Learning and Reinforcement Study Guide

These flashcards cover key concepts from the lecture notes on learning and reinforcement, focusing on emotional influences, social learning, and their implications on behavior and memory.

Emotion

A cluster of physiological responses, overt behaviors, and conscious feelings produced in response to an affecting situation.

Fear response

A cluster of physiological changes, overt behaviors, and conscious reactions accompanying the emotion of fear.

Arousal

A collection of bodily responses that prepare the body to face a threat, including increased blood flow to muscles and increased respiration.

Fight-or-flight response

The body's physiological reaction to perceived danger, characterized by increased blood pressure, heart rate, and other bodily changes.

Tend-and-befriend

A strategy of responding to threat by tending to offspring and seeking social support.

Learned helplessness

A phenomenon where exposure to an uncontrollable punisher teaches an expectation that responses are ineffectual, reducing motivation to attempt new avoidance responses.

(Understanding this provides clues for how to treat or protect against depression)

Mood congruency of memory

The principle that it is easiest to retrieve memories that match our current mood or emotional state.

Flashbulb memory

A vividly detailed and long-lasting memory formed under extreme emotional conditions.

Amygdala

A brain structure critical for learning and expressing emotional responses.

Social learning theory

Theory proposing that past reinforcements in social contexts determine an individual's behavior in specific situations.

Social transmission of information

The process of directly or indirectly communicating information that may affect the future actions of group members.

Social conformity

The tendency to adopt the behavior of the group, which can hinder the development of novel behavior patterns.

Mirror neurons

Neurons that fire the same way when an individual performs an action as they do during observations of that action.

Autonomic nervous system

where the physciological component mediated

what are the major stress hormones

epinephrine and glucocorticoids

physiological arousal

strong pleasant emotions such as happiness and surprise (similar to fight or flight response)

cortisol

a glucocorticoid hormone released in response to stress, regulating various body functions including metabolism and immune response.

befriending in relation to stress

social interaction that produces relief from stress

theories of emotions

frameworks that explain how emotions are created and experienced, often involving physiological, cognitive, and social components.

3 theories of emotion

james-lange theory

cannon-bard theory

two factor theory

James Lange Theory

suggests that emotions are the result of physiological reactions to events, meaning we feel emotions because of our body's responses

(bodily response → conscious emotional feelings)

cannon-bard theory

proposes that emotions and physiological responses occur simultaneously and independently, meaning we feel emotions at the same time our body reacts

(Bodily responses & conscious emotional feelings)

Two factors theory

of emotion states that emotions are based on two factors: physiological arousal and cognitive labeling of that arousal

(bodily responses & cognitive appraisal → conscious emotional feeling)

emotion and encoding of memories

refers to the process by which emotional experiences influence the formation and storage of memories, impacting how we recall events based on emotional significance.

Emotion and retrieval of memories

concerns how emotions affect the recall and recognition of previously encoded memories, often enhancing the retrieval of emotionally charged events.

Reinforcement theory

is a psychological concept that asserts that behaviors are influenced and strengthened by their consequences, with positive reinforcement increasing the likelihood of behavior repetition.

reinforcement theory (act)

observed act → copied act → reinforcement→ (repetition of copied act) a cycle where an observed behavior is imitated and positively reinforced, leading to repeated behavior.

social learning theory

is a theory that suggests people learn behaviors through observation and imitation of others, emphasizing the role of social context and reinforcement.

social learning theory (act)

Anticipated reinforcement → attention → observed act → symbolic coding cognitive appraisal rehearsal → copied act

social manipulation of behavior

It is the process through which individuals or groups influence others' actions and decisions by leveraging social interactions and expectations to reinforce desired behaviors.

Observing others behaving in specific ways can influence the likelihood that an individual will behave in similar ways

mirror neurons in a human cortex

are specialized brain cells that activate both when an individual performs an action and when they observe the same action performed by others, facilitating imitation and social learning.

key brain structures involved in processing emotions

amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex, which work together to regulate emotional responses and memory.