Learning, Cognition, and Behavior Final

Operant Conditioning

focuses on learning through voluntary actions and their consequences (rewards or punishments)

Classical Conditioning

involves learning through involuntary, reflexive responses to stimuli

Positive Reinforcement

increases a behavior by adding a desirable stimulus

Negative Reinforcement

increases a behavior by removing an undesirable stimulus

Positive Punishment

decreases a behavior by adding an undesirable stimulus

Negative Punishment

(omission) decreases a behavior by removing a desirable stimulus

Conditioned Stimulus

initially elicits no response, but after being paired with the US, comes to trigger a similar response

Unconditioned Stimulus

a stimulus that automatically elicits a specific response without prior learning

Conditioned Response

the learned response to the CS

Unconditioned Response

the automatic, naturally occurring response to the US

Reinforcer

increases age likelihood of a behavior

Operant Response

voluntary behavior being modified through reinforcement or punishment

Discriminative Stimulus

signals when a specific behavior will be reinforced

Stimulus Control

refers to the degree to which a stimulus influences the behavior

Identify and explain the concept of the conditioned compensatory response and its relation with drug tolerance

automatic response, learned through association, that is opposite effect of a drug

• predicting to when a drug is likely to be administered, allowing the body to prep and reduce the drug’s impact (drug used in specific place, that place will then become a cue)

Understand prediction error and US surprisingness and how they play a role in classical conditioning, as illustrated by blocking and unblocking.

• when a stimulus is unexpectedly followed by an unconditioned stimulus, a prediction error is generated, leading to learning

• the blocking effect demonstrates that learning about a stimulus is impaired if another stimulus already fully predicts the US, while unblocking shows that learning can be restored under certain conditions

Explain why spontaneous recovery and renewal indicate that extinction is not erasure

• a suppression of it; spontaneous recovery, the reappearance of an extinguished response after a period of time, shows the conditioned response persists even after extinction

• renewal, where an extinguished response reappears when tested in a different context, further supports this, demonstrating that the original memory isn’t simply erased but can be reactivated under different circumstances

Be able to describe the Partial Reinforcement Extinction Effect (PREE) and its implications for making behavior more persistent.

• describes the phenomenon where behaviors learned under intermittent )partial reinforcement) are more resistant to extinction than behaviors learned under continuous reinforcement

• this means that if a behavior is only sometimes reinforced, it will continue to be performed longer when reinforcement is removed compared to a behavior that was reinforced every time it occurred

Understand the relationship between extinction and Exposure Therapy

• exposure therapy leverages the principle of extinction, a process where a conditioned fear response weakens overtime when the feared stimulus is repeatedly presented without the aversive outcome

• exposure therapy is a way to facilitate the extinction of learned fear responses, making it a core mechanism for treating anxiety disorders and trauma-related conditions

Preparedness

the readiness to respond to a specific stimulus or situation; focuses on cognitive and affective aspects of readiness, including knowledge, anticipation, and emotional self-regulation

Fixed Ratio

reinforcement occurs after a fixed number of responses (getting paid 2 weeks for every 10 items manufactured)

Variable Ratio

reinforcement occurs after an unpredictable number of responses, around a certain average (playing slot machines, where the number of times you pull the lever before winning)

Fixed Interval

reinforcement occurs after a fixed amount of time (getting paid weekly, where the paycheck is delivered on the same day every week)

Variable Interval

Reinforcement occurs after an unpredictable amount of time, around a certain average (checking your email frequently to see if a reply has arrived, as the time between checking emails)

Matching Law

an organism’s response rate will match its reinforcement rate across different choices

Quantitative Law of Effect

more general term that describes the relationship between reinforcement and the strengthening of a behavior

Explain and be able to use the Premack Principle to identify what would be reinforcing for an individual.

• how a more probable behavior can reinforce a less probable behavior

• essentially, if someone desires to engage in a highly preferred activity, they are more likely to perform a less preferred activity that leads to the preferred one.

