psych 1 final

learning

an enduring change in behavior or neural representation resulting from experience

what neural circuits are capable of learning

(nearly) all

memory

the nervous system’s capacity to retain and retrieve skills and knowledge

what are the three types of learning

associative, nonassociative, and observational

nonassociative learning

learning about a stimulus in the external world

non associative learning includes

sensitization, habituation, priming, and sensory plasticity

habituation

when our behavioral response to a stimulus decreases

sensitization

when our behavioral response to a stimulus increases

learning effect

facet of priming. long-term effects of object exposure.

savings method

facet of priming. faster recognition on re-exposure

perceptual learning

happens rapidly. can last years

sensitive/critical periods

times of development when certain skills can be easily learned

sensorimotor plasticity

experience shapes brain topography. learning requires both biological preparedness and experience.

ex) if kittens are only exposed to vertical lines, they’ll never be able to see lines of other orientations

how does learning relate to agency

learning is dependent upon agency. passive exposure is not enough.

masking

presentation of a stimulus to the brain without conscious awareness. an example of priming

backwards masking

presentation of a complex stimulus after another stimulus

metacontrast masking

presentation of a complex stimulus surrounding another stimulus

sensory plasticity in adults

requires a lot of experience and focused attention

very specific — does not transfer across tasks

needs reward, adaptive difficulty, many sessions, and sleep consolidation

importance of sleep for learning

hippocampus: important for memory, spatial learning, pattern recognition

during sleep, neuronal assemblies that have been recently challenged are reactivated

synaptic pruning and strengthening relevant synapses

importance of exercise and enrichment for learning

increases neurogenesis in the hippocampus

this reduces risk of Alzheimers

volume in the hippocampus is correlated with aerobic capacity and improved spatial memory

associative learning

relationship between two pieces of learning

associative learning includes

classical conditioning, operant conditioning, generalization, shaping

classical conditioning

when we learn that one stimulus predicts another stimulus

pavlov’s dog

unconditioned stimulus: food just out of reach

conditioned stimulus: bell

collect saliva

conditioning

presenting a neutral stimulus usually before an unconditioned stimulus

CS+

conditioned stimulus that is reinforced (punished or rewarded)

CS-

conditioned stimulus that is not reinforced

long-term potentiation

neurons that fire together, wire together

where does the association between the CS and the US form

amygdala

slow learning

requires temporal contiguity between US and CS

fast and flexible learning

conceptual: depends on what u think and expect

blocking

if u condition a paring between one CS and US, adding another neutral stimulus will not pair the new neutral stimulus with the US. this happens bc conditioning is about information. the neutral stimulus provides no new information

predictive control

the purpose of the CR. allows the animal to predict a threat and respond in advance.

operant conditioning

when we learn that a behavior leads to a certain outcome

positive reinforcement

adds something

negative reinforcement

takes something away

which is more effective: reinforcement or punishment?

reinforcement

which is more effective: variable or fixed interval schedule

variable is more durable

why is punishment ineffective

misattribution

shaping

facet of operant learning. rewarding progressively better approximations of a desired behavior

Rescorla-Wagner model

learning is driven by prediction errors: the more surprising the better

PE = r - V

prediction error = reward - expected value. the prediction error is the actual reward minus how much u expected it to be. the difference between the two.

𝑉 (𝑡 + 1) = 𝑉( 𝑡 )+ 𝛼(𝑟 − 𝑉 𝑡 )

the actual reward = the expected reward + how fast you learn * (prediction error)

how is dopamine related to prediction errors

before conditioning: dopamine responds to unexpected reward

after learning: dopamine responds to CS but not reward

wanting vs liking

wanting is dopamine system

liking is opiod system

extinction

when the CR is weakened when the CS is repeated without the US

spontaneous recovery

when the previously extinguished CR re-emerged after the presentation of the CS. temporary unless the CS is again paired with the US

ratio schedule

occurs based on number of responses

interval schedule

occurs based on the passage of time

how is extincn related to context

the prefrontal cortex tells the amygdala when the CS is relevant