psychology learning and memory

Antecedent

the stimulus that prompts the response

Behaviour

the VOLUNTARY response

Consequence

the outcome

UCR

the UCR is the unconditioned response that occurs naturally before any conditioning takes place.

NS

the NS is a stimulus that initially has no effect on the target behaviour until conditioning.

UCS

the UCS is the unconditioned stimulus that automatically elicits a response without prior conditioning.

CS

the CS is a conditioned stimulus that elicits a response after being paired with the unconditioned stimulus.

CR

the CR is the conditioned response that is elicited by the conditioned stimulus after conditioning has occurred.

before conditioning

UCS elicits UCR, NS does not elicit the CR

during conditioning

UCR and NS are associated through repeated pairing

after conditioning

The NS has become a CS which elicits the CR

Differences between classical conditioning and operant conditioning

• classical conditioning involves conditioning involuntary/reflexive response; whereas operant conditioning involves conditioning voluntary behaviours through rewards or punishments.

• in classical conditioning, the learner is relatively passive in the learning process; whereas in operant conditioning, the learner is active.

• order of stimulus (timing of stimulus and response)

positive punishment

involves the presentation (or introduction) of a stimulus, thereby decreasing (or weakening) the likelihood of a response occurring again.

negative punishment

involves the removal or loss of a stimulus and thereby decreasing (or weakening) the likelihood of a response occurring again

positive reinforcement

involves presenting, giving or applying a positive reinforcer after the desired response has been made

negative reinforcement

involves the removal of an unpleasant stimulus, having the effect of increasing the likelihood of a response being repeated

negative reinforcer

any unpleasant or aversive stimulus that, when removed or avoided, strengthens or increases the frequency or likelihood of a desired response.

positive reinforcer

a stimulus that strengthens or increases the frequency or likelihood of a desired response by providing a satisfying consequence.

Factors influencing the effectiveness of reinforcement and punishment

• order of presentation (must be presented after response),

• timing (most effective when immediately after),

• appropriateness (must provide a pleasing or satisfying consequence for the recipient)

observational learning

involves the acquisition of information, skills or behaviour through watching the performance of others, either directly or indirectly via some form of media or other means

order of observational learning processes

attention, retention,, reproduction, motivation, reinforcement

classical conditioning

refers to a type of learning that occurs through the repeated association of two (or more) different stimuli.

operant conditioning

a learning process whereby the consequences of behaviour determine the likelihood that it will be performed again in the future

factors influencing attention in observational learning

we pay closer attention to models with the following characteristics

• the model is perceived positively, is liked and has a high status

• there are perceived similarities between features and traits of the model and observer such as age and sex

• the model is familiar or known to the observer through previous observation

• models behaviour stands out clearly against other competing models

• the model is demonstrating behaviour that the observer perceives themselves as being able to imitate.

retention

storing a mental representation of what was observed

reproduction

having the (mental and physical) competency/ability to imitate what has been observed (the model’s behaviour)

motivation

The observer must also be motivated to perform
the behaviour; that is, they must have the desire
and want to reproduce what was observed

reinforcement - observational learning

external, internal, vicarious

external reinforcement

from the external environment

self reinforcement

occurs when we are reinforced by meeting certain standards of performance we set for ourselves

vicarious reinforcement

occurs indirectly by observing the modelled behaviour being reinforced without personally experiencing the reinforcement.

self efficacy

We are more likely to imitate a model’s behaviour if we have low self-confidence and low self-esteem, as compared with people who do not. Self-confidence and self-esteem influence our level of self-efficacy — our belief in our ability to accomplish tasks and succeed in particular situations.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing

• learnt in multimodal ways, such as narratives (stories), song, dance and ceremony

memory simplified

encoding → storage → retrieval

encoding

conversion of sensory information info a useable form so that it can be neurologically represented (‘placed’) and stored in memory

storage

retention of the encoded information over time

retrieval

recovery of stored information for use when needed

Songlines

a navigational route comprising a sequence
of locations

• oral cultures

• stories contain all the elements of a highly memorable narrative

• The version of the knowledge performed will depend on the initiation and gender status of the audience

• explanations of a land formation at the site, animal behaviour that should be known when hunting, plants that can be used for medicinal purposes

• may describe laws, how people must behave towards one another, customs followed for food supply and distribution, rituals of initiation, laws of marriage or the ceremonies of death

mnemonics

any technique used to assist memory

• use information that is already stored in LTM by forging a link or association between the new information to be remembered and information previously encoded.

