Psyc - Memory and Learning

Psyc unit 6-7

Learning

Is a lasting change in behavior due to experience.

Conditioning

Is learning associations between events.

Classical conditioning

Is learning in which a stimulus acquires the capacity to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus.

psychic reflexes

Pavlov identified “_________” when studying digestive process in dogs.

stimulus-response associations formation

the basic building blocks of learning

Unconditioned stimulus (US)

A stimulus evoking an unconditioned response without previous conditioning.

Unconditioned response (UR)

An unlearned reaction to an unconditioned stimulus occurring without previous conditioning.

Conditioned stimulus (CS)

A previously neutral stimulus that, through conditioning, now evokes a conditioned response.

Conditioned response (CR)

A learned reaction to a conditioned stimulus occurring because of previous conditioning.

Conditioned fear and anxiety

helps shape emotional responses

Other conditioned responses

affect physiological processes

Evaluative conditioning

the acquisition of likes and dislikes through classical conditioning.

Systematic Desensitization

• Isolate fear stimulus

• Create a hierarchy of stimuli

• Pair relaxation with least feared stimulus

• Work through the hierarchy

reinforcement

A response strengthened because it leads to rewarding consequences.

Operant conditioning

• Voluntary responses are controlled by their consequences.

• Responses followed by favorable consequences are repeated.

• Fundamental principle is reinforcement, or a response strengthened because it leads to rewarding consequences.

Skinner Box

Small enclosure in which an animal can make a specific response while the consequences of the response are controlled

Reinforcement Contingencies

Circumstances that determine the presentation of reinforcers.

Key dependent variable in operant conditioning is the subjects’ response rate over time.

Cumulative Recorder

Graphic record of responding and reinforcement in a Skinner box as a function of time.

Positive reinforcement

More frequent behavior

Add stimulus to environment

Positive Punishment

Less frequent behavior

Add stimulus to environment

Negative Reinforcement

Remove stimulus from environment

More frequent behavior 

Negative Punishment 

Remove stimulus

Less frequent behavior

Acquisition

operant conditioning is the formation of a new response tendency.

Shaping

The reinforcement of closer and closer approximations of a desired response.

Extinction

Reinforcement is stopped. Learns not to make a specific response in a specific context.

Resistance to extinction

Occurs when an organism continues a response after delivery of the reinforcer has been terminated.

Stimulus Control

• Generalization and discrimination.

• Stimuli that precede a response can influence operant behavior.

• Once an organism learns the signal, it tends to respond accordingly.

Discriminative Stimuli

• Cues that influence operant behavior by indicating the probable consequences (reinforcement or nonreinforcement) of a response.

• Reactions to a discriminative stimulus are governed by the processes of stimulus generalization and stimulus discrimination, just like reactions to a CS in classical conditioning.

Primary reinforcers

events that are inherently reinforcing because they satisfy biological needs.

Secondary (conditioned) reinforcers

events that acquire reinforcing qualities by being associated with primary reinforcers.

Schedule of Reinforcement - Continuous

Every instance of a designated response is reinforced.

Schedule of Reinforcement -Intermittent

Response is reinforced only some of the time.

Ratio Schedule - Fixed Ratio (FR)

Fixed number of nonreinforced responses.

Ratio Schedule - Variable Ratio (VR)

Variable number of nonreinforced responses.

Interval Schedules - Fixed Interval (FI)

Fixed time interval has elapsed

Interval Schedules - Variable Interval (VI)

Interval length varies around a predetermined average.

Positive reinforcement

a response is strengthened because it is followed by the presentation of a rewarding stimulus.

Negative reinforcement

Response is strengthened when followed by the removal of an aversive (unpleasant) stimulus.

Escape Learning

• An organism acquires a response that decreases or ends some aversive stimulation.

• Leads to removal of an aversive stimulus (shock), and strengthened through negative reinforcement. 

Avoidance learning

An organism acquires a response that prevents some aversive stimulation from occurring.

Encoding

process of forming a memory code

Storage

maintaining encoded information in memory over time

Retrieval

recovering information from memory stores

Attention

Focusing awareness on a narrowed range of stimuli or events.

Selective attention

 critical to everyday functioning

Shallow Processing (1)

Structural Encoding - Physical Structure of the stimulus (capital letters)

Intermediate Processing (2)

Phonetic Encoding - Word sounds like (Rhyme with weight)

Deep Processing (3)

Semantic encoding - meaning of verbal input (word fit in sentence)

Elaboration

The linking of a stimulus to other information at the time of encoding enhances semantic encoding.

Visual Imagery

The creation of visual images to represent the words to be remembered.

Motivation to remember

High motivation to remember (MTR) at the time of encoding improves recall later.

Atkinson-Shiffrin model of memory

Sensory input →Attention (Rehearsal) →Storage ← retrieval

Sensory memory

briefly preserves information original sensory form

Short-term memory (STM)

A limited-capacity store that can maintain unrehearsed information for up to about 20 seconds.

Rehearsal

The process of repetitively verbalizing or thinking about information.

information in short-term memory is lost in 10 to 20 seconds.

Chunking

grouping familiar stimuli stored as a single unit, increases STM capacity

Working memory

a modular system for temporarily storing and manipulating information.

Working memory capacity (WMC)

one’s ability to hold and manipulate information in conscious attention

Flashbulb memories

Unusually vivid and detailed recollections of momentous events.

Conceptual Hierarchies - Clustering

The tendency to remember similar items in groups.

Conceptual hierarchy

A multilevel classification system based on common properties among items.

Schemas

Organized cluster of knowledge about a particular object or event abstracted from previous experience

Semantic Network

Nodes representing concepts, joined together by pathways that link related concepts

Spreading Activation

Process that occurs when people think about a word and their thoughts naturally go to related words

Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon

a temporary inability to remember something you know, accompanied by a feeling that it’s just out of reach.

Retrieval cues

stimuli that help gain access to memories, such as hints, related information, or partial recollections.

Misinformation effect

when participants’ recall of an event they witnessed is altered by introducing misleading post-event information.

Source monitoring

The process of making inferences about the origins of memories.

Source-monitoring error

when a memory derived from one source is misattributed to another source.

Nonsense syllables

Consonant-vowel-consonant arrangements that do not correspond to words.

Forgetting curve

graphs retention and forgetting over time.

Retention

The proportion of material retained (remembered).

Retention interval

Time between the presentation of materials and the measurement of forgetting.

Three methods to measure forgetting/retention:

1. Recall measure 

2. Recognition measure 

3. Relearning measure

Pseudoforgetting

The phenomenon of thinking you forgot something that you never really learned

Decay Theory

The idea that forgetting occurs because memory traces fade with time.

Interference theory

The idea that people forget information because of competition from other material.

Retroactive interference

Occurs when new information impairs the retention of previously learned information.

Proactive interference

Occurs when previously learned information interferes with the retention of new information.

Retrieval Failure

Breakdowns in the process of retrieval

Encoding specificity principle

The value of a retrieval cue depends on how well it corresponds to the memory code.

Motivated Forgetting

The tendency to forget things one doesn’t want to think about.

Repression

Keeping distressing thoughts and feelings buried in the unconscious.