Learning & Memory

Learning

relatively permanent change in behaviour or knowledge in response to experience

• learning can be intentional, unintentional, active or passive

active learning

learning for which the learner is required to do something intentional to engage in their learning

• eg. studying for exam

passive learning

learning that involves listening and observing

behaviourist approach to learning

an approach to learning that describes behaviours learnt through interaction with the environment

• eg. classical conditioning and operant conditioning

Social-cognitive approach to learning

a perspective that stresses the importance of social interactions and cognitive process in shaping human learning and behaviour

• eg. observational learning

Holistic

an approach that considers the whole system rather than analysing or focusing on its individual parts in isolation

Classical conditioning

• a behaviourist approach to learning where an individual forms an association between two stimuli to produce a learnt response

• learning to elicit an involuntary behaviour to a stimulus you usually wouldn’t respond to. Eg: blinking, salivation, vomiting

• involves pairing two stimuli tgt (one that elicits reflex and one that doesn’t) so that association formed between two stimuli. eg: food aversions

association

two or more stimuli are paired together to produce learnt response

Phase 1: Before Conditioning

• Must identify neutral stimulus (NS) and say it does not producing any response naturally

• Must identify unconditioned stimulus (UCS) and the unconditioned response that it produces (UCR) INVOLUNTARILY

neutral stimulus

stimulus that does not evoke the reflex (UCR), eg: whistle

unconditioned stimulus

stimulus that evokes reflex naturally, eg: food

unconditioned response

reflex that occurs INVOLUNTARILY when UCS is presented, eg: salivation

Phase 2: During conditioning

• Present UCS IMMEDIATELY AFTER NS (NS before UCS)

• UCS evokes the reflex (UCR)

  → Must Mention stimuli are presented together (timing) and repeated many times

Phase 3: After conditioning

• AN ASSOCIATION HAS FORMED BW NS AND UCS

• The NS becomes the Conditioned stimulus (CS)

• The CS then produces the Conditioned response (CR) on it’s own

Conditioned stimulus (CS)

Previously neutral stimulus that has through conditioning acquired capacity to evoke automatic reflex

→ SAY : association between two stimuli have formed

Conditioned response (CR)

a learned response (sim to automatic reflex) is produced on presentation of conditioned stimulus alone (CS → CR)

Stimulus Generalisation after conditioning

another stimulus similar to conditioned stimulus, may also trigger a conditioned response. eg: child may fear all dogs, not just type that bit them

Extinction (stop or decrease after conditioning)

after, if CS alone presented repeatedly without UCS, the strength of conditioned response reflex decreases over time

eg: child repeatedly walks past friendly dogs (no bite). gradually static reflex will reduce

Stimulus discrimination after conditioning

only the conditioned stimulus and no similar stimulus triggers the conditioned response, eg: child shows fear to only one breed of dog, not all

Spontaneous recovery (stop or decrease after conditioning)

even if CR extinguished, CR may occasionally and temporarily reappear

eg: after extinction, child who doesn’t show static reaction to dogs, may occasionally out of habit

Operant conditioning

a behaviourist approach to learning in which an individual learns through associating a behaviour with a consequence

• consequence to VOLUNTARY behaviour can influence the likelihood of the behaviour occurring again

3 components

• Antecedent

• Voluntary behaviour

• Consequence

Antecedent

this is an event or stimulus that is present just before the target behaviour occurs.

• eg: messy room

Voluntary behaviour

observable target behaviour

• eg: do chores (clean)

Consequence

occurs as a result of behaviour to increase or decrease its likelihood of happening the next time the antecedent occurs

• eg. given pocket money

To increase / decrease likelihood of behaviour

reinforcement

punishment

reinforcement

an event or a stimulus that increases the likelihood of a behaviour occurring again

punishment

an event or a stimulus that decrease the likelihood of a behaviour occurring again

positive reinforcement

the addition of a reward or positive stimulus that encourages a behaviour to occur again

negative reinforcement

the removal of an unpleasant stimulus that encourages a behaviour to occur again

positive punishment

the addition of an unpleasant stimulus that discourages a behaviour from occurring again

negative punishment

the removal of a pleasant stimulus that discourages a behaviour from occurring again

acquisition

the initial learning stage, when an individual associates a neutral stimulus or behaviour with specific outcome or consequence

association

where two or more stimuli are paired together to produce a learnt response

Classical vs Operant Acquisition (v)

Claasical : learns to link to two stimuli (involuntarily)

Operant: volntary behaviour strengthened or weakened by association W consequence