• The techniques do not simplify information; they actually make it more elaborate. More info stored, not less

• enhanced organisation in LTM

acronyms

pronounceable words formed from the first letters of a group of words

acrostic

involve making verbal associations for items to be remembered by constructing sentences (or phrases) using the first letters of the information to be remembered.

• The first letter of each word in the sentence then acts as a retrieval cue, which assists recall of the relevant information.

method of loci

a mnemonic device for which the items to be remembered are converted into mental images and associated with specific positions or locations

• cannot be used by those with aphantasia

imagined futures

episodic memory allows us to ‘relive’ the past and use past experiences to imagine the future and plan future actions.

alzheimers disease

• neurodegenerative disorder characterised by the gradual widespread degeneration of brain neurons

• causes memory decline, deterioration of cognitive and social skills, and personality changes

• age related, but not normal part of aging

alzheimers biology

• cortical areas effected first (STM effected)

• progresses to hippocampus, LTM (primarily explicit episodic and semantic) is increasingly impaired

• implicit memory intact or less severely affected

• hippocampal damage has shown to make people struggle to imagine novel experiences (impairment to episodic memories)

aphantasia

term that describes the absence of visual imagery

• difficulty with face recognition and that their autobiographical memories were less vivid and detailed than people with visual imager

• can occur through brain injury, psychosis or at birth

• it is considered a normal variation in human experience, not needing diagnosis or treatment

consolidation

• is the neurobiological process
  of making a newly formed memory stable and enduring following a learning experience.

• Time is required after learning takes place to enable the new information to consolidate (‘set’) as a durable long- term memory

• Once consolidated, encoded memories are not necessarily fixed or unchangeable. Whenever a memory is retrieved, it is open to further consolidation and has to be ‘re-stabilised’ through the process called reconsolidation.

hippocampus

• has a crucial role in the formation and encoding of new semantic and episodic memories

• helps ensure they are neurologically stable and long-lasting explicit long-term memories (via consolidation)

• not directly involved in the formation of implicit procedural or classically conditioned memories

• does not permanently store any memories itself

• plays a role in the formation of emotional memories, particularly the explicit memory component of an emotional event

• emotional event: the activity of the hippocampus during memory formation will enable you to remember such aspects as where the event happened, when it happened, and whom you

• hippocampus is also important for spatial memory, which is an explicit memory for the physical location of objects in space

amygdala

• role in processing and regulating emotional reactions, (particularly fear and anger (including aggression) that may be experienced intensely

• involved in the formation and consolidation of memory for events that evoke an emotional reaction

• role in classically conditioned fear responses involving implicit memory.

  Therefore, without amygdala=long term explicit memories but no fear response

• contributes to the formation and storage of long-term explicit memories

  (flashbulb memory is a vivid, highly detailed and long-lasting memory of an event that is very surprising, consequential or emotionally arousing, often including details of their personal circumstances)

• does not permanently store emotional memories

• without amygdala: cannot learn to fear things that signal danger, to express fear in appropriate situations and also lose their memory of learned fears

neocortex/cerebral cortex

• role in interaction with the hippocampus in the formation, consolidation, storage and retrieval of long-term explicit memories

• role in the retrieval process

• long-term explicit semantic and episodic memories are widely distributed throughout the neocortex

basal ganglia

• role in long-term implicit memories involving motor skills. implicit memories of motor skills associated with voluntary movements

• associated w/ impaired voluntary movements of people diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease

• Huntington’s disease is a hereditary disorder characterised by involuntary bodily movements due to the degeneration of neurons in the basal ganglia

• involved with habituation and the associated memories.

  
  habituation is the process of growing accustomed to a situation or stimulus, therefore the response to an unchanging stimulus weakens or decreases over time

  habituation occurs without conscious awareness and therefore also involves memories that we can recall without conscious awareness. (implicit)

• mirror tracing task!!!

cerebellum

• coordinates fine muscle movements, regulates posture and balance, and contributes to various perceptual and cognitive processes.

