and retests the same people overtime.
Conditioning
Process of learning associations between environmental events and behavoural responses. -learning that 2 stimuli go together
Ex: music from scary movie elicits anxiety, commercials use sexy models to sell product
Ivan Pavlov
Nobel prize for reasearch on digestive system
-ovserved dogs salivating at first sight of food bowl. This is not an automoatic behabiour but a learned one.
Classical conditioning steps in Dog example
- Presenting food causes salivatiry reflex (natural reflex)
- Bell is neutral stimuli (does not case reflex)
- Conditiojing trials: start of learning
- neutral stimuli presented along with unconditioned stimulus
- dog begins to associate food(UCS) and tone (NS) - Critical trials: association learned
- Cs (tone) without food makes dog salivate (CR)
Classical conditioning water in face Example
- Spray water in face causes blinking (UR)
- water=US. Blink=UR
- Read list of words and everytime you say “can” spray water
- Can=NS
- “Can”=Blink
- Can=CS
- Blink=CR
Classical conditioning examples
- Ate lots of dressing when sick, noe feel suck when eating dressing
- UCS=virus
- UCR=Sick
- NS=Dressing
- CS=dressing
- CR=Sick - Associate computer noise with bad breath and eating mint
- Feel groggy and anxious when yoy wake up, now a soecific alarn sound makes you feel groggy at different times of the day.
We learn fear response through what type of conditioning
Classical
Counter conditioning
Expressing subject to phobia during an enjoyable task
-systematic desensitization: type of counter confitioning involving exposure to feared stimulus while relaxing
CS—->CR1 (fear) connection replaced with CS—->CR2(relaxation) connection
B.F Skinners learning theory based on thorndikes law of effect
-animals operate on environments to produce effects.
-reinforcer: stimulus occurs after response and increases likelihood of responde reoccuring.
-consequences determine likelihoof of behaviour in future
Ex: Rat in box with lever food food. Rat accidnetally hut kever and gets food, and then repeats to get food. Later the box floor gives shock when lever is hit and so rats lessen their want for food. If no food comes when rats hit bar, rat stops hitting bar.
Positive punishemnt
A situation in which an operant is followed by presenting or an addition of an aversice stimulus
Ex: Spanking
Negative Punishemnt
(Punishment by removal) a situation in which an operant is followed by the removal or subtraction of a reinforcing stimulus.
Ex: Time out
4 types of partial reinforcement scheduels by skinner
- Fixed-Interval
- Variavle-interval
- Fixed-ratio
- variable-ratio
How operant conditioning affects our lives
- clinical psychology: dealing with outer productivr behaviours
- sports training: aiding performance
- education and working with studetns to imrove grades and study habits
Dopamine activity affects reinforcement
- dopamine has a biological influence on reinforcing value
- drugs that block dopamine effects disrupt operant conditioning (less reward feeling)
- drugs that enhance dopamine activation increase reinforcing value of stimuli
Tolman
Cognitive processes play an important role in complex behaviour learning
- cognitive map
- latent learning
Latent learning Rat example
-Ran rats through complex maze to obtain food
Group 1: reinforcement every trial (mistakes decrease fast)
Group 2: no reinforcement (stop learning, just random)
Group 3: reinforcment only after first 10 trials (no learning till 11th day- but through latent learning rats did know some things already)- learning is a sharp increase and mistakes decrease greatly.
Behaviours we learn by watching others
-mechanical skills, social skills, situational anxiety, politics and religion
Social cognitive approach to learning by albert babdura
Bobodoll example
- model adult beats up and verbally abuses a doll in front of kids.
- kids then do the same to the doll.
- exposure to aggressive modeilling causes aggressivness and even more attraction to guns regardles if guns were in modelling
Same in boys and girls
Imitative vs emulative learning example
Nagel et al, study on a 2 year old child and monkey.
- both shown model retrieving a ball using a rake in either rake up (morr effrctive) or rake down (less effective way)
- monkey used emulative learning and found out teeth up was best
- child immitated adult and did whatever adult did even if less effective
Why are humans smarter than monekys
Humans pass down learning instead of figuring it all out on own. Leads to cumulative knowledge to build skills over time
Imitative and emulativr learning characteristics
Imitative:
- imitates models goals and behavoural strategies
- learners over-imitate models
- focus on fulfiling goal of the model
Emulative:
- learner, alone tries to figure out how an object affects envrionment
- focus on how to manipulate an object to change the environment
3 processes of memory
Encoding: transforming information into a form that can be entered into sn retained by the memort system
Storage: retaining information in memory that can be used at later times
Retrieval: recovering stored infirmatikn for conscious awareness
Attention
Focussing mental resources on information, allows further processing for perception, memory and response
Auditory attention
Selective listening studies examine what we do with auditory information that is not attended to.
Ex: head phone with two messages on either side, participant can inly rely info from one side
Filler theory
Attempts to explain how we selectively attend to the most important information
Change blindess
An individuals failure to notice large visual changes in the environemnt
Ex: door study caused 50% to not realize= no encoding into memory
Memory consists of 3 distinct types
Sensory
Short term
Long term
Memory types processing phases
Sensory memories can become short term when given attention.
Short term memories can be encoded and stored in long term memory.
