Introductory Psychology: Memory, Learning and Conditioning, Motivation, and Cognition

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering core concepts in Memory, Classical and Operant Conditioning, Motivation and Needs, and Cognitive Problem Solving.

Memory

The capacity to encode (record), store, and retrieve information over time.

Sensory Memory

A memory stage with a momentary duration where physical sensory information must be converted to another form or it is lost forever.

Short-Term Memory

A memory store lasting $15$ to $25$ seconds with a storage capacity of about $5$ to $9$ meaningful units, where information decays or is bumped out unless rehearsed.

Chunk

A meaningful grouping or unit of information that can be held and processed in short-term memory.

Long-Term Memory

The relatively permanent storage system for information that has filtered through sensory and short-term memory.

Procedural Memory

A category of long-term memory dedicated to how to perform motor acts and physical actions, such as walking, riding a bicycle, or buttoning a shirt.

Declarative Memory

A major category of long-term memory for factual information, divided into semantic memory and episodic memory.

Semantic Memory

A subdivision of declarative memory that stores general facts, concepts, and objective information, such as the current U.S. President or whose portrait is on the \\$50 bill.

Episodic Memory

A subdivision of declarative memory for personal life events, biographical occurrences, and first-hand experiences, such as a first date, a recent birthday, or moving-in day.

Levels of Processing Theory

A theoretical model proposing that the depth at which material is initially perceived and analyzed determines how effectively it will be recalled.

Elaborative Rehearsal

A deep level of processing where incoming information is analyzed, integrated, and organized in terms of its underlying meaning rather than sensory features.

Reconstructive Memory

The phenomenon whereby memory is encoded and recalled as dynamic mental representations rather than verbatim copies of original experiences.

Schema

A theoretical memory structure composed of an organized cluster of knowledge and associations about a specific topic that guides encoding, interpretation, and retrieval.

Serial Position Effect

A retrieval pattern where the recall of items in an ordered sequence depends on their list position, demonstrating superior memory for initial (primacy effect) and terminal (recency effect) items.

Decay Theory

A hypothesis that forgetting occurs simply due to the passage of time leading to the erosion of physiological memory traces.

Proactive Interference

A mechanism of forgetting wherein previously stored or older information impairs the ability to encode or retrieve newly acquired information.

Retroactive Interference

A mechanism of forgetting wherein newly acquired information disrupts the retrieval of older, previously stored material.

Encoding Failure

Forgetting that results from material never having been sufficiently attended to or converted into a stored long-term memory representation in the first place, such as failing to identify the correct lowercase 'g'.

Learning

A relatively permanent change in behavior brought about by experience.

Stimulus

A physical aspect of the external environment capable of exciting an organism's sensory organs, such as visual, auditory, or tactile input.

Response

An overt behavioral act or physical movement produced by an organism.

S-R Connectionism

The theoretical perspective that learning consists of forming connections between the perception of environmental stimuli ($S$) and the execution of specific responses ($R$).

Classical Conditioning

A learning paradigm formulated by Ivan Pavlov based on stimulus substitution, wherein an unconditioned stimulus is paired with a neutral stimulus until that stimulus elicits an involuntary response.

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

A stimulus (such as meat powder) that naturally and automatically triggers an unconditioned physiological response without prior learning.

Unconditioned Response (UCR)

An automatic, unlearned, and involuntary physiological reaction (such as salivation) produced by an unconditioned stimulus.

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

A previously neutral stimulus (such as the sound of a bell) that comes to trigger an involuntary response after being repeatedly associated with an unconditioned stimulus.

Conditioned Response (CR)

A learned physiological reaction (such as salivation) elicited by a conditioned stimulus alone following classical conditioning.

Stimulus Generalization

The tendency for stimuli that resemble the original conditioned stimulus to evoke the conditioned response, as demonstrated in Watson & Rayner's 1920 Little Albert experiment.

Stimulus Discrimination

The capacity to distinguish between the conditioned stimulus and other distinct stimuli that are not paired with the unconditioned stimulus.

Extinction

The gradual diminution and elimination of a conditioned response when a conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus.

Systematic Desensitization

A counter-conditioning behavioral technique introduced by Mary Cover Jones (1924) with Little Peter to eliminate conditioned phobic responses by pairing the feared item with positive, incompatible stimuli.

Operant Conditioning

A form of learning associated with B. F. Skinner where organisms operate on their environment, emitting voluntary behaviors that are governed by their subsequent consequences.

Skinner Box

An experimental chamber in which an animal emits a voluntary operant response (such as pressing a lever) to produce a reinforcing consequence, such as the delivery of a food pellet.

