Week 6 - Learning Flashcards
Definition of learning
acquisition of new information
Refers to the process by which experiences change our nervous system and our behavior
Stages of learning
LEARN
Stage 1: Echoic memory, sensory information
- information first processed through our senses
- < 1 second
Stage 2: short term memory, meaningful and salient information
- < 1 minute
- Can support via repitition or chunking (7 +/- 2 rule – you can remember 7 things plus or minus 2)
Stage 3: Long term memory
- consolidation: short term memories are converted into long term memories
- Can be retrieved across a lifetime
- increases retrieval (ie rehearsal) = strengthening of memory
- involves hippocampus
4 types of learning
Stimulus-response learning
motor learning
perceptual learning
observational learning
Stimulus-response learning
Perform behavior when stimulus is present, contains both:
classical conditioning (two stimuli repeatedly paired, think pavlov’s dogs)
- involves: amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus
Operant conditions (consequences get paired with action, learning over time)
- involves positive/negative reinforcement/punishment
- mesolimbic and mesocortical system support learning
- basal ganglia: takes over actions as “over learned motor behaviors”
- –> helpful for people with dementia, teach routines over and over again, don’t involve memory only processed by BG
Classical vs operant conditioning
Motor learning
Learning a skilled task and then practicing with a goal in mind until the skill is executed automatically
ex. sports
Moving an action from the conscious to unconscious –> BASAL GANGLIA
Perceptual Learning
when repeated exposure enhances the ability to discriminate between two (or more) otherwise confusable stimuli.
- Allows us to identify and categorize objects
- Prior experiences influence your perception of stimuli (Attribution Bias, Confirmation Bias)
Ex. first time you see a dog, you say oh a dog has 4 legs, anything with 4 legs is a dog. Then with repeated exposures, you narrow down that definition. You know a cat and dog have 4 legs, so find what is the difference between those two
Observational learning
AKA Social learning theory
Process of learning by watching the behaviors of Models –> ex. daughter watches mom put on lipstick, she puts on lipstick. How mom reacts (positively or negatively) will influence if daughter does that again
Occurs via operant coniditoning and vicarious conidtioning
–> vicarious: watching sister get in trouble, won’t do what she did
Modes: either prosocial models (prompts engagement in helpful and healthy ways) OR antisocial modeling (prompts others to engage in aggressive/unhealthy bx)
Observational learning: more likely to mimic models who…
positive perception (well liked, high status)
shared traits
stand out (mimic someone who stands out because they are creative, different, etc.)
Familiarity (want to be like someone who doesn’t stand out, going back to individuals they know, ex. abuse cycle)
Self-efficacy and mimicry: going to mimic things you can do (things that are in reach)
Observational learning: social media and videogames
Social media: braining psychology, trying to create the things above that you are more likely to mimic. The power of influencers; they have high status, they highlight their shared traits (just like you), etc.
Violence in videogames: people watch violent images, so you retain then and then produce them
Mirror neurons
type of brain cell that respond equally when we perform
an action and when we witness someone else perform the same action
Brain responds the same way to performing, witnesses, and hearing an action
Believed to enable:
- empathy
- skill building through mimicry
- Vicarious experience (experiencing something through others)
–> essential brain cells for social interactions! find low rates in psychopathy, and ASD
Is there evidence on different learning styles?
No evidence that learning styles exist, or the motzart effect
Evidence for:
- interlearning/spaced learning (every 45 minutes, cycle to new topic, etc.)
- writing rather than typing
- studying in natural light
- power nap (drink caffeine right before and after)
- Context-dependent learning (study where you will take the test)
Explicit vs implicit memory
Both are long term memory
Explicit: conscious, declarative memory (facts, events)
- broken into episodic memory and semantic memory
Implicit: unconscious, procedural memory (skills, tasks)
Procedural memory
Type of implicit memory
unconscious recall of how to perform an action or skill
* E.g., remembering how to ride a bike
Episodic memory
Type of explicit/declarative memory
involve context
Must be learned all at once e.g., where
you parked your car
Hippocampal Volume Loss & Mental Health
See correlation between loss and age with different disorders