Classical / Operant Association (a)

classical: association of NS to UCS through repeated pairing

Operant: organism learns to associate a behaviour w a consequence

Observational learning

a type of learning that occurs by observing and imitating the behaviours of others

• learning that occurs when a learner observes someone else’s actions and the consequences that follow to guide their own future actions

Attention

observer must actively watch the model closely (actively focus) in order to observe the behaviour and notice technique and any consequences of the models behaviour

• more likely to repeat if model is perceived more positively and has higher status/ similar to ourselves/successful

Retention

observer must be able to remember the behaviour of the model and store it in their memory as a mental representation

Reproduction

when models behaviour attended to and retained in memory, observer can only attempt to reproduce it if he or she has the physical or mental ability to do so

Motivation

learner must want to imitate the behaviour

Reinforcement

influences the motivation to reproduce the observed behaviour and increases the likelihood of reproduction in the future

• self-reinforcement: internal factors (eg. how you perceive yourself)

• external reinforcement: external factors (eg. reward)

• vicarious reinforcement: seeing someone else be reinforced

People (single)

single geo-cultural community with ATSI (Aboroginal Torres Strait Islanders)

Peoples (Plural)

wider region + diversity of Aboroginal + Torres Strait Islander Peoples + cultures connected to lands across Australia

Aboriginal ways of knowing buzzwords

• passed on from generation to generation

• holistic

• interconnected → spiritual, physical, emotional ties (to land)

• learner is part of a system of knowledge - structured and interconnected framework for understanding

• multimodal

8 ways of learning

Aboriginal perspectives come from indigenous processed of knowledge transmission, rich overlap between these and best mainstream pedagogies

• Story sharing

• learning maps

• Non-verbal

• Symbols + Images

• Land links

• Non-linear approaches

• Deconstruct and Reconstruct

• Community Links

Story sharing

approaches to learning through narrative

yarning circles: circles where everyone is at an equal level to share without judgement

Learning Maps

explicitly mapping/visualising processes + ideas

Non-verbal

using movement to share, connect or express knowledge

Symbols +Images

• using images art, symbols, metaphors, dance to understand concepts and content

• creating meaningful or representative drawings, paintings, icons and metaphorical examples

Land links

place based learning, linking content to local land, place and environmental events - connecting to country

Non-linear approaches

innovatively understanding ideas by thinking laterally or combining systems

Deconstruct and reconstruct

looking at a concept as a whole before breaking it down into parts to study in detail

Community links

involves a learner centering local viewpoints and applying learning to benefit their mob or community

Memory

the process of receiving, encoding, storing and retrieving information

Encoding

process of converting raw, sensory information into a form that can be processed by the brain

Storage

process of maintaining information in a memory store

Memory store

site where information can be stored temporarily or permanently → allow info to be easily attended to or accessed when required

Retrieval

process involving accessing and diverting info from long-term memory to short-term memory so it can be used and/or manipulated

Atkinson-Shiffrin multi-store model of memory

suggests that human memory consists of more than one type of memory store.

• sensory memory

• short-term memory

• long-term memory

Each memory store has a specific function, capacity and duration.The three memory stores work together to encode, store and retrieve information.

Capacity (general):

no.of items that memory store holds

duration (general):

length of time it can hold them for

Sensory memory

• a memory store for incoming sensory info that is held for a short time (0.2 - 4 seconds)

• brain filters out irrelevant info, allowing us to focus on essential components of our experiences

sensory memory: capacity

unlimited for both echoic + iconic

sensory memory: duration

0.2 - 0.5 for iconic and 3-4 for echoic

iconic memory

a part of sensory memory where visual info held for 0.2-0.5 secs

echoic memory

a part of sensory memory where auditory info can be held for a short time (3 - 4 secs)

Short-term memory

a memory store that receives information from sensory memory stores and has a limited capacity of 5 to 9 items and a limited duration of 12 to 30 secs

• STM acts as bridge after transferring sensory memory into LTM

• “working memory” → manipulation and working with memory occurs here

STM capacity

7± 2 items (5-9) at a time

rehearsal

a mental process of repeating / manipulating info in short-term memory to enhance length of time it is held in short-term memory and to increase the likelihood of it being transferred to long term memory

• can be used to extend the duration of STM (in a broad sense)

maintenance rehearsal

repeating info to keep it in your attention (does not go into LTM)

elaborative rehearsal

meaning is added to piece of info to connect it to other items or ideas held in LTM (assign purpose) → send to LTM

decay

fading and removal of an item from a memory store due to inattention or lack of use (eg. when elaborative rehearsal doesn’t occur)

chunking

grouping or combining small units of information to increase the likelihood of retaining information in short-term memory

