Psychology chapter 7

learning and memory

Neutral stimulus

A stimulus that, before conditioning, does not naturally bring about the response of interest. Example: Sound of the bell.

unconditioned stimulus

A stimulus that elicits a natural response without prior conditioning. Example: Food

Conditioned response

Learned reaction to a (CS) that occurs due to repeated pairings with an (UCS).  Example: Salivate at the sound of the bell.

Unconditioned response

Unlearned reaction to an UCS with no prior conditioning.  Example: Salivate at the sight of food.

Conditioned stimulus

A once neutral stimulus that with repeated pairings with an UCS results in a CR.    

Positive reinforcement

Presenting/adding a stimulus that strengthens a response and makes it more likely to recur.

Negative reinforcement

Removal of a stimulus which strengthens a response and makes it more likely to recur.

This is NOT the same as punishment. 

Positive punishment

includes the addition of a stimulus

squirting the cat each time it claws the couch

Negative Punishment

involves taking away of a stimulus such as

taking away the dog’s bone when it barks         

Classical conditioning

Learning that occurs as the result of a pairing between a neutral stimulus (NS) and an unconditioned stimulus (US) which elicits a conditioned response (CR)

Operant conditioning

Learning that occurs based on the reinforcement or punishment that results from a voluntary behavior.

Short-term memory

Second stage of memory used for the short-term storage of a concept or idea, physical or mental. 

Long-term memory

Third stage of memory that stores information for long periods of time.

Short-term memory capacity

around 5 to 9 units

Long-term memory capacity

essentially unlimited

Long-term memory duration

essentially unlimited

Short-term memory duration

15-30 seconds

Working memory

relates to the ability to hold a particular image or representation active in mind in spite of interference and distraction.

Iconic memory

visual representation automatically registered in visual memory lasting up to .5 second

Echoic memory

auditory representation registered automatically in auditory memory lasting 0 to 4 seconds

Sensory memory

First stage of memory that consists of everything we see, hear, touch, taste, and smell involving the sensory receptors and the detection of the ‘to-be-remembered’ stimuli

Implicit memory

Motor skills, habits, classically conditioned reflexes

Episodic memory

events experienced by a person

Semantic memory

facts, general knowledge

retrograde amnesia

Loss of memory for events prior to a brain injury.

anterograde amnesia

Inability to create new memories following a head injury

encoding specifity

Tulving’s Principle which states that the retrieval of information is improved when conditions of recovery are similar to the conditions when the information was encoded.

context and retrieval

theory that environmental-congruent cues aid in the retrieval of learned information.   

Example:  Sit in the seat where you learned the material when being tested on it.

Mood congruence

states that mood tends to evoke memories that are consistent with that same mood. 

Example: Stressed when taking a test? Then it is better to study under similar stressful conditions.

State-dependent retrieval

If you are in an altered state of mind when learning information, the information is easier to retrieve when in the same mind state.

Example: Drinking caffeine while learning / studying the material, drink caffeine for exam  

role of hippocampus

The hippocampus is the most fundamental brain region in terms of memory formation and retrieval

role of amygdala

the Amygdala is primary in terms of encoding emotional memories

role of cerebral cortex

The Cortex plays an important role in elaborate encoding and general storage of episodic-based information