TTU PSYCH 1300 EXAM 3 PASCARELLA

Define Reflexes

Are involuntary responses to stimuli

- Not adaptable to change

Define Instincts

Are inborn patterns of behavior elicited by environmental stimuli

- More complex than reflexes

Define Learning

Is a relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs due to experience

Define Behavior

Is a result of learning that can take the form of either externally observable actions or internal processes, such as emotions, thoughts, and physiological responses

Which responses are controlled by the brain and spinal cord?

Reflexes

Define Sensitization

Increasing our reactions to a wide range of stimulus

-After an earthquake

Define Classical Conditioning

Forms associations between pairs of stimuli that occur sequentially at the same time (Associated with Pavlov)

Define Conditioned Stimulus

Is an environmental event whose significance is learned

Define Unconditioned Stimulus

Is a stimulus that elicits a response without previous experience

-Has a natural built in meaning to the organism

What is an example of an Unconditioned Stimulus?

Food for dogs, because they need it

Define Conditioned Response

A response that is learned through previous experience

Define Unconditioned Response

A response that requires no previous experience

What is the advantage of Observational Learning

It transmits information across generations within families and cultures

Define Operant Conditioning

Forms associations between behaviors and their consequences;

Define Positive Reinforcement

Positive reinforcement increases the frequency of its associated behavior by providing a desired outcome

-A mother gives her son praise for doing homework

Define Negative Reinforcement

Involves the removal of unpleasant consequences from a situation to increase the frequency of an associated behavior

-Bob does the dishes in order to stop his mother's nagging

Define Positive Punishment

Applies an aversive consequence that reduces the frequency of or eliminates a behavior

-A child touches a hot stove and feels pain

Define Negative Punishment

Involves the removal of something desirable

-A child kicks a peer and is removed from his/her favorite activity

Define Spontaneous Recovery

-Is the reappearance of conditioned responses following periods of rest between sessions of extinction training

What is an example of a spontaneous recovery?

A dog stops salivating in response to a metronome by the end of one session, but the dog salivates at the beginning of the next session

-A dog responds to the command "lay down." One day, he stops listening when told to lay down. Days later, he begins to lay down again.

Define Generalization

The tendency to respond to stimuli that are similar to an original conditioned stimulus.

-Examples: A little kid gets bit by a dog, so he becomes afraid of all animals

Define Discrimination

A learned ability to distinguish between stimuli.

-Examples: A little kid gets big by a dog and is able to distinguish in which dogs will bite

Define Systematic Desensitization

A type of counterconditioning in which people RELAX while being exposed to stimuli that elicit fear

Define Token Economy

An application of operant conditioning in which tokens that can be exchanged for other reinforcers are used to increase the frequency of desirable behaviors

-Little rewards that lead up to a certain behavior and eventually resulting in bigger rewards

What is an example of a token economy?

-The use of money to buy things of personal value is an example of a token economy

-People receive money for doing certain things

-A mom gives a kid candy if he does the right thing

Define Fixed Ratio Schedule

Reinforcement occurs after a set number of responses

Example of Fixed Ratio

Workers getting paid by the piece

Define Variable Ratio Schedule

Reinforcement occurs after a variable number of responses, which average a set number for a session

Example of Variable Ratio

Checking your cell phone for new email can be a kind of variable ratio schedule

Define Fixed Interval Schedule (TIME)

Each response begins an interval during which no reinforcement is available. The first response after the interval is reinforced

Example of Fixed Interval

A rat's first press after each 1-min interval has timed out is reinforced

Define Variable Interval Schedule (TIME)

Each response begins an interval of varying length, with the average length for the session set by the experimente

Example of Variable Interval

Fish are caught after periods of waiting for the fish to bite that vary in length

Define Latent Learning

Learning that occurs in the absence of reinforcement

-Rats had learned while just exploring but that they did not demonstrate their learning until motivated by the food reward to do so

-A dog is taught to sit but does not do so until offered a treat as a reward

What are the 4 cognitive processes?

-Attention

-Retention - keeping something in your memory

-Reproduction

-Motivation

What is the purpose of mirror neurons

They show similar patterns of activity when an individual performs an action or watches another individual perform the same action

What does 7 plus or minus 2 refer to?