Reinforcer

Any environmental consequence or stimulus that increases the probability that the response immediately preceding it will be repeated.

Positive Reinforcer

A desirable stimulus whose presentation following a target response increases the likelihood that the target behavior will occur again.

Negative Reinforcer

An aversive or unpleasant stimulus whose removal or termination following a target response increases the likelihood that the target behavior will occur again.

Punishment

An aversive environmental consequence that decreases the probability that the behavior preceding it will be repeated.

Positive Punisher

An aversive stimulus whose presentation following an undesired behavior results in a decrease in the frequency of that behavior.

Negative Punisher

The termination or removal of a desired stimulus following an undesired behavior, resulting in a decrease in the frequency of that behavior.

Fixed-Ratio Schedule

An operant reinforcement schedule in which a reward is delivered only after a specific, invariable number of correct responses are emitted (such as a vending machine).

Variable-Ratio Schedule

An operant reinforcement schedule in which a reward is delivered after an unpredictable, varying number of responses (such as a slot machine).

Fixed-Interval Schedule

An operant reinforcement schedule where the first response is rewarded only after a constant, designated period of time has elapsed (such as a scheduled paycheck).

Variable-Interval Schedule

An operant reinforcement schedule where a response is rewarded following unpredictable, changing durations of time (such as incoming text messages).

Discriminative Stimulus ($S^D$)

An antecedent environmental cue that indicates whether a specific response contingency ($S^D \rightarrow R \rightarrow S$) is in effect, signaling whether a behavior will result in reinforcement or punishment.

Latent Learning

A form of learning that occurs without obvious environmental reinforcement or overt behavioral changes until an incentive arises to demonstrate it.

Cognitive Map

A mental spatial representation of one's environment acquired through latent exploration without direct reinforcement.

Observational Learning

A cognitive-social process wherein an individual acquires behaviors and expectations by watching models rather than through direct trial-and-error experience.

Vicarious Reinforcement

An increase in an observer's likelihood of emitting a response after witnessing a model receive reinforcement for that same behavior.

Motivation

The internal and external factors that direct, energize, and sustain behavior, accounting for variations in actions across individuals and time.

Primary Needs

Innate biological requirements essential for physical survival and well-being, such as food, water, air, and pain avoidance.

Secondary Needs

Acquired psychological desires that derive from primary drives or stem from psychological experiences, such as needs for money, power, and achievement.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow's pyramid framework proposing that human needs must be satisfied in a fixed sequential order, starting from base physiological and safety needs up to belonging, esteem, and self-actualization.

Motives

Cognitions with emotional overtones organized around preferred experiences and goals that are pushed by internal needs and pulled by environmental incentives.

Need for Achievement

A stable, learned psychological need where personal gratification is derived from striving for and meeting a high standard of excellence.

Need for Power

A learned psychological motivation centered on having an interest in controlling, dominating, or influencing other people.

Need for Affiliation

A learned psychological motive defined by an ongoing interest in establishing, maintaining, and restoring warm personal relationships with others.

Projective Test

A psychological assessment tool requiring subjects to describe ambiguous stimuli, thereby projecting their underlying personality traits, unconscious desires, and motives.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

A projective test in which an individual creates a narrative about an ambiguous picture (describing what led up to it, what characters feel, and the final outcome) to reveal personal motivations.

Cognition

The collective higher mental processes by which humans perceive the world, process information, make judgments and decisions, and communicate knowledge.

Deductive Reasoning

A top-down process of formal logic, such as syllogistic reasoning, wherein specific conclusions are drawn from a set of established general premises.

Algorithm

A systematic, invariant problem-solving procedure or set of rules that is guaranteed to produce an accurate solution when properly executed.

Heuristic

A rule of thumb or mental shortcut that economizes cognitive time and effort and increases the likelihood of finding a solution, though it does not ensure correctness.

Representativeness Heuristic

A cognitive heuristic where people evaluate the likelihood of an entity belonging to a certain category by how closely it matches their prototype or known concept.

Availability Heuristic

A judgment shortcut in which the estimated frequency or risk of an event is based on the cognitive ease with which relevant examples come to mind.

Base-Rate Fallacy

A logical error wherein people neglect statistical base-rate frequencies in favor of dramatic, representative, or readily available information.

Insight

A sudden awareness of key relationships among problem components that generates a correct solution without stepwise deduction.

Functional Fixedness

A cognitive impediment to problem solving wherein an individual can only conceptualize an object in terms of its standard, customary function.

Mental Set

The tendency to persist in utilizing an established problem-solving strategy simply because it has succeeded in the past, even when it is no longer optimal or effective.