Psychology- How do people learn and remember

What is learning?

-Relatively permanent change in behaviour that occurs as a result of experience.

-Active or passive.

-Results of learning might be immediate, or delayed.

-Psychological construct.

What is classical conditioning?

Type of learning that occurs through the repeated association of two (or more) different stimuli, producing specific response that did not occur originally.

-Behaviourist approach to learning.

What is a stimulus?

Any object/event that elicits a response from an organism.

What is a response?

A reaction by an organism to a stimulus.

What is a neutral stimulus (NS)?

A stimulus that does not initially elicit a response.

What is an unconditioned stimulus (UCS)?

A stimulus that elicits a reflexive response.

What is an unconditioned response (UCR)?

A natural (unlearned) behaviour given to a stimulus.

What is a conditioned stimulus (CS)?

A stimulus that elicits a response due to it being paired with an unconditioned stimulus.

What is a conditioned response (CR)?

A response caused by the conditioned stimulus.

What are the three phases of conditioning?

Before conditioning, during conditioning and after conditioning.

What happens before conditioning?

NS (Neutral Stimulus) - No relevant response.

UCS (Unconditioned Stimulus) - UCR (Unconditioned response).

-The response it produces is known as an UCR.

What happens during conditioning?

During conditioning=

NS + UCS = UCR.

- NS is paired repeatedly with the UCS to produce a CR.

-This ensures the organism comes to associate the NS with the UCR originally produced by the UCS.

What happens after conditioning?

After Conditioning=

CS (Conditioned Stimulus)- CR (Conditioned Response).

-After multiple pairings of the NS and the UCS, the NS now becomes the CS.

-This new learned response is called the CR, which occurs in response to the CS.

What is the classical conditioning template?

Before conditioning: NS — produces no response. UCS —- leads to UCR —-.

During conditioning: NS — is repeatedly paired and presented immediately before the UCS — to produce the UCR —.

After conditioning: NS becomes CS. CS — leads to CR —.

What is operant conditioning?

-Consequences of an action determine the likelihood that it will be performed again in the future.

-Behaviourist approach to learning.

-Involves voluntary actions/behaviours as opposed to classical which is involuntary and reflexive.

What is the first phase of operant conditioning?

The antecedent (A) that triggers/occurs before a particular response/behaviour/action.

What is the second phase of operant conditioning?

The behaviour (B) the learner’s voluntary response to antecedent.

What is the third phase of operant conditioning?

The consequence (C) the event that follows the response- making behaviour more or, less likely to be repeated.

What is the difference between positive and negative operant conditioning?

Positive: + (adding) something to increase or decrease behaviour.

Negative: - (taking away) something to increase or decrease behaviour.

What is reinforcement?

When a stimulus strengthens or increases the frequency or likelihood of a response that it follows.

What is a reinforcer?

A stimulus.

What is reinforcement?

Act of giving the stimulus.

-Any form of reinforcement strengthens the behaviour.

What is positive reinforcement?

Occurs from giving/adding a positive reinforcer- something pleasant/desirable after the desired response has been made.

What is negative reinforcement?

The taking away or the avoidance of an unpleasant stimulus.

What is punishment?

Any form of punishment weakens or decreases the behaviour from occurring again.

What is positive punishment?

The giving/presentation of an unpleasant stimulus which decreases the strength/likelihood of the response occurring again.

What is negative punishment?

The removal or loss of a pleasant/desirable stimulus, thereby decreasing or weakening the likelihood of the response occurring again.

What is observational learning?

Can be described as learning through watching and/or listening to others.

-Occurs when someone uses observation of a model’s actions and the consequences of those actions to guide their own future actions.

Model: Who or what is being observed.

-Often referred to as ‘modelling’ or ‘social learning’.

What is the first stage of the observational learning process?

Attention: Individuals actively focus on the model’s behaviour and the consequences of the behaviour.

What is the second stage of the observational learning process?

Retention: the second stage of observational learning in which individuals create a mental representation to remember the model’s demonstrated behaviour.

What is the third stage of the observational learning process?

Reproduction: the third stage of observational learning in which the individual must have the physical and mental capabilities to replicate the behaviour.

What is the fourth stage of the observational learning process?

Motivation: the fourth stage of observational learning in which the individual must want to reproduce the behaviour.

What is the fifth stage of the observational learning process?

Reinforcement: the fifth stage of observational learning in which the individual receives a positive consequence for the behaviour which makes them more likely to reproduce the behaviour again in the future.

What are systems of knowledge?

Knowledge and skills that are based on interconnected social, physical, and spiritual understandings these inform survival and contribute to a strong sense of identity.

What are the AICs approaches to learning?

AICs approaches to learning are multimodal by nature, meaning that they use a variety of methods and are all interconnected with one another.

What is story sharing?

Approaching learning through narrative.

What are learning maps?

Explicitly mapping/visualising processes.

What is nonverbal?

Applying intra-personal and kinaesthetic skills to thinking and learning.

What are symbols and images?

Using images and metaphors to understand concepts and content.

What are land links?

Place-based learning, linking content to local land and place.

What is non-linear?

Producing innovations and understanding by thinking laterally or combining systems.

What is deconstruct/reconstruct?

Modelling and scaffolding, working from wholes to parts (watch then do).

What are community links?

Centring local viewpoints, applying learning for community benefit.

What is memory?

Can be defined as the processing, storage and retrieval of information acquired through learning.

-It is an active information processing system that ‘encodes’, ‘stores’ and ‘retrieves’ information.

What is encoding?

The process of converting raw information to useable form.

What is storage?

Information which is retained overtime so it can be accessed and used in the future.

What is retrieval?

