Psychology exam 3 (learning and memory)

What is learning?

Expect and prepare, operant, social norms through observation, personal feelings through personal experience

How do we learn?

Associative, cognitive learning

What is associative learning?

learning that certain events occur together (operational learning-conseqences)

What is cognitive learning?

acquiring mental information that guides are behavior (internal process not outer behavior)

What are the two types of associative learning?

Classical conditioning and Operant conditioning

What is classical conditioning?

Associate two stimuli to an behavior (prepare and expect- anticipating events)

What are the different components of classical conditioning? 

Unconditioned stimulus, Unconditioned response, Conditioned stimulus, Conditioned Response

What is an US

a stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response without any prior learning- dog salivating at the sight of food 

What us a UR

a natural, automatic, and unlearned reaction to a stimulus- the dog salivating is an UR

What is an CS

a previously neutral stimulus that, after being repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus (US), triggers a learned response- dogs food it paired with a tone/bell that is played when dog is given food.

What is an CR

a learned reaction to a previously neutral stimulus that has become associated with an unconditioned stimulus- the dog salivates at the sound of the bell/tone 

What is operant conditioning? 

associating a response and its consequence- repeated action with good consequence and avoid actions with bad consequence 

What are the component of Operant conditioning

neg and Pos punishment

Neg and pos reinfocrment 

What is an punishment? 

anything that weakens an behavior 

What is an Pos punishment?

behavior is decreased by adding an unpleasant or aversive stimulus after it occurs

What is a neg punishment 

where a desired stimulus is removed after an undesirable behavior occurs, with the goal of decreasing that behavior in the future

What is an reinforcement? 

any event that strengthens an behavior 

What is a pos reinforcement?

adding a desirable consequence, or "reward," immediately after the behavior occurs

What is an neg reinforcement?

increasing a behavior by removing or avoiding an aversive (unpleasant) stimulus (seatbelt)

What is acquisition

the initial learning of an association- link between NS to CS

What is extinction?

diminishing a CR- tone stops, dog stops associating tone w/ food 

What is spontaneous recovery?

the reappearance of an weakend conditioned response- tone again=possible for dog to start salivating 

What is generalization?

where a learned response is triggered by similar stimuli- different tone the dog may still salivate (little albert)

What is discrimination?

learned ability to distinguish between CS and other irrelevant but similar stimuli- cars are scary but not all things on wheels are

Who was Ivan Pavlov and what did he do in regard to learning?

Discovered classical conditioning through is dog experiment

Who was Mary Cover Jones and what did she do in regard to learning?

early behavioral techniques to treat childhood fears. Her most famous work involved a three-year-old boy named Peter, where she successfully used direct conditioning to eliminate his fear of rabbits by pairing the feared object with a positive stimulus, like candy

Who was B.F. Skinner and what did he do in regards to learning?

developed operant conditioning, and specifically punishment and reinforcement (operant chamber)

What is shaping?

operant conditioning where new behaviors are learned by reinforcing successive approximations—small steps that gradually get closer to the desired target behavior

it can help us to know what non verbal organism can perceive 

What is a primary reinforcers?

 a stimulus that naturally satisfies a basic biological need and is, therefore, inherently rewarding without any prior learning.

What is an secondary reinforcers?

stimuli that gains its reinforcing power through its association with the primary reinforcers- candy, money, toys 

What is reinforcement schedules?

a pattern that defines how often an desired response will be reinforced

What are the different reinforcement schedules?

Fixed ratio schedules
▪ Variable ratio schedules
▪ Fixed interval schedules
▪ Variable interval schedules

What is an fixed radio schedule?

reinforcers is only given after a specific number of responses

Acquisition is moderately fast, extinction is moderately slow

Ex- store punch card

What is variole ratio schedule

Reinforcer is given at unpredicted number of responses

acquisition is slower, extinction is very resistant

Ex- slot machine

What is fixed interval schedule?

reinforcer is given after a set amount of time regardless of how many responses occur

acquisition is slow, extinction is moderate

ex-paycheck  

What is variable interval schedule?

reinforcer is given after an unpredicted time interval so you cant predict it 

acquisition is slow, extinction is slow

ex- wating for a text reply

What is continuous reinforcement?

