Week 1 Lecture 1 - Learning

Question 1

Are learning and memory interrelated?

Answer 1

Yes

Question 2

What is the total time hypothesis?

Answer 2

the amount learned is a function of the time spent learning

Question 3

What did Ebbinghaus study?

Answer 3

Studied memory and learning on himself

Question 4

True or false
In Ebbinghaus’ study of learning lists, he found that learning linearly related to amount of study?

Answer 4

True

Question 5

Does practice drive brain and structural plasticity?

Answer 5

Yes
Brain undergoes structural changes in response to learning or env. changes

Question 6

Give two examples of studies exploring changes in the brain due to expertise or new learning

Answer 6

1.) Posterior hippocampus consistently larger in London taxi drivers - size correlated significantly with time spent as a taxi driver

2.) Medical students brains scanned before, during and after exam season - increase grey matter volume in parietal cortex and in the posterior hippocampus. These changes remained even 3 months after studying

Question 7

What are the structural plasticity changes in the brain due to practice assumed to be?

Answer 7

Assumed to be part of a process that optimises learning

Question 8

Are structural brain changes perpetual?

Answer 8

Structural changes aren’t perpetual
Over time the brain renormalizes the volume in the regions enhance by practice
Some structural changes may be selected and others dropped

Question 9

Does simple repetition lead to learning?

Answer 9

No
Especially if the info is complex and not seen as useful

Question 10

What is distributed practice/ spacing effect?

Answer 10

• Distributed learning trails sparsely across period of time.
• Faster improvement rates of learning and less forgetting.

Question 11

What are some caveats of distributed learning?

Answer 11

• takes longer i.e. more actual days
• not always practical or convenient
• individuals may feel ‘less efficient’

Question 12

What are 3 theories as to why distributed learning works?

Answer 12

• Deficient processing
• Encoding variability
• Study phase retrieval

Question 13

What is deficient processing?

Answer 13

Less attention payed to recently encountered stimuli
After longer delay, stimuli attract more attention

Question 14

What is encoding variability?

Answer 14

Multiple encoding instances create richer associates
Variety of ways stimulus has been encoded

Question 15

What is study-phase retrieval?

Answer 15

Second presentation is a reminder of the previous occurrence
This act strengthens memory for the item
Bigger benefits when memory is not recent (more effortful)

Question 16

What is the lag effect?

Answer 16

Benefit of repeated study increases as long as lag between study occasions increases

Question 17

Which theory of distributed practiced did evidence from neuroimaging support?

Answer 17

Study-phase retrieval - retrieval of previous encounter was indicated by the replication of the same basic patterns in subsequent viewings of images

Question 18

What is the Testing effect/ Generation effect?

Answer 18

Shows that having to retrieve the answer leads to greater retention

Question 19

What did Korpicke and Roediger find?

Answer 19

The presence of tests had a major effect on what was remembered 1 week later

Question 20

Why is feedback important?

Answer 20

• Errors in recall when training may affect later recall unless corrective feedback is provided
• erroneous retrieval may be strengthened in memory

Question 21

When is feedback most beneficial?

Answer 21

both immediately or delayed

Question 22

What is the expanding retrieval method?

Answer 22

Uses both the spacing effect and testing effect
- spaced presentation enhances memory
- successfully generating items strengthens memory

Question 23

Motivation to learn makes learning more effective in which two ways?

Answer 23

• automatic way
• strategic way

Question 24

What is the automatic way of learning?

Answer 24

external or internal motives prior to exposure to stimuli improves memory even when time spent studying or strategies used are controlled

Question 25

What is the systematic way of learning?

Answer 25

People use deeper and more elaborate memorisation strategies for high value items

Question 26

How is curiosity linked to learning?

Answer 26

you are able to absorb more info from the environment when you are curious, even is the info is irrelevant

Question 27

What is Hebbian learning?

Answer 27

learning involves strengthening the connections of co-active neurons

Question 28

How are the connections of co-active neurons connected?

Answer 28

• neurons repeatedly excited in synchrony
• chemistry of synapse changes
• each one becomes more likely to have AP when the other does
• neurons that fire together, wire together