IB Psychology SL: Memory and Learning (U3)

Learning

The process through which experience or practice results in a relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge.

Associative Learning

Connecting different stimuli to their effects and forming associations between them.

Classical Conditioning

Involuntary and unconscious acquisition of a response to a stimulus through repeated pairings with a neutral stimulus.

Pavlov’s Dog Expirement

The famous experiment conducted by Ivan Pavlov that demonstrated classical conditioning, where dogs learned to associate the sound of a bell with food, leading to salivation upon hearing the bell alone.

Unconditioned stimulus

A stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response without prior learning.

Unconditioned response

Naturally occurring response to a stimulus

Neutral/Conditioned Stimulus

A stimulus that initially produces no specific response on its own, but after repeated pairing with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response.

Conditioned response

A learned response to a previously neutral stimulus that occurs after repeated pairing with an unconditioned stimulus.

Extinction

Conditioned responses weaken with no reinforcement

Spontaneous Recovery

Conditioned responses can still resurface after extinction

Generalization

Conditioned responses can occur w/ several conditioned stimuli

Discrimination

The learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and other similar stimuli that do not signal the unconditioned stimulus.

Operant Conditioning

The forceful acquisition of voluntary behaviors

Reinforcement

Any event used to increase the frequency of a behavior

Punishment

Any event used to decrease the frequency of a behavior

Positive

Adding

Negative

Removing

Continuous

Every single time a behavior occurs, reinforcement/punishment is given, allowing fast learning but extinction occurs at a faster rate as well.

Partial

Reinforced intermittently after certain amounts of time

Ratio

Reinforcement is given after a certain number of times (after 3 good behaviors = choclate)

Intervals

Reinforcement is split between a certain amount of time (every 3 days)

Fixed

Predetermined reinforcement schedule (every 3rd try)

Variable

Random reinforcement schedule (1st, 5th, 20th try)

Theory

A broad and testable explanation of a phenomenon, the ‘why’

Model

A precise, specific example and typically oversimplified to aid in the understanding, the ‘how’

Encoding

Inputting or processing sensory information

Storage

The reticence of memories

Retrieval

The output/extrusion of information from your long-term memory

Atkinson-Shriffin (1968) Multi-Store Memory Model

A framework proposing that information flows sequentially through three distinct stores: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.

Sensory Memory

Snapshot of your surroundings, only what you pay attention to will be encoded

Short Term Memory

Momentary information that was consciously rehearsed and remembered

Long Term Memory

Unlimited in capacity and duration, only occurs when a memory is organized and indexed

Serial Position Effect

The psychological tendency to recall the first and last items in a list more accurately than the items in the middle.

Interference (Proactive and Retroactive)

Existing memories make new memories harder to remember. Proactive: Old memories make it harder to remember new ones. Retroactive: New memories make it harder to remember old memories.

Working Memory Model (1974)

A model to explain conscious thought gives a framework for how you process attention and STM. Split into 4 parts: the central executive, phonological loop, episodic buffer, and visuospatial sketchpad.

Central executive

The boss of conscious attention directs the passage of information.

Phonological Loop

Spoken and written words, helps rehearse information mentally

Visuospatial Sketchpad

A mental representation of an object, the brain’s ‘eyes’

Episodic buffer

The unification of the sensory components of a memory includes the phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, olfactory input, and even taste-based information.

Levels of Processing

Structural (how it looks), Phonetic (how it sounds), and Semantic (what it means)

Noetics

The study of one’s inner wisdom, implicit understanding of the environment, and consciousness

Declarative/Explict Memories

Memories of consciousness are processed in the hippocampus and stored somewhere in the prefrontal cortex.

Episodic Memories

Personal narratives/memories seen through your eyes

Semantic memories

Facts and general information

Implict/Nondeclarative Memories

Memories that occur w/o conscious recall via the cerebellum

Procedural Memories

Skills; cognitive & motor

Conditioned memories

Classical/operant conditioning result

Amnesia

Loss of memory, <2 years of age, the infantile version of this condition occurs, arising from the belief that the memories aren’t retrievable due to the lack of language.

Recall

A measure of memory where you retrieve previously learnt information, cued

Recognition

Identify info you have previously learned (MCQ)

Priming

Active associations between memories

Contextual priming

Retrieval of info based on the environment where the info was learned, Deja Vu is an example of such

Encoding Failure

Difficulty getting the information into the STM

Storage Decay

Difficulty memorizing due to the lack of rehearsal

Retrieval Failure

Difficulty retrieving info from LTM back into the working memory

Memory construction

Build and rebuild memories based on external and internal influences

Reconstruction

Altering a memory when bringing back to the working memory

Confabulation

Fill in the missing pieces of memory based on the context

Misinformation effect

If someone recalls a memory with misinfo, the memory will forever be tainted

Source monitoring

Our brains are royally bad at remembering the origin of a memory

Source Amnesia/misattribution

Intertwining/forgetting at the origin of a memory

Flashbulb memory

Highly emotional memory often with lots of details and specifics of your surroundings

Special-mechanism hypothesis

A specific biological structure within the brain that permanently stores memory after a certain emotional threshold has been met.

Importance-Driven Model of Flashbulb Memories

In addition to the special-mechanism hypothesis, a memory must attain a degree of relevance to an individual’s life.

Basis of emotion’s role in memory foundation

Amygdala and cortisol serves at hotspots biologically during flashbulb memory creation

Decision-making

Choosing an option based on the morals/beliefs of the individual amongst several options

Dual-Process model of Decision making

Two systems in charge of choosing certain options

System 1 Thinking

Quick and automatic thinking (intuition), usually leading to more confidence in answers.

Heuristics

Rules that allow quick decisions to be made act as a shortcut to maximize efficiency —> "Cognitive miser”

System 2 Thinking

Rationale/Critical thinking, typically have less confidence and requires more mental effort

Algorithm

A methodology that allows your brain to solve problems efficiently

Fixation

Inability to see a problem differently

Mental Set

Approaches in past successes will remain the same

Functional fixedness

the ability for people to see an objects purpose only as it is

Availability heuristic

Likelihood of something occurring based off how easily we can imagine it can occur

Representative Heuristic

Likelihoods based on preexisting schema

Prototype

Best example of something that fits into a category

Sterotype

Oversimplification of an entire category w/ the assumption that all the people in the group are the same

Base-rate fallacy

People prefer anecdotal evidence over actual statistics

Conjunction fallacy

Belief that both labels are likely to happen over just one

Small sample fallacy

Smaller sample = entire population and thus must be akin to a large sample size

Anchoring and Adjustment Heuristic

Using a number as a starting point that all other numbers are compared to

Gambler’s fallacy

Consistent belief of a possibility of an event occurring as it hasn’t occurred yet

Cognitive Load Theory

Working memory is limited, and the true extent of multitasking is limited as well

Intrinsic Load

The natural difficulty of a task

Extraneous Load

All other stressors or distractions

Germane Load

Less familiarity equates to more load you will require

Confirmation Bias

tendency to focus on things you already believe

Selective exposure

Only seek out info that agrees with your preexisting beliefs

Selective perception

Explains things that align with argument and disregard any disagreement

Selective retention

When a topic agrees, we remember it