Psychology Exam 3

conditioning, memory, love, aggression, stress, emotion, and learning

ways of learning

-by association
-by repeating things that bring good consequences
-by watching others

classical conditioning

learning by association

steps of classical conditioning

-begin with a natural stimulus (US) and a natural response (UR) and find a neutral stimulus that does not cause a response
-pair the neutral stimulus with the natural stimulus
-the neutral stimulus is now the CS and creates a conditioned response (CR)

US

unconditioned stimulus

UR

unconditioned response

CS

conditioned stimulus

CR

conditioned response

example of classical conditioning

Pavlov - dogs conditioned to drool to the sound of a bell
US- food
UR- drooling
CS- bell
CR- drooling to the sound of a bell

what happens when the US does not follow the CS?

the CR will decrease and the response will eventually stop if not given the US

generalization

responding similarly to the stimuli that are similar to the CS

discrimination

responding differently to stimuli similar to the CS

example of generalization

seeing one dog and assuming it is aggressive due to being exposed to aggressive dogs in the past

example of conditioning fear

Little Albert experiment
- made little Albert fear the rat that he was initially favoring due to adding a loud noise

operant conditioning

the association between behaviors and resulting events

reinforcers

anything that strengthens the behavior it follows

positive reinforcers

when you reinforce something by adding something to the situation.

negative reinforcers

when you reinforce something by removing something from the situation

fixed interval

reinforces only after a specified time

variable interval

reinforces at unpredictable time intervals

fixed ratio

reinforces only after a specified number of responses

variable ratio

reinforces after an unpredictable number of responses

continuous

each time it occurs

partial

only part of the time

learning by obsevation

learning by watching and imitating others; modeling

mirror neurons

neurons that are activated during observational learning

What are the 3 stages of memory?

-encoding
-storage
-retrieval

What are the 3 types of memories?

-sensory
-working memory (short term)
-long term memory

transduction

the process pf turning sensory information into something your brain can understand

processing information - rehearsal

effortful learning usually requires continual repetition

2 memory effects

-spacing effect
-serial position effect

spacing effect

we retain information better when our rehearsal is distributed over time

serial position effect

when your recall is better for the first and last items, but poor for middle items (primary/recency)

3 types of encoding

-encoding by meaning
-encoding by images
-encoding by organization

2 mnemonics methods

-method of loci
-link method

method of loci

connecting a list of items to a visualized location

link method

using visualization to link together a list of items

chunking

remembering information in chunks ex. ROY G BIV

hierarchy

taking complex information and breaking it down into broad concepts and further subdividing into categories and sub categories

types of sensory memories

-ionic
-echoic
-hepatic

ionic sensory memory duration

0.5 seconds

echoic sensory memory duration

3-4 seconds

hepatic sensory memory duration

less than one second

hepatic memory

touch

echoic memory

sound

ionic memory

vision

misinformation effect

car photo with the word smashed vs hit

retrieval cues

things that help retrieve and get information out

explicit memories

the facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare

implicit memories

involves learning an action, and the individual does not know or declare what they know

hippocampus

a neural center in the limbic system that processes explicit memories

anterograde amnesia cause

Patient HM, when surgery injures the hippocampus

Memories with anterograde amnesia

patients can remember before the surgery but cannot create any new memories after the operation

retrograde amnesia cause

caused by a TBI (traumatic brain injury)

Memories with retrograde amnesia

all the memories before the incident are gone but new memories can be created from the TBI forward

cerebellum

a neural center in the hind brain that processes implicit memories

explicit memory with HM

HM is unable to create new memories that are declaritive

implicit memory with HM

HM can form new memories that are not procedural

Why might we forget things?

-encoding failure
-storage decay
-retrieval failure
-interference
-memory construction

encoding failure

we cannot remember what we did not encode and get into our memory

storage decay

immediately after learning something there is a drop in the amount of information retained but within a few days it levels off and not much is lost

retrieval failure

although the information is retained in the memory store it cannot be accessed

interference

learning some information may disrupt the retrieval of other information

memory construction

while tapping our memories, we filter or fill in missing pieces of information to make our recall more coherent

what are emotions a mix of

-psychological activation
-expressive behaviors
-conscious experience

common sense view

when you become happy your heart starts beating faster, conscious awareness then psychological activity

James-Lange theory

proposed that psychology activity precedes the emotional experience

Cannon-Bard Theory

Proposed that an emption-triggering stimulus and psychology arousal are simultaneous

Two-Factor Theory

psychological and cognitions create emotions and emotions have two factors, physical arousal and cognitive labor

embodied emotion

emotions involve bodily response, some as easy to notice as butterflies in your stomach, others more difficult such as neurons activated in the brain

study showing that cognition does not always precede emotion

fearful eyes were subliminally presented to subjects and fMRI scans revealed higher levels of activity in the amygdala

Zajonc and LeDoux

emphasizes that some emotions are immediate, without conscious appraisal. Appraisal determines emotion.

detecting emotion

in a crowd of faces a single angry face will pop out faster than a single happy face

culture and emotional expression

when culturally diverse people were shown basic facial expressions they did fairly well at recognizing them

gender, emotion, and nonverbal behavior

women are better at discerning nonverbal emotions than men and women when shown clips also expressed more emotions than men

Experienced emotion

there are 10 isolated emotions and most of them are present in infancy except contempt shame and guilt

effects of happiness

-perceive the world as being safer
-cooperative
-rate job applicants more favorably
-live healthier, energized, more satisfying lives
-feel good, do good

adaptation level phenomenon

like the adaption to brightness, volume, and touch, people adapt to income levels

relative deprivation

perception relatively worse off than those we compare ourselves with

types of stressors

-catastrophic events
-significant life changes
-daily hassles

catastrophic events

earthquakes, combat stress, floods. Leads to individuals becoming depressed, sleepless, and anxious

significant life changes

death of a loved one, divorce, loss of a job, promotion. More venerable to disease

daily hassels

rush hour traffic, long lines, job stress, and burnout. Can damage health

stress and stressors

any circumstances that may be real or perceived and threatens ones well being. A process by which we appraise and cope with the environment threats and challenges. It can impair our ability to cope and function and can cause physical illness

arousal and performance

we perform better under moderate arousal, but optimal performance varies without task difficulty

General Adaptive Syndrome

stress response to any kind of stimulation is similar and the stressed individual goes through three phases

hypothalamus

perceives the stressor and tells the adrenal glands to act

fight of flight

causes an increase of hormones (epinephrine and norepinephrine) and increases heart rate and dulls pain

slow stress response

release glucocorticoids such as cortisol

health related consequences of the stress response

increased susceptibility to illness
-during stress energy in mobilized away form the immune system
-psychophysical illness
-stress, high blood pressure, heart disease
-headaches
-colds

Type A personality

competitive, hard driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger prone people

Type B personality

Easy going and relaxed

problem focused coping

changing events that cause stress and changing how you react to stress

emotion focused coping

change emotion

upward social comparison

the belief that people have better than you

downward social comparison

the belief that you have better than others

causes of anger

-wrongdoings
-foul oders

catharsis hypothesis

venting anger through action or fantasy achieves an emotion release or catharsis and expressing anger breeds more anger through reinforcement and is habit forming

2 types of aggression

-hostile aggression
-instrumental aggression

hostile aggression

frustration

overt agression

goal oriented