PSYC211 Learning and Memory

perceptual learning

making sense of sensory inputs; happens predominantly in the first few years of life as we learn how to control our body, connected to motor learning

motor learning

enables us to make sequences of skilled movements in a coordinated manner

non-associative learning

sensory inputs gaining control (habituation and sensitization)

stimulus-response learning

Pavlovian conditioning and operant conditioning

stimulus-stimulus learning

relational learning: episodic and semantic memory

characteristics of perceptual memories

- implicit, retrieved unconsciously

- developed by repeatedly experiencing the same stimulus from different vantage points/contexts

- largely unaware of the learning process, but we try to make sense of it consciously with words

- requires attention, formal instruction helps

sensorimotor integration

when we move, we get feedback from our muscles, proprioceptive system, vestibular system, eyes, ears, etc; this feedback allows us to identify what an effective movement feels like and looks like

characteristics of motor learning

- implicit, retrieved unconsciously

- continue to improve during periods of rest and sleep, which is thought to reflect neural network optimization and data consolidation

- attention is important - formal coaching helps

characteristics of non-associative learning

- occurs beneath conscious awareness

- people often notice the change in behaviour, but the memories are implicit - they are retrieved unconsciously

- attention is largely irrelevant, and formal instruction does not help

Pavlovian/classical conditioning

when an innate, reflexive behaviour is linked to a sensory cue that was not initially hardwired to trigger it

characteristics of Pavlovian conditioning

- behavioural responses are not flexible - the animal doesn't choose them

- Pavlovian learning occurs beneath conscious awareness; people may notice the change in behaviour, but the memories are implicit - they are retrieved unconsciously

- attention is largely irrelevant, and formal instruction does not help

unconditioned stimulus

a stimulus that triggers an innate behavioural response

conditioned stimulus

a stimulus that was not hardwired from birth to trigger an innate behavioural response, typically neutral prior to learning

unconditioned response

an innate, reflexive behavioural response to an unconditioned stimulus

conditioned response

a learned, reflexive behavioural response to a conditioned stimulus; often resembles the UR that was observed during training

operant conditioning

when an animal learns to repeat (or not repeat) an exploratory behaviour due to the consequences of its prior actions; learning from the consequences of the behaviour, from the receipt of reward or punishment

stimulus (operant conditioning)

the contextual stimuli that provoke the behaviour

reinforcing stimulus

makes animals more likely to repeat their previous actions

punishing stimulus

makes animals less likely to repeat their previous actions

characteristics of operant conditioning

- implicit operant memory - they can't say what they know or why they know it

- when people become consciously aware of an action-outcome contingency, it immediately changes their behaviour

- stimulus-response learning causes neutral stimuli to become conditioned stimuli

- conditioned stimuli can have a value attached to them, which makes them conditioned reinforcers (also called secondary reinforcers) or conditioned (secondary) punishers

two main pathways between sensory cortices and motor cortex

direct transcortical connections and basal ganglia

direct transcortical connections

connections from one area of the cerebral cortex to another, involved in conscious thought processes and the creation of new complex motor sequences that involve deliberation or instruction

basal ganglia

in forebrain, responsible for automating operant behaviours, creating habitual responses based on reinforcement learning (largely beneath conscious awareness)

dopamine signaling

(basal ganglia), drives habit learning by providing the basal ganglia a "thumbs up / thumbs down" reinforcement signal, which determines the likelihood animals will repeat their last decision or behaviour

dopamine neurons in the midbrain

project to the basal ganglia to broadcast perceptions of reinforcement and punishment

limbic circuit (nucleus accumbens)

regulates priorities and cravings

sensorimotor circuit

encodes action habits

associative circuit

encodes habits of thought (habits of mind)

episodic memory

our ability to remember detailed information about personal experiences and specific events, including the time, place, and emotional context in which they occurred

semantic memory

our ability to remember general knowledge and facts about the world; includes knowing the meaning of words, abstract concepts, and basic facts like the capital of a country or mathematical formulas

the hippocampus and memory

- required to form and retrieve episodic and thus semantic memories

- considered a hub that can reactivate the sensory systems and neurons that initially encoded an experience

amnesia

a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or disease, can also be temporarily caused by drugs

anterograde amnesia

the inability to form new explicit memories after a brain injury, can result from bilateral damage to the hippocampus or its key input-output structures

retrograde amnesia

the inability to recall explicit memories from before a brain injury, commonly seen in neurodegenerative diseases where there is brain-wide neurodegeneration

rat/hippocampus/lidocaine

- rats learn how to solve a maze

- you inject lidocaine into the hippocampus and test them again after a delay (1 day vs. 30 days)

- they need a functional hippocampus to remember newly learned spatial information but not information learned 30 days ago

= memories are consolidated and stored in the cerebral cortex during this period of 30 days and the hippocampus is no longer required to retrieve them

Hebb's rule

neurons that fire together, wire together

Korsakoff's syndrome

type of anterograde amnesia in which patients are unable to form new memories but can still remember old ones before the brain damage occurred

confabulation

type of anterograde amnesia in which people report memories of events that did not take place, with no intention to deceive