• this principle can be used to identify reinforcing activities by understanding what an individual naturally gravitates towards and then using that as a reward for less desired behaviors

Delay Discounting

the tendency to place a lower value on rewards or outcomes that are delayed in time, making immediate gratification more appealing

Self Control

the ability to resist immediate temptations and prioritize long-term goals

Impulsive Choices

decisions made without proper consideration long-term consequences. Driven by immediate satisfaction of desire

Habits

automatic behaviors triggered by cues in the environment

Goal-Directed Actions

driven by the value of the outcome and can be suppressed if the reinforcer is devalued

Reinforcer Devaluation

a technique where the value of a reinforcer is reduced (making something unappealing) can be used to distinguish between habits and goal-directed actions

Know the factors that cause habits to develop, and to be lost.

develop through a combination of cues, routines, and rewards. Can be lost due to a disruption in the loop, such as removing the cue, routine becoming challenging, or reward no longer being satisfying

Incentive Learning

refers to the process of assigning an incentive value to the consequences of actions, influencing the decision to perform them

What is evidence that supports the Incentive Learning is supporting its role in instrumental behavior

comes from studies showing that behavior is sensitive not only to the probability of reward, but also to the value or “incentive” of the reward

Cue-Potentiated Feeding

a behavioral phenomenon where environmental cues associated with food can trigger increased food intake, even when the individual is not hungry

S-O

where S predicts a specific outcome (Pavlovian conditioning)

R-O

where a R leads to a specific outcome (instrumental conditioning)

S-R

formed in both but are particularly emphasized in the contexts of habits

General Pavlovian-Instrumental Transfer (gPIT)

a CS, paired with one reward, can enhance an instrumental response directed towards a different reward → creates general motivational state that increases likelihood of instrumental response

Outcome-Specific Pavlovian-Instrumental Transfer (osPIT)

a CS, paired with a specific reward, enhances the instrumental response specifically directed towards the same reward → limited to the specific reward it’s associated with

Explain the argument made in lecture about why behavior change is difficult to sustain

• It’s often a complex, nonlinear process involving both conscious and unconscious efforts to disrupt old habits and foster new ones

• lapses and relapses are common, and the body and mind may resist change by seeking comfort in established behaviors

• the context in which new behavior is learned can play a significant role in long-term sustainability

Contingency Management Treatment for Drugs

an evidence based treatment for drug addiction that utilizes motivational incentives to encourage positive behavior change

Episodic Memory (explicit memory)

the ability to recall specific personal experiences and events

Semantic Memory (explicit memory)

encompasses general knowledge and facts about the world

Paired Associate Test

assesses memory for associations between items (episodic)

Free Association Test

explores word relationships and can reveal more about semantic memory

Encoding

the initial process of registering information into the brain

Consolidation

the process of strengthening and stabilizing those memories overtime

Retrieval

the act of accessing and bringing those stored memories back to conscious awareness

Depth of Processing

refers to the idea that the depth at which information is processed affects how well it is remembered. Deeper processing (like semantic analysis) leads to better retention than shallow processing (like phonemic or visual analysis).

Factors that affect encoding

attention, motivation, and stress; sleep deprivation and neurological conditions

Fixation Consolidation

solidifying a fragile new memory into a stable long-term one within hours of learning

Reconsolidation

when you pull up memorized info, it is fragile in the hours after, as it is reconsolidated and made more stable

Interference (major mechanism in forgetting)

occurs when other memories interfere with the retrieval of a specific memory

Retrieval Failure (major mechanism of forgetting)

occurs when a memory is present but cannot be accessed due to a lack of retrieval cues or other factors

Encoding Specificity Principle

The idea that memory is most effective when information available at encoding is also present at retrieval, enhancing recall.

The importance of the Encoding Specificity Principle on memory

refers to environmental factors, physical state, emotional state, and even language

Understand how memory is considered reconstructive.

Memory is considered reconstructive because it is not a perfect recording of experiences; instead, it is influenced by existing knowledge, beliefs, and cues at the time of recall, which can alter or distort the original memory.

Flashbulb Memories

vivid, detailed recollections of a moment when one learned of a surprising piece of news or experienced an emotionally charged event.

Misinformation Effect

describes how post-event information van distort those memories

Hippocampal Place Cell

a type of neuron found in the hippocampus that is involved in spatial navigation and memory, firing when an individual is at specific locations in an environment.

What conditions is a place cell active in?

Place cells are active when an individual is exploring an environment or navigating to specific locations, providing spatial awareness.

Hippocampal Remapping

the process by which hippocampal place cells reorganize their firing patterns in response to changes in an environment or context.

Systems Consolidation

process where memories, initially stored in the hippocampus, are gradually transferred to the neocortex for long-term storage

Temporally-Graded Retrograde Amnesia (Ribot Gradient)

a pattern where recent memories are more likely to be lost in retrograde amnesia than older memories

Implicit Memory

the unconscious influence of priming or experiences on behavior

How is Implicit Memory measured with priming

where participants are presented with stimuli that activate specific associations and their performance on tasks

Implicit Association Test

a psychological test used to measure automatic associations between different concepts by analyzing reaction times.

Bottleneck Theory

A model suggesting that information processing is limited at a certain stage, restricting the amount of information that can be handled simultaneously, particularly in attention and perception.