• skilled sequence of movements that require timing and are made with speed, ease and fluency

• voluntary, purposeful movements

• involved in the encoding and temporary storage of implicit procedural memories for these and numerous other motor skills

• crucial for motor learning and the execution of voluntary movements, but not long term storage (neocortex does that)

• does form and store implicit memories of simple reflexes acquired through classical conditioning

sensory memory

iconic, echoic

• the entry point of memory where new incoming sensory information is stored for a very brief period.

• information received here is an exact copy of its original

• We are not consciously aware of most information in our sensory memory

• Receives sensory information from the environment

• Enables perceptual continuity for the world around us

• potentially unlimited capacity

• short duration to allow for perceptual continuity…. stored long enough to ensure we perceive the world around us as continuous, rather than as a series of disconnected visual images or disjointed sounds

iconic memory

• is used to describe visual sensory memory

• duration: generally 1/3rd of a second (around 0.2 - 0.4 seconds)

• capacity: potentially unlimited

echoic memory

• auditory sensory memory — the brief sensory memory for incoming auditory information

• duration: 3-4 seconds

-long enough to select what has been heard for further processing and interpretation before the sound disappears completely

-important for understanding speech. You perceive speech by blending successive spoken sounds you hear. long enough for u to hear whole thing and blend together

• capacity: potentially unlimited

short term memory (working memory)

• a memory system with limited storage capacity in which information is retained for a relatively short time, unless renewed in some way.

• stores info temporarily

• duration: 12-18 seconds if not renewed (e.g through maintenance rehearsal). hOWEVER can linger for up to 30 seconds (especially muscle memory type info), so this is how it is now commonly defined.

• capacity: 5-9 pieces of information (7±2)

• As our ‘working memory’, STM enables us to maintain information in conscious awareness whilst we actively ‘work on’ and manipulate it as we undertake our everyday tasks. Once the required task has been achieved, the information stored there is no longer required and is either transferred to LTM or discarded.

displacement

When STM is ‘full’, new items can only be added by pushing old items out.

• info lost in this way is called displacement

decay

occurs when information is not renewed and simply fades away with the passage of time

chunking

Chunking is the grouping of separate bits of information into one or more larger units, or ‘chunks’, of information.

• allows you to fit info within capacity of STM

long term memory

stores a potentially unlimited amount of information for a very long time after original learning, possibly permanently

• organised (I think)

explicit (declarative)

LTM that can be consciously retrieved and stated. It is therefore commonly described as ‘memory with awareness’

• deliberate and conscious attempt to retrieve previously stored information.

• we can consciously retrieve the information and can ‘declare’ (state) or ‘explicitly’ (openly) express it.

episodic, semantic

semantic

• the long-term memory of facts and knowledge about the world

• not ‘tagged’ with details of time and place

episodic

• the long-term memory of personally experienced events (‘what’) associated with a particular time (‘when’) and place (‘where’)

• similar to autobiographical memories, BUT DIFFERENT

implicit (non-declarative)

long-term memory that does not require conscious or intentional retrieval

• you are not aware that you are remembering

• remembering occurs effortlessly

• memory without awareness

procedural, classically conditioned

procedural

long-term memory for the skills involved in particular tasks

• memory of how to do something

• involved motor skills (e.g. how to type) and cognitive skills (e.g. how to a jigsaw puzzle)

• require little or no intentional or conscious attempt to retrieve

• often difficult to put into words

classically conditioned implicit memory

• occurs automatically without conscious awareness in response to a relevant stimulus, therefore implicit

• e.g a taste aversion that may be acquired involuntarily without conscious awareness through classical conditioning

• e.g. simple conditioned reflex responses