• can be used to expand the capacity of STM

displacement

when information held in short-term memory is pushed out and replaced by new, incoming information

STM Pairs

duration + decay

capacity + displacement

Long tem Memory

• a memory store for information that has been encoded from short-term memory that has potentially unlimited capacity and duration

• stores, encodes and organises a large amount of information

• strength and accessibility of memories can vary → factors such as physical changes to brain, retrieval cues and passing time can affect retrieval

retrieval cue

a prompt or stimulus that improves the ability to recall info from long-term memory

LTM capacity

potentially unlimited

• difficult to determine bc how dyk why smth is forgotted (eg. irrelevance?)

LTM duration

relatively permanent

• after encoding, memory has potential to be available and recalled over extended periods

Explanatory power of Atkinson-Shiffrin Model

Strengths

• provides clear framework and how memory is organised + processes involved

• explains 3 diff memory stores vary in capacity and duration

Weaknesses

• does not consider factors such as motivation + incentive can influence encoding of info from STM to LTM

• does not account for individual differences in memory processes, storage duration and capacity (eg. ppl with photographic memory vs amnesia)

Implicit Memory

a memory of a skill, an emotion or a disposition that is unconscious and automatically retrieved

• eg. riding a bike → initially needs conscious retrieval of info and concentration but after enough practice, info on how to ride bike is in long term memory

procedural memory

an aspect of implicit memory that concerns our memory of how to perform particular tasks, skills or actions

• physically carry out action, initially requires conscious effort but once info about “how to” perform skill stored in long-term memory, retrieval process requires little to no effort

  eg: handwriting

classically conditioned memory

aspect of implicit memory that concerns our memory of association between stimuli and responses

• eg. classically conditioned emotional responses occur automatically and without conscious retrieval

Explicit Memory

a memory of knowledge, facts and personal experiences that can be retrieved consciously

• eg. when asked abt favourite movie, you consciously retrieve info abt movies from LTM

Semantic memory

an aspect of explicit memory that concerns memory of facts and general knowledge

• eg. time tables or ingredients for cake

episodic memory

an aspect of explicit memory that concerns memory of personal life experiences

• personal memories often accompanied by associated emotions + sensory details

• more prone to being forgotten compared to semantic memories due to large volume of info

• eg. sensation of scariest roller coaster

Hippocampus

curved structure in the brain responsible for consolidation of explicit memories and aids in transferring explicit memories to parts of the neocortex for storage

• forms connections with frontal lobe, thalamus and amygdala

• involved in the encoding, consolidation and retrieval of explicit memories

Consolidation

series of neurological changes to the brain that results in short-term memory being stored in LTM

• consolidation process ensures that info can be easily retrieved later with help of retrieval cues

Role of hippocampus in explicit memory

• helps encode info from STM to LTM

• also transfers newly encoded explicit memory to relevant parts of brain for storage → consolidation process ensures that info can be easily retrieved later with help of retrieval cues

Amygdala

almond shaped structure in each cerebral hemisphere in temporal lobe that serves multiple functions that relate to our memory of emotionally arousing events

• located near hippocampus

Amygdala Role in explicit memory

works with hippocampus to encode + consolidate the emotional component of explicit memories → adds emotional significance which makes easier to recall

• when explicit memory retrieved from LTM, hippocampus helps recall factual details while amygdala retrieves emotional component linked to that memory

Amygdala Role in implicit memory

• classically conditioned responses have an emotional component

• amygdala contributes to formation + retrieval of implicit conditioned emotional responses

• emotional reactions + associations automatically retrieved from LTM when encountering similar stimuli

classically conditioned emotional responses

an emotional response (eg. fear) that becomes associated with a neutral stimulus as a result of classical conditioning

When amygdala damaged

difficulty encoding + retrieving emotional component of implicit and explicit memories and difficulty establishing emotional association bw stimuli

Neocortex

largest section of the cerebral cortex that is responsible storing explicit memories

Neocortex Role in explicit memory

• serves as storage site for information related to our conscious memories

• encoded by the hippocampus, info is distributed across the neocortex and sent to different regions of the neocortex for storage

  • location influenced by function of cortical lobes

Damage to neocortex

Damage to the neocortex can impair both short-term and long-term memory, affecting the ability to learn new information and recall old memories.

Basal Ganglia

Group of subcortical nuclei that are responsible for motor control, learning and memory.

Main roles is the encoding, consolidation, and retrieval of implicit procedural memory, specifically habits.