Lecture Notes on Generalization, Discrimination, Stimulus Control, and Forgetting

Flashcards covering key vocabulary from lectures on Generalization, Discrimination, Stimulus Control, and Forgetting.

Stimulus Generalization

Learned responses to stimuli that are similar to the original conditioned stimulus (CS); the tendency for learning in one situation to spread to other situations.

Generalization

The tendency for behavior learned in one situation to occur in other similar situations.

Stimulus Discrimination

Learning to respond to a specific stimulus, but not other similar stimuli; the tendency for behavior to occur in one situation but not in others.

Stimulus Control

The increased tendency to behave a certain way in one situation and decreased tendency to behave that way in a different situation.

Forgetting

The deterioration in performance following a period without practice.

Extinction

The regular appearance of the CS alone, without the US (classical); the regular appearance of a behavior alone not followed by a reinforcer (operant).

Declarative/Explicit memory

Records of learning that can be expressed; memory with conscious recall.

Semantic memory

Remembering basic factual knowledge (i.e., name of objects, days of the week, presidents of the US, 50 states of US).

Episodic memory

An autobiographical record of personal experience (i.e., prom, high school graduation, homecoming, fourth of July, Christmas, etc.).

Nondeclarative/implicit memory

Records of learning that cannot be expressed; memory without conscious recall.

Procedural memory

Motor skills and habits (e.g., typing, brushing teeth, tying your shoes, putting on clothes, wiping your behind).

Classically conditioned memory

Conditioned responses to conditioned stimuli (i.e., phobias, some aspects of prejudice, and other attitudes).

Priming

Earlier exposure facilitates retrieval (i.e., heightened fears after watching a scary movie/reading a scary novel).

Hyperthymia

A condition that leads people to be able to remember an abnormally large number of their life experiences in vivid detail.

Free recall

A method of measuring forgetting that consists of providing the opportunity to perform the learned behavior; to produce facts of information.

Prompted/cued recall

Hints (prompts) about the behavior to be performed are recalled.

Relearning methods/Savings methods

A behavior is learned to criterion before and after a retention interval.

Retention interval

A period during which learning or practice of a behavior does not occur; the time between training and testing or forgetting.

Recognition

The subjects are required to identify stimuli experienced earlier.

Overlearning

The continuation of training beyond the point required to produce one errorless performance.

Proactive interference

Previous learning can interfere with recalling new learning.

Retroactive interference

New learning can interfere with recalling previous information.

Cue dependent learning

Forgetting that results from the absence of cues that were present during training.

State-depending learning

Learning that occurs during a particular physiological state (such as alcoholic intoxication) and is lost when that physiological state passes.