Learning and Memory

learning

any relatively permanent change in behavior brought about by experience or practice

Ivan Pavlov

a Russian physiologist (person who studies the workings of the body) who discovered classical conditioning through his work on digestion in dogs

classical conditioning

learning to make a reflex response to a stimulus other than the original, natural stimulus that normally produces the reflex

unconditioned

meaning "unlearned" or "naturally occurring."

conditioned

means "learned."

unconditioned response (UCR)

an involuntary response to a naturally occurring or unconditioned stimulus

unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

a naturally occurring stimulus that leads to an involuntary response

conditioned stimulus (CS)

stimulus that becomes able to produce a learned reflect response by being paired with the original unconditioned stimulus

neutral stimulus (NS)

can become a conditioned stimulus when paired with an unconditioned stimulus

conditioned response (CR)

learned reflect response to a conditioned stimulus, sometimes called a conditioned reflect

acquisition

repeated pairing of the NS and the UCS; the organism is in the process of acquiring learning

stimulus generalization

tendency to respond to a stimulus that is only similar to the original conditioned stimulus with the conditioned response

stimulus discrimination

tendency to stop making a generalized response to a stimulus that is similar to the original conditioned stimulus

extinction

disappearance or weakening of a learned response following the removal or absence of the unconditioned stimulus (in classical conditioning) or the removal of a reinforcer (in operant conditioning)

spontaneous recovery

reappearance of a learned response after extinction has occurred

higher-order conditioning

a strong conditioned stimulus is paired with a neutral stimulus, then neutral stimulus becomes a second conditioned stimulus

conditioned emotional response (CER)

emotional response that has become classically conditioned to occur to learned stimuli (may lead to phobias, irrational fear responses)

vicarious conditioning

classical conditioning of a reflex response or emotion by watching the reaction of another person

conditioned taste aversion

development of a nausea or aversive response to a particular taste because that taste was followed by a nausea reaction

biological preparedness

the tendency of such animals to learn certain associations, such as taste and nausea, with only one or few pairings due to the survival value of the learning

stimulus substitution

original theory in which Pavlov stated that classical conditioning occurred because the conditioned stimulus became a substitute for the unconditioned stimulus by being paired closely together

cognitive perspective

modern theory in which classical conditioning is seen to occur because the conditioned stimulus provides information or an expectancy about the coming of the unconditioned stimulus

operant conditioning

the learning of voluntary behavior through the effects of pleasant and unpleasant consequences to responses

Thorndike's law of effect

if a response is followed by a pleasurable consequence, it will tend to be repeated, but if a response is followed by an unpleasant consequence, it will tend not to be repeated

B.F Skinner

a behaviorist who gave "operant conditioning" its name

operant

means "any behavior that is voluntary."

reinforcement

any event or stimulus, that when following a response, increases the probability that the response will occur again

primary reinforcer

any reinforcer that is naturally reinforcing by meeting a basic biological need, such as hunger, thirst, or touch

secondary reinforcer

any reinforcer that becomes reinforcing after being paired with a primary reinforcer, such as praise, tokens, or gold stars

positive reinforcement

the reinforcement of a response by the addition or experience of a pleasurable stimulus

negative reinforcement

the reinforcement of a response by the removal, escape from, or avoidance of an unpleasant stimulus

partial reinforcement effect

a response that is reinforced after some—but not all—correct responses tends to be very resistant to extinction

continuous reinforcement

reinforcement of each and every correct response

fixed interval schedule of reinforcement

interval of time that must pass before reinforcement becomes possible is always the same

variable interval schedule of reinforcement

the interval of time that must pass before the reinforcement becomes possible is different for each trial or event

fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement

this schedule of reinforcement means the number of responses required for reinforcement is always the same

variable ratio schedule of reinforcement

schedule of reinforcement in which the number of responses required for reinforcement is different for each trial or even

punishment

any event or object that, when following a response, makes that response less likely to happen again

punishment by application

the punishment of a response by the addition or experiencing of an unpleasant stimulus

punishment by removal

the punishment of a response by the removal of a pleasurable stimulus

severe punishment

may cause avoidance of the punisher instead of the behavior being punished, creates fear and anxiety

discriminative stimulus

any stimulus, such as a stop sign or a doorknob, that provides the organism with a cue for making certain response in order to obtain reinforcement

shaping

reinforcement of simple steps, leading to a desired complex behavior

successive approximation

small steps, one after another, that lead to a particular goal behavior

instinctive drift

tendency for an animal's behavior to revert to genetically controlled patterns

raccoons

they commonly dunk their food in and out of water before eating. this "washing" behavior is controlled by instinct, and is difficult to change even using operant techniques

behavior modification

use of operant conditioning techniques to bring about desired changes in behavior

token economy

type of behavior modification in which desired behavior is rewarded in tokens

time-out

form of mild punishment by removal in which a misbehaving animal, child, or adult is placed in a special area away from the attention of others

applied behavior analysis (ABA)

modern term for a from of behavior modification that uses shaping techniques to mold a desired behavior or response

biofeedback

use of feedback about biological conditions to bring involuntary responses such as blood pressure and relaxation under voluntary control

neurofeedback

form of biofeedback using devices (EEG, fMRI) to provide feedback about brain activity in an effort to modify behavior

Cognitive Learning Theory

In the 1950s—and more intensely in the 1960s—many psychologists were becoming aware that cognition, the mental events that take place inside a person's mind while behaving, could no longer be ignored.

