Chapter 5: Learning & Chapter 6: Memory

Learning

a process that produces a relatively enduring change in behavior or knowledge as a result of an individual’s experience

Conditioning

is the process of learning associations between environmental events and behavioral responses

Classical Conditioning

the basic learning process that involves repeatedly pairing a neutral stimulus with a response-producing stimulus until the neutral stimulus elicits the same response

explains how certain stimuli can trigger a reflexive, automatic response

Operant Conditioning

useful in understanding how we acquire new, voluntary actions

Observational Learning

how we acquire new behaviors by observing the actions of others

Reflexive Response

a largely involuntary, automatic response to an external stimulus

Stimulus

anything perceptible to the senses, such as sight, sound, smell, touch, or taste

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

the natural stimulus that reflexively elicits a response without the need for prior learning

Unconditioned Response (UCR)

the unlearned, reflexive response that is elicited by an unconditioned stimulus

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

a formerly neutral stimulus that acquires the capacity to elicit a reflexive response

Conditioned Response (CR)

the learned reflexive response to a previously neutral response

Charles Henry Turner

African American zoologist

Stimulus Generalization

the occurrence of a learned response not only to the original stimulus but to other, similar stimuli as well

Stimulus Discrimination

the occurrence of a learned response to a specific stimulus but not to other, similar stimulil

Higher Order Conditioning

second order conditioning; a procedure in which a conditioned stimulus from one learning trial functions as the unconditioned stimulus in a new conditioning trial

Extinction

the gradual weakening and apparent disappearance of conditioned behavior

Spontaneous Recovery

the reappearance of a previously extinguished conditioned response after a period of time without exposure to the conditioned stimulus

Behaviorism

the school of psychology and theoretical viewpoint that emphasizes the study of observable behaviors, especially as they pertain to the process of learning

Placebo Response

an individual’s psychological and physiological response to what is actually a fake treatment or drug

Taste Aversion

a classically conditioned dislike for and avoidance of a particular food that develops when an organism becomes ill after eating the food

Biological Preparedness

the idea that an organism is innately predisposed to form associations between certain stimuli and responses

Law of Effect

a learning principle in which responses followed by satisfying effects are strengthened (more likely to occur again), but responses followed by dissatisfying effects are weakened (less likely to occur again)

Operant

any “active behavior that operates upon the environment to generate consequences”

Operant Conditioning

the basic learning process that involves changing the probability that a response will be repeated by manipulating the consequences of that response

Reinforcement

the occurrence of a stimulus or an event following a response that increases the likelihood of that response being repeated

Operant

the active response you emitted

Reinforcing Stimulus or Reinforcer

the stimulus or event that is sought in a particular situation

Discriminative Stimulus

a specific stimulus that increases the likelihood of a particular response because it indicates the reinforcement is likely to occur

Positive Reinforcement

a situation in which a response is followed by the addition of a reinforcing stimulus, increasing the likelihood that the response will be repeated in similar situations

Negative Reinforcement

a situation in which a response results in the removal of, avoidance of, or escape from an aversive, or undesired, stimulus, increasing the likelihood that the response will be repeated in similar situations

Primary Reinforcer

a stimulus or event that is naturally or inherently reinforcing for a give species

Conditioned Reinforcer

secondary reinforcer; a stimulus or event that has acquired reinforcing value by being associated with a primary reinforcer

Punishment

the presentation of a stimulus or event following a behavior that acts to decrease the likelihood of the behavior’s being repeated

Positive Punishment

punishment by application; a situation in which an operant is followed by the presentation of an aversive stimulus

Negative Punishment

punishment by removal; a situation in which an operant is followed by the removal or subtraction of a reinforcing stimulus

Operant Chamber

Skinner Box; to scientifically study the relationship between environmental events and active behaviors

Shaping

the operant conditioning procedure of selectively reinforcing successively closer approximations of a goal or behavior until the goal behavior is displayed

Continuous Reinforcement

a schedule of reinforcement in which every occurrence of a particular response is followed by a reinforcer

Partial Reinforcement

a situation in which the occurrence of a particular response is only sometimes followed by a reinforcer

Extinction

a phenomenon the occurs when a learned response no linger results in reinforcement, and the likelihood of the behavior’s being repeated gradually declines

Partial Reinforcement Effect

the phenomenon in which behaviors that are conditioned using partial reinforcement are more resistant to extinction than behaviors that are conditioned using continuous reinforcement

Schedules of Reinforcement

the delivery of reinforcer according to a preset pattern based on the number of responses or the time interval between responses

Behavior Modification

the application of learning principles to help people develop more effective or adaptive behaviors

Cognitive Map

Tolman’s term for the mental representation of the layout of a familiar environment

Latent Learning

Tolman’s term for learning that occurs in the absence of reinforcement but is not behaviorally demonstrated until a reinforcer becomes available

Learned Helplessness

a phenomenon in which exposure to inescapable and uncontrollable aversive events produces passive behavior