Recovery of stored information.

What is Atkinson-Shiffrin multi-store model of memory?

A model of memory which outlines the three separate stores of memory each of which interact through the process of encoding, storage and retrieval.

What is the first stage of Atkinson-Shiffrin’s model?

All incoming information enters sensory memory; a store of memory which very briefly stores raw information detected by the senses.

What is the second stage of Atkinson-Shiffrin’s model?

STM is a store of memory that temporarily stores a limited amount of information that is consciously being attended to and actively manipulated.

What is the third stage of Atkinson-Shiffrin’s model?

Encoding is the process of converting information into a useable form which can be manipulated and stored in the brain.

-Information from STM is encoded into LTM, which is a store of memory in which a potentially unlimited amount of information is stored for a relatively permanent amount of time.

What is the fourth stage of Atkinson-Shiffrin’s model?

Information stored in LTM can also be retrieved.

What is sensory memory?

-A store of memory which very briefly stores raw info detected by the senses.

-The capacity of sensory memory is potentially unlimited.

-Duration approximately 0.2-4 seconds.

(Types of sensory memory) what is iconic memory?

-Visual sensory memory.

-Duration- 0.2-0.5 seconds.

-Capacity- unlimited.

What is echoic memory?

-Auditory sensory memory.

-Duration- 3-4 seconds.

-Capacity- unlimited.

What is haptic memory?

-Tactile sensory memory.

-Duration- under 2 seconds.

-Capacity- unlimited.

What is STM?

A store of memory that temporarily stores a limited amount of information that is consciously being attended to and actively manipulated.

-Duration- 18-30 seconds.

-Capacity- limited to 7+2 bits of information/5-9 items.

What is LTM?

A store of memory in which potentially unlimited amounts of information is stored for a relatively permanent amount of time.

What is explicit memory?

Information can be consciously or intentionally be retrieved and stated (declared).

-Semantic or episodic.

What are episodic memories?

Personal experiences.

What are semantic memories?

Facts and knowledge about the world.

What is implicit memory?

Memory that does not require conscious retrieval (memory without awareness, difficult to declare in words).

-Procedural or classically conditioned.

What are the strengths of the Atkinson Shiffrin model?

-Distinguishes between the different stores involved in memory.

-Outlines that each memory store has a different capacity and duration.

-Findings from memory studies support the distinction between STM and LTM.

What are the Limitations of the Atkinson Shiffrin model?

-Oversimplified model.

-STM is more complex than the model suggests.

-Model ignores factors, such as motivations and strategy which can facilitate learning and assist in encoding information.

-This model does not account for individual differences.

What is the hippocampus?

A brain structure that is primarily involved in encoding explicit memories.

What is the amygdala?

-Primarily involved in encoding the emotional components of memory.

-Plays a role in processing and regulating emotional reactions, particularly fear and anger.

-Role in the formation of a wide range of emotional memories.

What is the neocortex?

A brain structure that stores explicit memories.

What is the cerebellum?

A brain structure involved in encoding and storing implicit memories.

-Specifically those related to unconscious habits, simple reflexes, or procedural sequences of precise movements.

What is the basal ganglia?

A brain structure involved in encoding and storing implicit memories, specifically related to habit formation, procedural sequences of movements and reward pathways.

What is the role of episodic memory in retrieving autobiographical events?

-Episodic memory is often associated with autobiographical events, which refer to personally lived experiences.

-The hippocampus is involved in the retrieval of episodic memories.

What are imagined futures?

Hypothetical experiences and situations that an individual has the ability to create and conceptualise in their mind.

-Episodic and semantic memory are involved in constructing these.

-Brain regions involved in the retrieval of autobiographical memories are also activated when people construct possible imagined futures.

What are neurodegenerative diseases?

Diseases characterised by the progressive loss of neurons in the brain.

What is alzheimer’s disease?

-Neurodegenerative.

-Decrease in cognitive functions.

-Diagnosis can only be made post-mortem examination.

-Lesions are predominantly identified in the hippocampus, meaning patients with Alzheimer’s may struggle to remember semantic and episodic components of personally lived experiences.

What are the two lesions associated with Alzheimer’s disease?

Amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles.

What are amyloid plaques?

Fragments of the protein beta-amyloid that accumulate into insoluble plaques that inhibit communication between neurons.

What are neurofibrillary tangles?

Are an accumulation of the protein tau.

What is aphantasia?

A phenomenon in which individuals lack the capacity to generate mental imagery.

-Research shows that people with aphantasia struggle to retrieve autobiographical events and construct possible imagined futures.

What is mental imagery?

The visual representations and experiences of sensory information without the presence of sensory stimuli.

What are written traditions?

Practices in which knowledge, stories and customs are shared primarily through writing and reading.

What are mnemonics?

Devices or techniques used to aid the encoding, storage and retrieval of information.

What is the purpose of mnemonics?

Aid the encoding, storage and retrieval of memory.

-They do this by organising and linking new information to fit in with existing information in LTM, improving initial encoding of information.

What are acronyms?

Mnemonic device in which the first letters of items from a pronounceable word to aid memory.

What is an acrostic?

Mnemonic device in which the first letters of an item create a phrase, rhyme or poem to aid memory.

What is the method of loci?

Mnemonic device that converts items into mental images and associates them with specific locations to aid memory.

What are oral traditions?

Practices in which knowledge, stories and customs are preserved and shared through spoken word and movement.

What are sung narratives?

Stories that share important cultural, ecological, and survival information through the use of singing, harmony and rhythm.

What are songlines?

Multimodal performances conducted as a family or community travels through country and spaces in the landscape that record journeys, link important sites, and describe ways to live, care for and nurture country.