Reinforcement is given after each desired response is done

cases learn rapidly, extinction is fast

ex- a vending machine 

What is partial (intermittent) reinforcment?

reinforces an behavior only some of the time

Bio Constraints and classical conditioning- What is preparedness? 

a biological predisposition to learn associations such as between taste and nausea that have survival values- this is hard to condition- like trying to get some one to be nauseas at a good tasting thing 

What is taste aversion? 

a learned response where an individual develops a strong dislike for a specific food after becoming ill following its consumption

Is it true that we learn and retain behaviors that reflect our biological predisposition? 

Yes! 

Cognitive and classical conditioning- Does out cognition matter in classical conditioning? 

Yes! Take the alcohol and Pill ex, or how we get scared of horror movies but we don’t then get an fear of all clowns since we know its a movie, or how we are sacred of shots but we get them cuz we know they are good for us

What is latent learning?

learning that occurs without obvious reinforcement and only becomes apparent when there is motivation to demonstrate it- rat in maze ex

Learning by observation ex…?

Bobo doll ex by albert bandura

What are mirror neurons? 

Neural basis for imitating and observational learning- Yawning 

What is memory?

learning that persists over time

What are the components of memory?

Acquired, encoded, stored and retrieved

How do memory components work/order they go in?

First its external event where we take in sensory input, then it gets put into sensory memory where it is then encoded which is when our brain is finding the most important things in that memory to pay attention to, then those important parts are taken to working/short term memory where rehearsal and active maintenance is being done, it is then sent to long term memory where it is encoded and then can later be retrieved 

Digging deeper- what is sensory memory?

Very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system and it feeds our working memory. 

What is iconic memory?

momentary picture image memory (what we see)

What is echoic memory

momentary sound memory (what we hear)

What is working memory?

conscious, active processing of incoming sensory information, this information can be retrieved from long term memory- exam. This memory requires encoding and focused attention, without it info usually fades.(if you say you can look it up later, then you will attend to it less and forget it more quickly)

What is short term memory?

holds on to small things not in long term- past couple days)

What is long term memory, what are two types?

explicit and implicit memory

What is explicit memory?

facts and experiences we can consciously know

What is implicit memories?

retention of learning skills of classical conditioned associations 

What is explicit memory encoding- Consciously

requires conscious attention and effortful processing, elaborating rehearsal helps connecting new info to things you already know 

how do we encode implicit memories if its unconscious

happens unconscious and often through repetition and practice, does not require deliberate effort, often involves motor or emotional learning- associating 2 things. Can occur through classical and operant conditioning. 

Who was Brenda Miner?

Did the H.M. Study- a person who did not have hippocampus meaning they cant form new memories. (star drawing) 

What info does implicit memories take in ?

the information you automatic process- space- top left corner, Time- where you have been that day, and Frequency- fourth owl I saw 

How do we effortfully process?

Chunking, Mnemonics, Hierarchies

How do you improve you memory?

Spacing, testing effect, elaborating effect

What is recognition?

identifying items previously learned (multiply choice)

What is recall?

retrieving info that is not currently in your conscious awareness, but that was learned at an earlier time- fill in the blank

What is relearning? 

something you learned more quickly when you learn it again 

Where is memories stored?

No in one place, different types of memory rely on different brain systems 

How does hippocampus relate to memory?

Hippocampus does not store memories, but Helps to move memories from short to long term memory which is memory consolidation. This is crucial for forming explicit memories-  conscious/effortful memories. Sleep also helps memory consolidation- memories are sorted when sleeping. 

How does the amygdala relate to memory?

Linked to emotional, especially fear and arousal- the amygdala flags memories w/ strong emptions and emotional importance. Memories with emotionally charged are remembered more vividly. It works with the hippocampus to prioritize what gets stored. 

What is an flashbulb memory?

a vivid memory of an emotionally significant moment or event- 9/11

How does the frontal lobe regards to memory?

Involved in working memory, attention, planning and decision making. Helps w/ retrieval of stored info, especially for explicit memories. Supports tasks like remembering what you were just doing or keeping track of a conversation-forgot what you walked in a room for frontal lobe helps to remember. 

What are the synaptic changed in memory?

