PSY 1.3 Learning and Memory

learning

acquisition of new behaviours

stimulus

can be defined as anything to which an organism can respond

habituation

is the process of becoming used to a stimulus.

dishabituation

can occur when a second stimulus intervenes, causing a resensitization to the original stimulus.

subthreshold stimulus

a stimulus too weak to elicit a response

associative learning

is a way of pairing together stimuli and responses, or behaviors and consequences.

include classical and operant conditioning

classical conditioning

associative learning that takes advantage of biological, instinctual responses to create associations between two unrelated stimuli.

an unconditioned stimulus that produces an instinctive,

unconditioned response is paired with a neutral stimulus. With repetition, the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus that produces a conditioned response.

extinction

refers to the loss of a conditioned response

spontaneous recovery

the reappearance of a previously extinguished conditioned response after a period of time has passed since the conditioned stimulus (CS) was last presented

stimulus generalisation

a broadening effect by which a stimulus similar enough to the conditioned stimulus can also produce the conditioned response

stimulus discrimination

an organism learns to distinguish between similar stimuli

operant conditioning

behavior is changed through the use of consequences.

reinforcement

increases the likelihood of a behavior.

postive reinforcement

increase the frequency of a behavior by adding a positive consequence or incentive following the desired behavior.

negative reinforcement

they increase the frequency of a behavior, but they do so by removing something unpleasant. 

eg escape and avoidance learning

escape learning

describes a situation where the organism experiences the unpleasant stimulus and in response displays a the desired behaviour to escape the stimulus

avoidance learning

occurs when the organism displays the desired behaviour in anticipation of the unpleasant stimulus, thereby avoiding the unpleasant stimulus

punishment

 decreases the likelihood of a behavior.

positive punishment

adds an unpleasant consequence in response to a behavior to reduce that behavior;

for example, receiving a ticket and having to pay a fine for parking illegally.

negative punishment

removing a stimulus in order to cause reduction of a behavior.

For example, a parent or guardian may forbid a child from watching television as a consequence for bad behavior, with the goal of preventing the behavior from happening again.

reinforcement schedules

fixed ratio

reinforce a behavior after a specific number of performances of that behavior

variable ratio

reinforce a behavior after a varying number of performances of the behavior, but such that the average number of performances to receive a reward is relatively constant

fixed intervals

reinforce the first instance of a behavior after a specified time period has elapsed. For example, once our rat gets a pellet, it has to wait 60 seconds before it can get another pellet

variable interval

reinforce a behavior the first time that behavior is performed after a varying interval of time

The schedule of reinforcement affects the rate at which the behavior is performed. Behaviors learned through variable-ratio schedules are the hardest to extinguish.

shaping

which is the process of rewarding increasingly specific behaviors that become closer to a desired response

instinctual drift

When animals revert to an instinctive behavior after learning a new behavior 

observational learning

process of learning a new behavior or gaining information by watching others

eg Albert Bandura Bobo dall experiment

memory

encoding

is the process of putting new information into memory. It can be automatic or effortful. 

automatic processing

Information gained without any effort is the result, information is passively absorbed from the environment

semantic encoding is stronger than both acoustic and visual encoding.

self reference effect

we tend to recall information best when we can put it into the context of our own lives

maintenance rehearsal

which is the repetition of a piece of information to either keep it within working memory (to prevent forgetting) or to store it in short-term and eventually long-term memory

mnemonics

 common way to memorize information, particularly lists

method of loci

involves associating each item in a list with a location along a route through a building that has already been memorized

peg word system

associates numbers with items that rhyme with or resemble the numbers

eg. one might be associated with the sun, two with a shoe, three with a tree, and so on

chunking

 memory trick that involves taking individual elements of a large list and grouping them together into groups of elements with related meaning. For example, consider the following list of 16 letters: E-N- A-L-P-K-C-U-R-T-R-A-C-S-U-B.

