MCAT Behavioral Sciences: Learning and Memory

Chapter 3

Learning

Refers specifically to the way in which we acquire new behaviors

Stimulus

Can be defined as anything to which an organism can respond including sensory inputs.

Habituation

A decrease in response caused by repeated exposure to a stimulus

Subthreshold Stimulus

Stimulus to weak to elicit a response

Dishabituation

Defined as the recovery of a response to a stimulus after habituation has occured

Associative Learning

Creation of a pairing, or association, between two stimuli or between a behavior and response

Classical Conditioning

Is type of associative learning that takes advantage of biological, instinctual responses to create associations between two unrelated stimuli

Unconditioned Stimulus

Any stimulus that brings about such a reflexive response

Neural Stimuli

Stimuli that does not produce a reflexive response

Conditioned Stimulus

Normally neutral stimulus that through causes reflexive response

Acquisition

Unconditioned stimulus to turn a neutral stimulus into a conditioned stimulus

Appetitive Conditioning

A type of classical condtioning in which the unconditioned stimulus is pleasent or desirable

Appetitive Stimulus

Stimulus from appetitive conditioning

Extinction

Refers to loss of a conditioned response, and can occur if conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus

Spontaneous Recovery

Presenting subject with extinct conditioned stimulus will produce a weak conditioned response

Generalization

Broadening effect by which a stimulus similar enough to conditioned stimulus can also produce the conditioned response

Discrimination

Ability to distinguish between similar stimuli

Operant Conditioning

Examines ways in whcih consequences of voluntary behaviors change the frequency of those behaviors

Law of Effects

behavior that produces desirable outcomes will be repeated

Behaviorism

All behaviors are conditioned

Reinforcement

Process of increasing the likelihood that an animal will perform a behavior.

Positive Reinforcement

Increases frequency of a behavior by adding a positive consequence or incentive

Negative Reinforcement

Increase frequency of behavior by removing something unpleasant

Punishment

Uses conditioning to reduce the occurence of a behavior

Positive Punishment

Adds unpleasent consequences in response to behavior to reduce behavior

Negative Punishment

Removing a stimulus in order to cause reduction of behavior

Escape Learning

Experience unpleasent stimulus and in response, displays behavior in order to trigger removal of stimulus

Avoidance Learning

Display desired behavior in anticipation of unpleasant stimulus there by avoiding unpleasant stimulus

Fixed Ratio Schedule

Reinforces a behavior after specific number of performances of that behavior

Variable Ratio Schedule

Reinforces a behavior after varying number of performances of the behavior. Such that average number of performed to recieve reward is constant.

Fixed Interval Schedule

Reinforce the first instance of behavior after a specified time period has elapsed

Variable Interval Schedule

Reinforce a behavior the first time that behavior is performed after a varying time

Continues reinforcement

fixed ratio schedule in which behavior is rewarded every time is performed

Shaping

Process of rewarding specific behavior that become closer to desired response

Latent Learning

Learning occurs without a reward but is spontaneously demonstrated once a reward is introduced.

Instinctive Drift

When animals revert to an instinctive behavior after learning a new behavior that is similar

Observational Learning

Process of learning a new behavior or gaining information by watching other.

Mirror Neurons

Involved in motor process, but related to empathy and vicarious emotions

Visual Encoding

Visualize information

Acoustic Encoding

Store way info sounds

Elaborative encoding

link knowledge already in memory

Semantic encoding

Put info into meaningful context

Encoding

Refer to process of putting new information into memory

Automatic Processing

Information gained without any effort

Controlled Processing

Active work to gain information

Self Reference Effect

Ability to recall information when put in context of our own lives

Encoding Specificity

When conditions that re present during encoding are mimicked when retrieving the information there is improved recall

Maintence Rehersal

Repetition of a piece of information to either keep it within working memory or to store it in short term and eventually long term memory

Method of Loci

Associating each item in a list within a location along a route through a building that has already been memorized

Peg Word System

Associates numbers with items that rhyme with or resemble the numbers

Chunking

Taking individual elements of large list and grouping them together into groups of elements with related menaing

Sensory Memory

Preserves information in its original sensory form with high accuracy and lasts only a very short time

Iconic memory

Fast decaying memory of visual stimuli

Echoic memory

Fast decaying memory of auditory stimuli

Short Term Memory

Fades quickly over course of 30 seconds without rehersal, memory capacity of short term is 7 +- 2

Working Memory

Enables to keep a few pieces of into our consciousness simulatenously and manipulate that info

Long Term Memory

Limitless for knowledge that can be recalled on demand

Implicit memory

Skills, habits, conditioned responses, nothing consciously recalled

Procedural Memory

Relates unconscious memory of skill required to complete procedural tasks

Explicit Memory

Memories can be consciously recalled

Episodic

Recollection of life experiences

Semantic

Ideas, concepts, facts

Autobiographical memory

name given to our episodic memories and semantic memories that relate to our personal traits and characters

Priming

Presentation of one stimulus affecting perception of a second

Positive Priming

Exposure of first stimulus improves processing of second stimulus

Negative Priming

First stimulus interferes with processing of second

Retrieval

Process of demonstrating something has been learned has been retained

Recognition

Identifying a piece of information that was previously learned

Spacing Effect

Longer amount of time between session of relearning the greater the retention of info later on

Semantic Network

Concepts are linked together based on similar meaning

Spreading Activation

One node of our semantic network is activated, the other linked concepts around it are unconsciously activated

Context Effect

Where memory is aided by being in physical location where encoding took place

Source Monitoring

Determining the origin of memories and whether they are fact or fiction

State Dependent Memory

Retrival cue based on performing better when in the same mental state as the information was learned

Serial Position Effect

List memorization, items position in the list affects, partipants ability to recall

Amnesia

Significant loss of memorized information

Source Amnesia

Inability to remember where, when or how one obtained knowledge

Alzhiemer Disease

Degenerative brain disorder thought to be linked to a loss of acetylchloine in neurons that link to hippocampus

Korsakoffs Syndrome

Form of memory loss caused by thiamine deficency in the brain

Retrograde amnesia

Loss of previously formed memories

Anterograde Amnesia

Inability to form new memories

Confabulation

Process of creating vivid but fabricated memories

Agnosia

Loss of the ability to recognize objects, people, or sounds through usually only one of the three of Korsakoff syndrome

Decay

Memories are simply lost naturally overtime as the neurochemical trace o a short term memory fades

Interference

Retrival error caused by existence of other, usually similar information

Proactive Interference

Old information is interfereing with new learning

Retroactive Interference

New information causes forgetting of old information,

Prospective Memory

Remebering to perform a task at some point in the future

Reproductive Memory

Accurate recall of past events

Reconstructive memory

Theory of memory recall in which cognitive process affect act of remebering

False memory

Incorrectly recalls actual events or recall events that never occur

Recovered memories

Repressed memories brought back to conscious mind

Misinformation effect

Where a person recall of an event become less accurate due to the injection of outside information into the memory

Intrusion Error

Refer to false memories that have included a false detail into a particular memory, not from an outside source

Source monitoring Error

Confusion between semantic and episodic memory, person remembers the details of an event, but confuses the context under which those details were gained

Neuroplascity

Neural connection form rapidly i response to stimuli

Synaptic Pruning

Weak neural connections are broken while strong ones are bolstered

Synaptic Cleft

The gap between a neuron and target cell

Long Term Potentiation

Strengthing of neural connections through repeated use.