CH 17 Classical Conditioning CH 18 and CH19

occurs when an organism learns the connection (association) between two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or the association learns the connection between two stimuli (classical conditioning) or the association between a behavior and an outcome

Associative learning

A type of associative learning that occurs when an organism associates a stimulus that did not previously elicit a meaningful response with a stimulus that naturally elicits a response

Classical conditioning

A stimulus that initially did not produce a meaningful response

neutral stimulus

Are physiologically arousing, which means they elicit an innate (unlearned) reaction called an unconditioned response

Unconditioned stimuli

After being paired with an unconditioned stimulus, a neutral stimulus becomes a ______ stimulus when it alone elicits the _______ , a learned reaction

conditioned; conditioned response

The first phase of classical conditioning

acquisition

An association is formed between the unconditioned stimulu (ex meat) and the neutral stimulus (ex bell).

acquisition

Occurs when an organism responds to certain conditioned stimuli but ignores similar stimuli

discrimination

Occurs when a stimulus similar to the original stimulus evokes the same conditioned response

generalization

A specific and powerful type of classical conditioning that occurs after an organism becomes ill following the consumption of a food or beverage

conditioned taste aversion

Occurs when an organism associates a behavior with a consequence

Operant conditioning

Occurs when a desirable stimulus is applied, leading to an increased likelihood of behavior

positive reinforcement

Occurs when an undesirable stimulus is withdrawn, leading to an increased likelihood of behavior

negative reinforcement

Occurs when an undesirable stimulus is applied, resulting in a decreased likelihood of behavior.

positive punishment

Negative punishment occurs when a desirable stimulus is withdrawn, resulting in a decreased likelihood of behavior.

negative punishment

A stimulus that is innately rewarding to an organism, such as food

primary reinforcer

A stimulus that has been associated with a primary reinforcer

secondary reinforcer

Occurs when an organism learns how to terminate an ongoing unpleasant stimulus

escape learning

When an organism prevents coming into contact with an unpleasant stimulus

avoidance learning

When an animal's innate behaviors overshadow a learned behavior

Instinctive drift

Social learning occurs when an observer imitates a behavior that someone else has modeled

observational learning

Specialized neurons that fire when organisms engage in a particular behavior and when they observe that behavior in others

Mirror neurons

Mirror neurons are found in multiple brain regions, including the frontal lobe's motor cortex, an area of the brain responsible for

planning and initiating voluntary movement

Frontal lobe

Higher-level thought (reasoning, planning)

Voluntary motor control

Memory involves _______, the transfer of information into memory; storage and retrieval.

encoding

A concept that describes how information processed at a deeper level is encoded and retrieved better than information processed on a shallower level

Levels of processing

Memory involves three steps

encoding, storage, and retrieval

First, it briefly and temporarily stores information from the environment

sensory memory

Sensory memory of visual information

Ionic memory

Sensory memory for auditory information

Echoic memory

Has a short duration (about 20 sec) and a storage capacity of about seven items (plus or minus two)

Short-term memory

It has a large capacity and a long duration (memories can be stored permanently) and comprises two branches: implicit memory and explicit memory

long-term memory

Memory for things that cannot be consciously recalled, such as skills, tasks, emotions, and reflexes (ex, riding a bicycle)

Implicit memory (nondeclarative memory)

Memory for facts and events that can be consciously or intentionally recalled

Explicit memory (declarative memory)

Explicit memory includes

episodic memory (personal experiences) and semantic memory (knowledge about facts)

External cues that aid retrieval

Context-dependent effects

Internal cues that aid retrieval

State-dependent effects

________ assessed his memory by studying a list of short ________ and then repeatedly testing his memory for the syllables over time

Hermann Ebbinghaus; nonsense syllables

Ebbinghaus found that ______ follows a characteristic pattern known as the _____

memory decay; forgetting curve

A common memory error that occurs when previously learned information interferes with the ability to recall new information

proactive interference

Occurs when recently encoded information prevents the recall of older information

retroactive interference

When a memory is attributed to the wrong source

Source monitoring errors

Severe memory loss that can be caused by brain trauma

Amnesia

The loss of memories acquired prior to the trauma

Retrograde amnesia

The inability to form new memories

Anterograde amnesia

Refers to the ability of neurons to change

Neural plasticity

Occurs when synapses that are stimulated frequently are strengthened

Long-term potentiation

The process of converting memories that are being kept temporarily as synaptic alterations into long-term memory

consolidation

Describes when synapses that are stimulated infrequently are weakened

Long-term depression