Learning and Memory (3)

Habituation

the process of becoming used to a stimulus.

Dishabituation

can occur when a second stimulus intervenes, causing a resensitization to the original stimulus.

Associative learning

a way of pairing together stimuli and responses, or behaviors and consequences.

Classical conditioning

an unconditioned stimulus that produces an instinctive, unconditioned response is paired with a neutral stimulus. With repetition, the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus that produces a conditioned response.

Operant conditioning

behavior is changed through the use of consequences.

Reinforcement

increases the likelihood of a behavior.

Punishment

decreases the likelihood of a behavior.

Schedule

The _________ of reinforcement affects the rate at which the behavior is performed. These can be based either on a ratio of behavior to reward or on an amount of time, and can be either fixed or variable.

Variable-ratio

Behaviors learned through _________ schedules are the hardest to extinguish.

Observational learning (modeling)

is the acquisition of behavior by watching others.

Encoding

the process of putting new information into memory. It can be automatic or effortful.

Semantic encoding

is stronger than both acoustic and visual encoding.

Sensory; short-term

_________ and _________ memory are transient and are based on neurotransmitter activity.

Working memory

requires short-term memory, attention, and executive function to manipulate information.

Long-term memory

requires elaborative rehearsal and is the result of increased neuronal connectivity.

Explicit (declarative) memory

stores facts and stories.

Implicit (non-declarative) memory

stores skills and conditioning effects.

Semantic networks

Facts are stored via ___________.

Recognition; recall

___________ of information is stronger than __________.

Retrieval; priming

________ of information is often based on ________ interconnected nodes of the
semantic network.

Memories

can be lost through disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Korsakoff's syndrome, or agnosia; decay; or interference. They are also highly subject to influence by outside information and mood both at the time of encoding and at recall.

Neuroplasticity

Both learning and memory rely on changes in brain chemistry and physiology, the extent of which depends on _________, which decreases as we age.

Long-term potentiation

is responsible for the conversion of short-term to long-term memory and is the strengthening of neuronal connections resulting from increased neurotransmitter release and adding of receptor sites.