Instinctive Drift

the tendency of an animal to revert to its instinctive behaviors that can interfere with the performance of an operantly conditioned response

Learning Styles

the idea, not supported by research, that people differ with regard to what mode of instruction is most effective for them

Observational Learning

learning that occurs through observing the actions of others

Mirror Neurons

brain cells that become activated both when individuals perform a motor act and when they observe the same motor act done by another individual

Memory

the mental processes that enable you to encode, retain, and retrieve information over time

Three Fundamental Processes of Memory

encoding, storage, retrieval

Encoding

the process of transforming information into a form that can be entered into and retained by the memory system

Storage

the process of retaining information in memory so that it can be used at a later time

Retrieval

the process of recovering information stored in memory so that we are consciously aware of it

Stage Model of Memory

a model describing memory as consisting of three distinct stages: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory

Sensory Memory

the stage of memory that registers information from the environment and holds it for a very brief period of time

Short-term Memory

the active stage of memory in which information is stored for up to about 20 seconds

Long-term Memory

the stage of memory that represents the long-term storage of information

Visual Sensory Memory

iconic memory; brief memory of an image, or icon

Auditory Sensory Memory

echoic memory; a brief memory that is like an echo

Maintenance Rehearsal

the mental or verbal repetition of information in order to maintain it beyond the usual 20-second duration of short-term memory

Chunking

increasing the amount of information that can be held in short-term memory by grouping related items together into a single unit

Working Memory

the temporary storage and active, conscious manipulation of information needed for complex cognitive tasks, such as reasoning, learning, and problem solving

Phonological Loop

specialized for auditory material, such as lists of numbers or words

Visuospatial Sketchpad

specialized for spatial or visual material, such as remembering the layout of a room or city

Central Executive

controls attention, integrates information, and manages the activities of the phonological loop and the visuospatial sketchpad

Long-term Memory

refers to the storage of information over extended periods of time

Elaborative Rehearsal

rehearsal that involves focusing on the meaning of information to help encode and transfer it to long-term memory

Procedural Memory

category of long-term memory that includes memories of different skills, operations, and actions

Episodic Memory

a category of long-term memory that includes memories of particular events, including the time and place that they occurred

Semantic Memory

a category of long-term memory that includes memories of general knowledge, concepts, facts, and names

Autobiographical Memory

refers to the events of your life

Reminiscence Bump

a phenomenon when older people most likely to remember events and experiences that occurred in adolescence and early adulthood

Explicit Memory

information or knowledge that can be consciously recollected; also called declarative memory

Implicit Memory

information or knowledge that affects behavior or task performance but cannot be consciously recollected; also called nondeclarative memory

Clustering

organizing items into related groups, or clusters, during recall from long-term memory

Semantic Network Model

a model that describes units of information in long-term memory as being organized in a complex network of associations

Retrieval

the process of recovering information stored in memory so that we are consciously aware of it

Retrieval Cue

a clue, prompt, or hint that helps trigger recall of a given piece of information stored in long-term memory

Retrieval Cue Failure

the inability to recall long-term memories because of inadequate or missing retrieval cues

Tip-of-the-Tongue (TOT) Experience

a memory phenomenon that involves the sensation of knowing that specific information is stored in long-term memory, but being temporarily unable to retrieve it

Recall

a test of long-term memory that involves retrieving information without the aid of retrieval cues; also called free recall

Cued Recall

a test of long-term memory that involves remembering an time of information in response to a retrieval cue

Recognition

a test of long-term memory that involves identifying correct information out of several possible choices

Serial Position Effect

the tendency to retrieve information more easily from the beginning and the end of a list rather than from the middle

primary effect + recency effect

Encoding Specificity Principle

the principle that retrieval is more likely to be successful when the conditions of information retrieval are similar to the conditions of information encoding

Context Effect

the tendency to recover information more easily when the retrieval occurs in the same setting as the original learning of the information

Mood Congruence

an encoding specificity phenomenon in which a given mood tends to evoke memories that are consistent with that mood

Flashbulb Memory

recall of very specific images or details surrounding a vivid, rare, or significant event; details may or may not be accurate

Forgetting

the inability to remember information that was previously available

Hermann Ebbinghaus

forgetting curve

Encoding Failure

the inability to recall specific information because insufficient encoding of the information for storage in long-term memory

Absentmindedness

occurs because you don’t pay enough attention to a bit of information at the time when you should be encoding it

Prospective Memory

remembering to do something in the future

Decay Theory

the view that forgetting is due to normal brain processes that occur over time

Interference Theory

the theory that forgetting is caused by one memory competing with or replacing another memory

Retroactive Interference

backward-acting memory interference in which a new memory interferes with remembering an old memory

Proactive Interference

forward-acting memory interference, in which an old memory interferes with remembering a new memory

Motivated Forgetting

refers to the idea that we forget because we are motivated to forget, usually because a memory is unpleasant or disturbing