Psychology Learning and Memory: Conditioning, Reinforcement, and Recall

Classical conditioning

A learning process in which a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a meaningful stimulus, eliciting a conditioned response.

Who first conducted classical conditioning?

Ivan Pavlov, known for his experiments with dogs that salivated in response to a bell.

Operant conditioning

A method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior.

Counterconditioning

A behavioral therapy technique that replaces an undesirable response to a stimulus with a desirable one.

Taste aversion

A learned response to avoid a food that has been associated with illness or discomfort.

Vicarious reinforcement

Learning that occurs by observing the reinforcement or punishment of another individual.

Observational learning

Learning that occurs through observing the behavior of others and the outcomes of those behaviors.

Insight learning

A type of learning or problem-solving that occurs suddenly through understanding relationships rather than through trial and error.

Latent learning

Learning that occurs without any obvious reinforcement and is not immediately reflected in behavior.

Eyewitness testimony

An account given by people of an event they have witnessed, often used in legal settings.

Chunking

A memory strategy that involves grouping information into larger, manageable units to enhance memory retention.

Rehearsal

The cognitive process of repeatedly practicing or reviewing information to enhance memory retention.

Schema

A cognitive framework or concept that helps organize and interpret information.

Tip of the tongue phenomenon

The feeling of knowing that a piece of information is stored in memory but being unable to retrieve it.

Interference theory

The theory that forgetting occurs because other information interferes with the retrieval of the desired information.

Serial Position Effect

The tendency to recall the first and last items in a list better than the middle items.

Recency Effect

The tendency to remember the most recently presented information best.

Context-dependent memory

The improved recall of specific episodes or information when the context present at encoding and retrieval are the same.

Encoding

The process of converting information into a form that can be stored in memory.

Miller's human short-term + working memory capacity

The theory that the average number of objects an individual can hold in working memory is about 7±2.

Elaboration

A memory technique that involves adding meaning or associations to information to enhance memory retention.

Definition of memory

The mental capacity to encode, store, and retrieve information over time.

Definition of learning

A relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge that results from experience.

Reinforcement

Any event that strengthens or increases the likelihood of a behavior occurring.

Punishment

Any event that weakens or decreases the likelihood of a behavior occurring.

Positive Reinforcement

The addition of a rewarding stimulus following a desired behavior, increasing the likelihood of that behavior.

Negative Reinforcement

The removal of an aversive stimulus following a desired behavior, increasing the likelihood of that behavior.

Positive Punishment

The addition of an aversive stimulus following an undesired behavior, decreasing the likelihood of that behavior.

Neutral stimulus

A stimulus that initially produces no specific response until it is paired with an unconditioned stimulus.

Generalization

The tendency to respond similarly to stimuli that resemble the conditioned stimulus.

Discrimination

The ability to distinguish between different stimuli and respond only to the conditioned stimulus.

Spontaneous recovery

The reappearance of a conditioned response after a pause following extinction.

Variable ratio

A schedule of reinforcement where a response is reinforced after an unpredictable number of responses.

3 Levels of Processing Memory

Encoding, Storage, and Retrieval.

Bandura's Bobo Doll Experiment

A study that demonstrated that children can learn aggression through observation of adult behavior.

Thorndike's Law of Effect

The principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, while behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely.

Retrograde amnesia

A type of amnesia where individuals cannot recall memories from before a specific event.

Anterograde amnesia

A type of amnesia where individuals cannot form new memories after a specific event.

Sensory memory

The initial, brief storage of sensory information.

Short-term memory

The capacity for holding a small amount of information in an active, readily available state for a short period.

Working memory

A system for temporarily holding and manipulating information for cognitive tasks.

Semantic memory

A type of explicit memory that involves the recollection of facts and concepts.

Episodic memory

A type of explicit memory that involves the recollection of personal experiences and specific events.

Implicit memory

A type of memory that does not require conscious thought and is often demonstrated through performance.

Explicit memory

A type of memory that involves conscious recall of information.

Relationship between behavior and consequences in operant conditioning

In operant conditioning, behaviors are influenced by the consequences that follow them, where reinforcement increases behavior and punishment decreases it.