OP Summer Psychology - Week 2 Notes

Resting Potential

-70mV, distribution of ions

Threshold of excitation

-55mV, voltage gated sodium channels open to fire an impulse (aka action potential)

Chanel closing

+40mV

Depolarization - What potential is being released and what ion moves in/out?

EPSP, sodium channels open and Na+ moves into the neuron

Hyperpolarization - What potential is being released and what ion moves in/out?

IPSP: potassium channels open and K+ moves out of the neuron

Why does Na+ move in?

Na+ moves from high to low concentration when channel opens because inside the axon, it is a negative environment

Why does K+ move out?

K+ moves outside because all the Na+ ions have got in (and now the interior has gone in) and so K+ would move outside the axon because it moves from high to low concentration

Sodium potassium pump

This is when the graph reaches rest. It pumps K+ inside and Na+ pumps outside (to restore distribution)

If a neuron goes from -70mV to -73mV, is it:

a. EPSP

b. IPSP

c. Need more information

d. None of the above

b. IPSPs are negative and so if mV geos down, that means it is caused by the negative inhibitor

Learning

acquiring knowledge, permanent change for the learner

Habituation

repeated exposure of a stimulus, your response declines over time (you get used to it)

Sensitization

a form of learning that leads to an increase response of a later stimulus

Example: a person has a traumatic event, they used to not react to the environment at all but now they have a heightened reaction

Classical conditioning (Ivan Pavlov)

you pair a neutral stimulus with a natural trigger. over time the neutral stimulus brings forth an automatic reaction (Ivan Pavlov studying dogs & bells w/ food)

Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

a trigger that naturally causes a reflex (like food making you hungry)

Unconditioned Response

a natural and automatic reaction to the UCS (like drooling from food)

Neutral stimulus

a sign that causes no reflex at first (like a bell)

Conditioned stimulus (CS)

the old neutral sign after it links to the UCS, now causing a reaction on its own

Conditioned response (CR)

the learned reaction to the new CS

Acquisition

first phase of learning or conditioning when a person first establishes a new behavior or response

(a neutral trigger links to an unconditioned trigger until the brain recognizes the pattern and forms the new habit)

Extinction

a learned response stops because the signal is shown without the main trigger (Example: a bell rings over and over but no food comes. The dog stops salivating at the sound of the bell)

Spontaneous recovery

a learned behavior recovering from extinction after a rest period

Generalization

the tendency to respond to new, similar stimuli or situations the same way we learned to respond to the original one

Discrimination

the ability to tell the difference between various stimuli and respond only to a specific one

Operant Conditioning

type of learning that voluntary behavior is shaped by its consequences (actions are followed by rewards and punishments)

Law of effect

behaviors that tend to be repeated are those that are rewarded and behaviors that aren’t likely to repeat are due to negative consequences

Operant Behavior

behavior that an organism produces has some impact on the environment

Positive reinforcement

adding a stimulus to continue the behavior

Mom gives cookie to a girl who is doing what the mother wants (desired stimulus) so the girl does it again 

Negative reinforcement

adding a stimulus to continue the behavior

The parent is nagging and only stops when the child leans the messy room (removing the stimulus when the child cleans their room)

Positive punishment

Decreases behavior by adding a negative stimulus (like adding a bad saying)

toddler throws toys and father yell “Stop it” (adding a negative stimulus when the child yells and getting yelled at will likely not do it again after being yelled at)

Negative punishment

Taking away a desired stimulus to decrease the behavior

a teenager goes out past curfew and the parent takes away the privilege to go out/grounds the teenager and so this will likely decrease the behavior of the teenager going out too late again

Primary reinforcers

help satisfy biological needs/desires (food, water, shelter)

Secondary needs

things you want but don’t need to survive (trophies, money, etc)

Immediate and Delayed Reinforcement and Punishment

you want to reward/punish the person then and not wait till after for the result to be more effective

Fixed interval schedule (FI)

reinforcement is provided for the first action after a specific amount of time has passed

Example: a student studying more intensely as a scheduled weekly quiz approaches

Variable interval schedule (VI)

reinforcement is given for the first action after unpredictable time intervals

Example: checking an email inbox for an important message that arrives at random times throughout the day

Fixed ratio schedule (FR)

reinforcement is delivered after a set number of actions

Example: receiving an award after completing every 5 practice problems

Variable ratio schedule

reinforcement is based an unpredictable number of actions

Example: a salesperson making several calls before securing a sale. This schedule often results in high, steady rates of behavior.

The reinforcement is…. (tips to remember)

Fixed = consistent
Variable = varies
Ratio = number of times
Interval = amount of times