How a person can usually only remember 5-9 items in terms of short term memory because there's a limited STM capacity

What is the order of the processes of memory?

-Encoding

-Storage

-Retrieval

What is encoding in the processes of memory?

Converting the information into a form usable in memory

What is storage in the processes of memory?

Retaining information in memory

What is retrieval in the processes of memory?

Bringing stored information to mind

What is the order of the memories in Atkinson-Shiffrin model?

-Sensory input

-Sensory memory

-Short-term memory

-Long-term memory

Define Chunking

The process of grouping similar or meaningful information together

Define Working Memory

The adaptation of short-term memory

What are the four components of working memory?

-Phonological loop

-Visuospatial sketch pad

-Episodic buffer

-Central executive

Define Phonological Loop

Is responsible for verbal and auditory information

Define Visuospatial Sketch Pad

Holds visual and spatial information

Define Episodic Buffer

Combines information stored in long term memory

Define Central Executive

Directs attention to one particular task

Define Long-Term Memory

The final stage of the Atkinson-Shiffrin model that is the location of permanent memories

How is LTM characterized?

-Is the final stage of the Atkinson's Shiffrin model

-Is a result of elabaorative rehearsal

-Is the location of permanent memories

Define the Primacy Effect

Refers to the superior recall for the first words on the list

Define the Recency Effect

Refers to the superior recall for the last words on the list

Example: Remembering only the last few items on a grocery list

What do Declarative Memories refer to?

Semantic and Episodic memories

What information do Semantic Memories contain

-General knowledge in the form of word meanings and facts

-Knowledge about the world

-SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE OF SELF

What information do Episodic Memories contain

-Personal account of past experiences

-Specific information about events, objects, and people

What is the blend of semantic and episodic memories referred to as?

Autobiographical memories

Define Procedural Memory

How to carry out motor skills and procedures

What are the brain areas associated with episodic memories?

Prefrontal

What are the brain areas associated with long term memories?

Hippocampus

What are the brain areas associated with short term memories?

Define a Cue

Is a stimulus that helps access target information

Why are recognition cues easier than recall cues?

Because you can recognize easier than recalling memory

Define Tip of the Tongue

Retrieval is a step-by-step manner

-Trying to remember a word or name

Define Flashbulb Memory

Memories that are permanently etched into our brains

Define Proactive Interference

Refers to the reduced memory for target info as a result of earlier learning

-Calling someones name you remember them by, like by nicknames

Define Retroactive Interference

Reduced memory for target info due to subsequent learning

-New info displaces the old

What does "Cogito" refer to

"To think"

-How we solve problems

Define Visual Images

Are representations of sensory experiences that are stored in memory and can be retrieved for use

Who is more likely to use Visual Images

Children

Define Prototype

Is an ideal model that represents an entire category

Define Algorithm

Are step-by-step approaches that leads to a solution

Define a Heuristic

Shortcuts to problem solving

Define the Availability Heuristic

People predict that events that are easy to think about will be more frequent

-Choosing to not drive after hearing of plane crashes

(PARANOIA)

Define the Representative Heuristic

Leads people to estimate that stimuli which are similar to a prototype are more likely to fit the category (STEREOTYPING)

Define the Recognition Heuristic

People will place a higher value on the more easily recognized alternative (Picking the more popular option)

Define the Affect Heuristic

Is relevant to the way people make important choices (GUT REACTION)

What percent of the world's spoken languages may soon die out and why?

50% because following assimilation into larger cultures, speakers might stop using their native languages or fail to transmit them to their children

Define Phonemes

Are the smallest unit of sounds in which meaning doesn't matter

-Tea vs Sea

-Sight vs Sigh

Define Morphemes

Combination of phonemes that will still allow the word to have meaning

-Prefixes and suffixes

-Making a word past or future tense

Define Generalized Intelligence

Overall intelligence

Define Crystallized Intelligence

Intelligence that we're learning throughout our life period with past knowledge and experience

Define Fluid Intelligence

Intelligence that is always open to changing

Define Aphasia

The ability to speak and understand language

Define Dyslexia

Difficulties in learning to read

What are characteristics of Dyslexia

Based off genetic factors

What are ways to improve memory?

-Take tests

-Recite

-Mnemonics