Edward Tolman

an early cognitive scientist, his best-known experiments in learning involved teaching three groups of rats the same maze, one at a time

latent learning

learning that remains hidden until its application becomes useful

insight

the sudden perception of relationships among various parts of a problem, allowing the solution to the problem to come quickly, the "aha!" moment

learned helplessness

tendency to fail to act to escape from a situation because of a history of repeated failures in the past

positive psychology

new way of looking a the entire concept of mental health and therapy that focuses on the adaptive, creative, and psychologically more fulfilling aspects of human experience rather than on mental disorders

observable learning

learning new behavior by watching a model perform that behavior

learning or performance distinction

learning can take place without actual performance of the learned behavior

attention, memory, imitation, motivation

four elements of observational learning

attention

(an element of observational learning) to learn anything through observation, the learner must first pay attention to the model

memory

(an element of observational learning) the learner must also be able to retain the memory of what was done, such as remembering the steps in preparing a dish that were first seen on a cooking show.

imitation

(an element of observational learning) the learner must be capable of reproducing or imitating, the actions of the model.

motivation

(an element of observational learning) the learner must have the desire to perform the action.

memory

an active system that receives information from the senses, organizes, and alters that information as it stores it away, and then retrieves the information from storage

encoding

(process of memory) the set of mental operations that people perform on sensory information to convert that information into a form that is usable in the brain's storage systems

storage

(process of memory) holding onto information for some period of time

retrieval

(process of memory) getting information that is in storage into a form that can be used

information-processing model

this model of memory assumes that the processing of information for memory storage is similar to the way a computer processes memory—in a series of three stages

parallel distributed processing model (PDP)

(model of memory) memory processes are proposed to take place at the same time over a large network of neural connections

levels-of-processing model

this model of memory assumes that information that is more "deeply processed according to its meaning, rather than just the sound or physical characteristics of the word or words—will be remembered more efficiently and for a longer period of time

sensory

the point at which information enters the nervous system through the sensory systems

iconic memory

visual sensory memory, lasting only a fraction of a second

eidetic imagery

the rare ability to access a visual memory for 30 seconds or more

echoic memory

the brief memory of something a person has just heard

short-term memory

the memory system in which information is held for brief periods of time while being used

selective attention

the ability to focus on only one stimulus from among all sensory input

digit-span test

a series of numbers is read to subjects who are then asked to recall the numbers in order (magical number: 7)

chunking

bits of information are combined into meaningful chunks, so that more information can be held in STM

maintenance rehearsal

saying bits of information to be remembered over and over in one's head in order to maintain it in short-term memory (STMs tend to be encoded in auditory form)

long-term memory

the memory system into which all the information is places to be kept more or less permanently

elaborative rehearsal

a method of transferring information from STM into LTM by making that information meaningful in some way

nondeclarative (implicit) memory

type of long-term memory including memory for skills, procedures, habits, and conditioned responses

procedural memory

(often called implicit memory) memory that is not easily brought into conscious awareness

anterograde amnesia

loss of memory from the point of injury or trauma forward, or the inability to form new long-term memories

declarative (explicit) memory

type of long-term memory containing information that is conscious and known

semantic memory

declarative memory containing general knowledge

episodic memory

declarative memory containing personal information not readily available to others

semantic network model

this LTM model assumes that information is stored in the brain in a connected fashion

retrieval cue

stimulus for remembering

encoding specificity

tendency for memory information to be improved if relation information (e.g., surroundings or physiological state) available when the memory was first formed is also available when the memory is being retrieved

state-dependent learning

memories formed during a particular physiological or psychological state will be easier to recall while in a similar state

recall

memory retrieval in which the information to be retrieved must be "pulled" from memory with very few external cues

retrieval failure

recall has failed (at least temporarily), tip of the tongue phenomenon

serial position effect

information at the beginning and the end of a body of information more accurately remembered than the information in the middle

recognition

ability to match a piece of information or a stimulus to a stored image or fact

false positive

error of recognition in which people think that they recognize a stimulus that is not actually in memory

Elizabeth Loftus

she showed what people see and hear about an event after the fact can easily affect the accuracy of their memories of that event

automatic encoding

tendency of certain kinds of information to enter long-term memory with little or no effortful encoding