Learning and Memory

Psychology Unit 3: Learning and Memory

Antecedent

An environmental stimulus that triggers a specific action.

Behaviour

Any action performed by an organism that can be observed.

Classical conditioning

A simple form of learning that occurs though repeated associations between two stimuli to produce an involuntary response.

Conditioned response (CR)

A learned behaviour triggered by a conditioned stimulus after conditioning has taken place.

Conditioned stimulus (CS)

A previously neutral stimulus that now produces a conditioned response due to repeated pairings with an unconditioned stimulus.

Consequence

An event that follows a behaviour and determines whether it is more or less likely to occur again.

Indigenous ways of knowing

Holistic systems where learning is embedded in relationships and multimodal systems of knowledge patterned on Country.

Learning

The process of acquiring knowledge or skills through experience

Learning map

Visuals or images used to map out processes for Indigenous learners

Negative punishment

Removing a desirable stimulus after a behaviour to decrease the likelihood of that behaviour recurring

Negative reinforcement

Removing an undesirable stimulus after a behaviour to increase the likelihood of that behaviour recurring

Neutral stimulus (NS)

A stimulus that does not produce a specific response prior to the conditioning process

Observational learning

A social-cognitive process where a learner watches a model’s actions and their consequences to guide future behaviour

Operant conditioning

A learning process in which the likelihood of a voluntary behaviour is determined by its consequences

Land Links

Learning drawn from the living landscape and profound ancestral relationships with specific places

Positive punishment

Adding an undesirable stimulus after a behaviour to decrease the likelihood of that behaviour recurring

Positive reinforcement

Adding a desirable stimulus after a behaviour to increase the likelihood of that behaviour recurring

Reinforcement

A stimulus from the environment that increases the likelihood of a response occurring in the future

Social-cognitive approach

Learning that occurs when individuals process, remember, and learn information within social contexts

Unconditioned response (UCR)

An automatic, involuntary response that occurs when an unconditioned stimulus is presented

Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

A stimulus that consistently produces a naturally occurring, automatic response

Yarn

An Indigenous system of learning involving the continuous sharing of stories

Symbols and Images

Using art, metaphors and drawings to share knowledge.

Story Sharing

Approaching learning through narrative to connect through personal stories.

Learning Maps

Explicitly picturing and mapping out a visual plan or pathway for a learning sequence.

Non-verbal

Using body movements, gestures, and kinaesthetic skills (like dance) to think and learn without words.

Non-linear

thinking laterally or combining different systems to produce new knowledge and original insights.

Deconstruct/reconstruct

Modelling and scaffolding by working from the whole process down to individual parts (watching then doing)

Community Links

Connecting learning to local community values and using that knowledge for the benefit of the community.

Acronym

A pronounceable word formed from the first letter of each word to be remembered

Acrostic

A phrase or poem where the first letter of each word acts as a retrieval cue for information

Alzheimer’s disease

A neurodegenerative disease causing progressive deterioration of brain neurons, resulting in memory loss and cognitive decline

Amygdala

A midbrain structure involved in emotional reactions and the formation of emotional memories, particularly those related to fear

Amyloid plaque

Abnormal protein build-up between the synapses of neurons that interferes with neural communication

Anterograde amnesia

The inability to form new explicit long-term memories after a brain trauma or event

Aphantasia

The inability to visualize mental imagery

Autobiographical memory

A memory system for recollecting personal life episodes, combining episodic and semantic memory components

Basal ganglia

Structures deep in the brain involved in habit formation, routine behaviours, and procedural memory

Cerebellum

A structure at the base of the brain that coordinates movement fluency and stores implicit memories of conditioned reflexes

Consolidation

The process by which temporary memories are transformed into more stable, long-lasting forms

Decay

The fading away of information in short-term memory when it is not maintained through rehearsal

Displacement

When new items are added to short-term memory, pushing out existing items

Duration

The length of time information is held within a specific memory store

Encoding

Converting sensory information into a useable form that the brain can process

Episodic memory

Long-term explicit memory of specific personal events or experiences

Explicit memory

Information that can be consciously or intentionally retrieved and stated

Hippocampus

A midbrain structure that encodes, consolidates, and retrieves explicit long-term memories

Implicit memory

Long-term memory for skills or emotional responses that does not require conscious retrieval

Long-term memory (LTM):

A relatively permanent memory system that holds vast amounts of information for long periods, possibly for life

Mental time travel

The capacity to mentally reconstruct past personal events and imagine possible future scenarios

Method of loci

A mnemonic system that commits familiar locations to memory and visually links them with information to be recalled

Mnemonic

Any technique used to enhance or organize information for easier memory storage and retrieval

Neocortex

The top layer of the cerebral cortex, which stores long-term explicit memories

Neurofibrillary tangle

Abnormal protein build-up inside a neuron associated with cell death

Reconstruction

Combining stored information with other available details to form a coherent memory during retrieval

Rehearsal

Consciously manipulating information to keep it in short-term memory or transfer it to long-term memory

Retrieval

The process of locating and recovering stored information from memory

Retrograde amnesia

The inability to retrieve previously stored memories from before a trauma occurred

Semantic memory

Explicit long-term memory of facts and general knowledge about the world

Sensory memory

The entry point for sensory information, storing raw data for a very brief duration

Short-term memory (STM)

A store that holds limited information consciously for about 12–30 seconds unless it is rehearsed

Songline

A sung narrative of the landscape that enables significant places in Aboriginal Dreaming to be known

Storage

The retention of information in memory over a period of time

The Atkinson-Shiffrin multi-store model of memory

A model that proposes that there are multiple levels to memory and in order to store information for a long period of time, sensory information must pass through a series of levels or stores through the processes of encoding, rehearsal and retrieval.