Memorizing the list in order by rote might prove difficult until we realize that we can reverse the items and group them into meaningful chunks: BUS, CAR, TRUCK, PLANE

storage

Following encoding, information must be stored if it is to be remembered

Sensory memory

which preserves information in its original sensory form (auditory, visual, etc.) with high accuracy and lasts only a very short time, generally less than one second.

includes iconic and echoic memory

iconic memory

fast decaying memory visual stimuli

echoic memory

fast decaying memory of auditory stimuli

short term memory

Similar to sensory memory, short-term memory fades quickly, over the course of approximately 30 seconds without rehearsal.

limited to approximately seven items,usually stated as the 7 ± 2 rule

stored in the hippocampus

working memory

supported by the hippocampus

it enables few pieces of information in our consciousness simultaneously and to manipulate that information

eg able to fit unfinished puzzle together mentally

long term memory

essentially limitless warehouse for knowledge that we are then able to recall on demand, sometimes for the rest of our lives. 

requires elaborative rehearsal and is the result of increased neuronal connectivity.

elaborative rehearsal

is the association of the information to knowledge already stored in long-term memory

explicit (declarative) memory

consists of those memories that require conscious recall.

include episodic and semantic memory

episodic memory

refers to our recollection of life experiences

semantic memory

refers to ideas, concepts, or facts 

autobiographical memory

is the name given to our explicit memories about our lives and ourselves, and includes all of our episodic memories of our own life experiences, but also includes semantic memories that relate to our personal traits and characteristics

flashbulb memory

a vivid and exceptionally detailed memory associated with a shocking or emotionally significant event, often including details about the time and place of the event.

implicit (non declarative) memory

stores skills and conditioning effects none of which need to be consciously recalled

includes procedural memory and priming

procedural memory

which relates to our unconscious memory of the skills required to complete procedural tasks

priming

involves the presentation of one stimulus affecting perception of a second

positive priming

occurs when exposure to the first stimulus improves processing of the second stimulus, as demonstrated by measures such as decreased response time or decreased error rate.

negative priming

the first stimulus interferes with the processing of the second stimulus, resulting in slower response times and more errors

long-term potentiation

responsible for the conversion of short-term to long-term memory, is the strengthening of neuronal connections resulting from increased neurotransmitter release and adding of receptor sites.

retrieval

is the name given to the process of demonstrating that something that has been learned has been retained

eg recall

recognition

process of merely identifying a piece of information that was previously learned, is far easier than recall

semantic network

the way in which the brain organises ideas which are linked together based on similar meaning

source monitoring

is a part of the retrieval process that involves determining the origin of memories, and whether they are factual (real and accurate) or fictional (from a dream, novel, or movie).

state dependent memory

retrieval cue based on performing better when in the same mental state as when the information was learned.

eg. People who learn facts or skills while intoxicated, for example, will show better recall or proficiency when performing those same tasks while intoxicated as compared to performing them while sober.

primacy effect

tendency to remember things earlier on

recency effect

tendency to remember things later on

amnesia

forgetting

source amnesia

inability to remember where, when, or how one has obtained knowledge

retrograde amnesia

the loss of previously formed memories

anterograde amnesia

the inability to form new memories

confabulation

process of creating vivid but fabricated memories, typically thought to be an attempt made by the brain to fill in the gaps of missing memories.

agnosia

is the loss of the ability to recognize objects, people, or sounds, though usually only one of the three. Agnosia is usually caused by physical damage to the brain, such as that caused by a stroke or a neurological disorder such as multiple sclerosis

proactive interference

old information is interfering with new learning

retroactive interference

new information causes forgetting of old information

prospective memory

remembering to perform a task at some point in the future

eg remembering to take medication at 7am

reproductive memory

accurate recall of past events

reconstructive memory

explains how two people can recall the same event as occurring in completely different ways. 

false memory

A memory that incorrectly recalls actual events or recalls events that never occurred 

misinformation effect

person’s recall of an event becomes less accurate due to the injection of outside information into the memory

intrusion errors

refers to false memories that have included a false detail into a particular memory.

This is similar to the misinformation effect but distinct in that the intrusion error is not from an outside source. Instead, the intruding memory is injected into original memory due to both memories being related or sharing a theme.

source monitoring error

involves confusion between semantic and episodic memory: a person remembers the details of an event, but confuses the context under which those details were gained.

Source-monitoring error often manifests when a person hears a story of something that happened to someone else, and later recalls the story as a personal memory.

neuroplasticity

our brains develop, neural connections form rapidly in response to stimuli 

synaptic pruning

 weak neural connections are broken while strong ones are bolstered, increasing the efficiency of our brains’ ability to process information.