When learning occurs, neurons release more of the neurotransmitter serotonin. This make it more efficient at transmitting signals- more serotonin means more receptors at the post synaptic neuron (receiving neurons), the sending neurons release more serotonin. The physical structure of the synapse may even change or grow- more neuron= more tentacles on neuron. The serotonin also the neuron to fire more efficiently w/ less prompting.

What is long term potentiation? (LTP)

When neurons are repeatedly activated together, the connection between becomes stronger, making future communications more efficient. LTP is a lasting increase in the stretch of synaptic connections. Biological basis for learning and memory.

This is why short term memory loss occurs after an head injury- a few second before injury you cant remember due to the neurons communication was disrupted. 

What is memory retrieval?  How does it work?

When you form new memories all the stimuli is in that memory- see, hear, feel. There are retrieval cues- re tracing steps to remember. 

What are retrospective memories?

things that happened in the past

What are prospective memories?

things we need to do in the future

What is priming?

Associating cues- you prime how you think- see missing child poster, and then see person acting off with child. 

What is serial position effect?

tendency to recall best the last (recovery effect) and first (primary effect) items on a list

What is context dependent memory?

You remember info better here you learned it first

What is state depended memory?

What you learn in one state you will more easily remember in that state (on drugs, or emotion state)

What is prospective memories?

ability to remember to carry out future intentions, this can be event based and trigged by external factors, or time based and triggered by time or deadline. 

What is forgetting?

Fail to remember, fail to encode, fail to retrieve it, misremember and false memories

Why do we forget?

Forgetting unimportant info helps us to remember what matters most

As your memory goes from sensory- working/short- long term- retrieval from long, what happens to the memory?

The unimportant info gets taken out until at retrieval there is very little memory left- only important things

What is amnesia?

Two forms:

Anterograde- Inability to form new memories

Retrograde- Inability to remember info from one’s past 

what happens when you have an encoding failure?

During working/short term memory, encoding failure leads to forgetting- you did not store the memory meaning you did not know that info in the first place (penny ex)

What is storage decay?

The course of forgetting is initially rapid but then levels off with time (Spanish ex)

what happens when retrieval failure?

Happens between long term storage and working/short term memory (backswords), and retrieval failure leads to forgetting 

Why do we fail to retrieve?

Lack of retrieval cues (we encode context to memory, tip of tung), stress or distraction (cortisol), passage of time without rehearsal, interference from similar information. 

What is Interference?

Proactive Interference- old info interferes with old info(password ex), Retroactive interference- new info interferes with old info 

What is memory Reconsolidation?

When you “replay” a memory, we often replace the original with a slightly modified version- you remember the last time you remembered it, and when you bring it to the working memory you can edit the memory which you then reencode. 

When a memory is reconsolidated what is happening to the neuros that first encoded it?

Retrieval reactivities the memory trance- the nurons that encoded the memory first re activate.

What is the idea that modifications can occur during instability?

When you edit a memory, you need protein synthesis to make the edits stick. Our neurons start building special proteins to reshape the synapse (neuron physically change). Then reconsolidation stabilizes the new memory and the new memory is stored away. (bigger fish each time ex)

What is Propranolol?

Blocks the effects of Norepinephrine in the brain and body, Norepinephrine helps signal that the memory is important and emotionally significant (therapy) 

What is EMDR?

The dual task of recalling a memory while doing eyes movements. This reduces vividness and emotional arousal possibly taxing the working memory, and interrupts full encoding of the original response. 

What is your mind on trial?

Increase familiarity w/ a suspect face may lead to high confident in that suspects guilt (Line up over and over)

What is the misinformation effect?

This occurs when a memory has been corrupted by misleading info- car accident ex smash or hit?

How does emotion interact w/ memory and belief?

Stress or anger activates the amygdala making emotional content more salient and memorable- flagged 

The heightened reconsolidation of newly encoded (mis) information- making it feel real and creditable 

The negative emotion state analytical thinking, increasing acceptance without scrutiny- dramatic  headline= you mad= you agree with artical 

What is source amnesia?

Strong emotion= no remember where you got the info. The easiest to fail to remember is the source. Faulty memory for how, where, and when info was learned- vulnerable w/ emotions heightened 

What are false memories?

You can reconsolidate an fake memory so it will feel just as real as true memories

Social Contagious- talk about a memory= new info to add to memory/encode