Long term memory can be retrieved back into short term memory
George miller capacity study
The magical number 7, plus or minus 2.
(5-9 digits)
-can be increased by chunking, maintence and rehearsal to encode
-current research suggests that the true number is 4, plus or minus 1 when chunking/ regearsal is not an option
Alan Baddeleys model of working memory
Working memory refers to the active, conscious manipulation of temporarily stired information with 3 main components, each of which can function independently. Used in complex cognitive tasks for which information is needed such as reasoning, learning and problem solving.
- visuospatial sketchpad
- long-term memory
- pronological loop (maintenance rehearsal)
All lead to Exectutive functioning (making decisions)
-
Strategies for enocoding
Elaborate rehearsal: focussing on meaning of information
Self-reference effrct: aoplying inormation to self
Visual imagery: using vivid images to enhance encoding
Types of information stored in long term memory
Procedural memory: how to perform different skills and actions (cerebellum)
Epsidoidc memory: memory of specific events or episodes
Semantic memory: general knowledge
Organization of information in long term memory
- mental links between concepts
- shorter path between two concepts=stronger association in memory
- concept is activated in the semantic network
Ex: red acitvates blue and apple and fire truck
-useful as metaphor but not an actual brain structure
Clustering
Related itsms are clustered together to form higher order categories in long term memory.
Cued-recall
Test of LTM that involves remebering an item of info in response to a retrival cue
Forgetting curve
Hermann Ebbinghaus
- studied memory using nonesense syllables
- much of what we forget is lost relatively soon after we originally learned it
- how quickly we forget depends on how well we encoded it, how meaningful it was, and how often it was rehearsed.
-we forget very quick and very soon
Primacy effect
Recency effect
Tendency to recall the first items in a list - reflects long term storage (tend to repeat first few things)
Tendency to recall the final items in a list- reflects short term memory (fresh in short term)
Context effect
Tendency to remember info more easily when the retrieval occurs in the same setting in whicg you originally learned it
Imperfect memories
Memories can easily be distorted so that they contain insccuracies.
False memories
A distorted or fabricated recollection of something that did not actually occur
Schemas
Organize clusters of knowledge and informatuon about particular topics
Ex: schema of prof office includes paper, pencils, deak, conputer etc.
-when participants spent time in prof office and then asked questions about what was in the room, many flasely remembered due to schemas.
Car accudent speed example
People asked how fast an accident was after asked a differently worded question.
“What speed were the cars going when the cars _____”
-hit, smashed, collided, contacted
People said fastest speed for smashed abd slowest for contacted
When people are given misleading information, this information affects their ______ of the event
Memory
Eyewitness accounts are often___
Falsely remembered or mislead.
Ex: if you ask peoppe to pick the convict from a lineup of random other people, people will still chose one and then that person can become the convict in their mind for the future.
-recognition memory is very quick so if a person spends time searching through faces of their perpetrator then they do not see them there or do not have enough memory.
Imagination inflation
Memory phenomenon in which vividally imagining an event markedly increases confidence that the event actually occurred.
Lost in the mall technique
Creating or inducing false menories of childhood experiences
-info from family members is used
Prefrontal cortext in memory
Memory involving the sequence of events, but not the events themselves
Hippocampus in memory
Encodes and transfers new explicit (events, facts) memories to long term memory
Amygdala in memory
Encoded emotional aspects of memories
Medial temporal lobe in memories
Encodes and transfers new explicit memories to long term memory (non visual)
Cerebellum in memory
Memories involving movement
10 steps to boost memory
Commit necessary time Organize information Elaborate on material Explain it to friend Use visual imagery Reduce interference within topic Counteract the serial position effect Use contexual cues to jog memory Use mnemonic decide for lists Sleep on it to consolidate memories
Francis Galton
In 1800’s beleived that intelligence was related to how well one uses ones senses.
- ones sensitivities to perceptual differences
- weight discrimination
- pitch sensitivity
-no relationship found later on
Testing immigrants at ellis island
1917, examiner administered a mental test to newly arrived immigrants, vast manority was labelled feeble minded because the test wasnt in their language.
-used to argue against immigrants
WW1 and group intelligence testing
Army needed to develop mass testing option for millions of recruits
- two versions, first in 1917
- army alpha test administered in writing
- army beta test administered orally to those who couldnt read or spoke a foreign langauge
Who came up with crystallized and fluid intelligence
Raymond Cattell (1971)
Multiple intelligences
Howard gardner (1983)
- mental abilities as independent of each other and cannot be accurately reflected in single measure of intelligence
- created 8 intelligence groups with a 9th being existentual intelligence
Triarchic theory of intelligence
Robert Sternberg
- Analytic: learnjng how to solve problems
- Creative: abolity to deal with novel situations
- Practical: ability to adapt to the environment; street smarts
Lewis terman
Created standford-binet test and IQ scores
In a normal bell curve…
- average?
- 95%
- 99th percentile
85-115 68%
70-130
0.1% or above 150
Intellectual disability
A condition in which an individual has an IQ if 70 or lower
-difficulty functioning in conceptual skills like language and understanding time, social skills and practical skills such as hygiene
Intellectual giftedness
A condition in which individuals have an IQ of 130 or higher
- possess exceptional abilities in areas related to intelligence, language, math
- exhibit high functioning
