Learning and Memory Key Concepts: Chapters 1 - 3

Comprehensive Question and Answer flashcards generated from lecture notes covering psychological terms, neuroanatomy, and learning/memory concepts across Chapters 1 to 3.

What is associationism?

Learning by forming connections between ideas/events together.

How is behaviorism defined?

The study of observable behaviors instead of hidden mental processes.

What is a blind design in research?

A research design in which one or more people involved do not know which condition participants are in.

What is classical conditioning?

Learning in which a stimulus becomes associated with another stimulus and eventually produces a response.

What does the cognitive approach study?

Mental processes such as thinking, attention, and memory.

What is a cognitive map?

A mental representation of the layout of an environment.

What are connectionist models?

Models that explain learning using networks of simple interconnected units.

How is contiguity defined?

The closeness of two events in time or space.

What is a dependent variable?

The outcome measured by the researcher; it depends on the independent variable.

What is distributed representation?

Information represented across activity in many connected units rather than one unit.

What defines a double-blind design?

Neither participants nor the researchers interacting with them know who is in which condition.

What is dualism?

View that mind and body are separate kinds of things.

What is empiricism?

View that knowledge comes primarily from observation and experience.

How is evolution defined in this transcript?

Change in inherited characteristics of populations across generations.

What is experimenter bias?

Researcher expectations unintentionally influence a study's results.

What is extinction in learning?

Decrease or disappearance of a learned response when the association is no longer reinforced/presented.

What is generalization?

Applying a learned response to similar stimuli or situations.

What is an independent variable?

The variable the researcher changes or manipulates.

What is latent learning?

Learning that occurs without obvious performance until there is a reason to show it.

What does the law of effect state?

Responses followed by satisfying outcomes become more likely; unpleasant outcomes make them less likely.

What is nativism?

View that some knowledge or abilities are innate rather than learned from experience.

What is natural selection?

Evolutionary process in which inherited traits that improve reproductive success become more common.

What is operant conditioning?

Learning in which consequences change the likelihood of a behavior.

What is radical behaviorism and who is it associated with?

Behaviorist approach associated with B. F. Skinner that treats behavior and private events as part of a science of behavior.

What is a reflex arc?

A simple stimulus-response pathway in which a stimulus triggers a relatively automatic response.

What is a retention curve?

Graph showing how much learned information is retained over time.

What is subject bias?

Participant expectations or characteristics that unintentionally influence study behavior or responses.

What function does an axon serve in a neuron?

Neuron's long projection that carries signals away from the cell body.

What is the brainstem and what basic functions is it involved in?

Brain region connecting the brain with the spinal cord; involved in basic functions such as breathing and arousal.

What structures compose the central nervous system (CNS)?

Brain and spinal cord.

What functions are associated with the cerebellum?

Coordination, balance, and motor learning.

What is diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)?

MRI-based method used to examine water movement along white-matter pathways.

How does electroencephalography (EEG) record brain activity?

Records electrical activity of the brain using electrodes on the scalp.

What is an engram?

Physical or neural trace thought to represent a stored memory.

What is an event-related potential (ERP)?

Brain electrical response linked to a specific event or stimulus, derived from EEG.

What functions is the frontal lobe involved in?

Planning, decision-making, movement, and aspects of language.

How does functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) estimate brain activity?

By measuring blood-oxygen changes.

What are glia?

Non-neuronal cells that support, nourish, protect, and regulate neurons.

What defines Hebbian learning?

Learning in which connections strengthen when neurons are repeatedly active together.

What is long-term depression (LTD)?

Long-lasting decrease in synaptic strength.

What is long-term potentiation (LTP)?

Long-lasting increase in synaptic strength after certain patterns of activity.

What is a neuromodulator?

Chemical that broadly changes the activity or responsiveness of neurons rather than simply transmitting one direct signal.

What primary function is associated with the occipital lobe?

Visual processing.

What functions are associated with the parietal lobe?

Touch/body sensation and spatial processing.

What constitutes the peripheral nervous system (PNS)?

All nervous-system tissue outside the brain and spinal cord.

What was phrenology?

Discredited historical idea that personality traits could be inferred from bumps on the skull.

What is plasticity in the nervous system?

Capacity of the nervous system to change its structure or function with experience, learning, or injury.

What functions are associated with the temporal lobe?

Hearing, language, memory, and object recognition.

What is the theory of equipotentiality?

Historical view that learning/memory functions are distributed across the brain rather than confined to one small location.

What is constraint-induced movement therapy?

Rehabilitation approach that limits use of an unaffected limb to encourage use of an affected limb after brain injury.

What is dishabituation?

Recovery of a habituated response after a new or strong stimulus occurs.

What does dual process theory propose?

Theory proposing that behavior/cognition can involve two interacting processes or systems, often described as fast/automatic and slower/more controlled.

What is electrodermal activity (EDA)?

Changes in skin electrical conductance associated with sweat gland activity and arousal.

What is habituation?

Decreased response to a repeated, harmless stimulus.

What is the difference between homosynaptic and heterosynaptic changes?

Homosynaptic involves changes at the same synapse that was activated, whereas heterosynaptic involves changes at different synapses or activity across different synaptic connections.

What is a place cell?

Neuron, especially in the hippocampus, that becomes active when an animal is in a particular location.

What is priming?

Earlier exposure to a stimulus influences later processing or responding, often without conscious awareness.

What is sensitization?

Increased responsiveness after repeated or intense stimulation.

What is spontaneous recovery?

Return of a previously extinguished response after a rest period.

What is a word-stem completion task?

Memory task in which people complete word beginnings; performance can reveal implicit memory for previously encountered words.