MCAT Behavioral Sciences - Learning and Memory

learning

to the way in which we acquire new behaviors

stimulus

anything to which an organism can respond, including all of the sensory inputs

habituation

repeated exposure to the same stimulus can cause a decrease in response

subthreshold stimulus

a stimulus too weak to elicit a response

Dishabituation

the recovery of a response to a stimulus after habituation has occurred

Associative learning

creation of a pairing either between two stimuli or between a behavior and a response

Classical conditioning

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

Ivan Pavlov

unconditioned stimulus

Any stimulus that brings about a reflexive response

unconditioned response

the innate or reflexive response to an unconditioned stimulus

neutral stimuli

stimuli that do not produce a reflexive response

conditioned stimulus

a normally neutral stimulus that, through association, now causes a reflexive response

conditioned response

the innate or reflexive response to an conditioned stimulus

acquisition

process of using a reflexive, unconditioned stimulus to turn a neutral stimulus into a conditioned stimulus

Extinction

loss of a conditioned response, and can occur if the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus

spontaneous recovery

extinction of a response is not always permanent; after some time, presenting subjects again with an extinct conditioned stimulus will sometimes produce a weak conditioned response

Generalization

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

e.g. Little Albert

(stimuli) discrimination

an organism learns to distinguish between similar stimuli

operant conditioning

the ways in which consequences of voluntary behaviors change the frequency of those behaviors

B.F. Skinner

behaviorism

the theory that all behaviors are conditioned

reinforcement

the process of increasing the likelihood that an animal will perform a behavior

reward-seeking behaviors

ways that organisms search for resources in their enironment

e.g. foraging, approach behaviours

Positive reinforcers

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

e.g. money

Negative reinforcers

increase the frequency of a behavior by removing something unpleasant

e.g. pain/painkillers

Escape learning

a situation where the animal experiences the unpleasant stimulus and, in response, displays the desired behavior in order to trigger the removal of the stimulus

avoidance learning

when the animal displays the desired behavior in anticipation of the unpleasant stimulus, thereby avoiding the unpleasant stimulus

primary reinforcer

stimulus that the subject responds to naturally

conditioned/secondary reinforcer

stimulus that the subject would not respond to naturally, but can be trained to respond to

discriminative stimulus

indicates that reward is potentially available in an operant conditioning paradigm

punishment

conditioning to reduce the occurrence of a behavior

Positive punishment

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

e.g. fine

aversive conditioning

using something unpleasant to discourage a behavior

negative punishment

removing a stimulus in order to cause reduction of a behavior

e.g. grounding

reinforcement schedule

the rules that determine how often an organism is reinforced for a particular behavior

formal sanctions

a penalty, or some coercive measure, intended to ensure compliance; especially one adopted by several nations, or by an international body

e.g. rules and laws

informal sanctions

reactions of individuals and groups that bring about conformity to norms and laws

e.g. ostracization, praise, and shunning

Fixed-ratio (FR) schedule

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

e.g. every third time

Continuous reinforcement

a fixed-ratio schedule in which the behavior is rewarded every time it is performed

Variable-ratio (VR) schedules

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-interval (FI) schedules

reinforce the first instance of a behavior after a specified time period has elapsed

e.g. every 60 seconds

Variable-interval (VI) schedules

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

effectiveness of various reinforecemnt schedules

variable-ratio works the fastest for learning a new behavior, and is also the most resistant to extinction (Very Rapid and Very Resistant)

e.g. gambling

shaping

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

latent learning

learning that occurs without a reward but that is spontaneously demonstrated once a reward is introduced

Problem solving

the ability to analyze the situation and respond correctly the first time without brute-force trial-and-error

preparedness

predisposition to learn certain behaviours based on natural abilities and instincts

instinctive/instinctual drift

When animals revert to an instinctive behavior after learning a new behavior that is similar

Observational learning

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

Albert Bandura (social learning)

mirror neurons

located in the frontal and parietal lobes of the cerebral cortex; fire both when an individual performs an action and when that individual observes someone else performing that action; additionally are thought to be related to empathy and vicarious emotions; play a role in imitative learning

modeling

People learn what behaviors are acceptable by watching others perform them

memory

how we gain the knowledge that we accumulate over our lifetimes

Encoding

the process of putting new information into memory

automatic processing

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

controlled/effortful processing

active memorization; can become automatic with practice

visual encoding

store the way stimuli look

acoustic encoding

store the way stimuli sound

elaborative encoding

link information to knowledge that is already in memory

semantic encoding

put information into a meaningful context

self-reference effect

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

maintenance rehearsal

repetition of a piece of information to either keep it within working memory or to store it in short-term and eventually long-term memory

Mnemonics

often acronyms or rhyming phrases that provide a vivid organization of the information we are trying to remember

method of loci

associating each item in a list with a location along a route through a building that has already been memorized; “memory palace”

peg-word system

associates numbers with items that rhyme with or resemble the numbers

chunking/clustering

a memory trick that involves taking individual elements of a large list and grouping them together into groups of elements with related meaning

sensory memory

first and most fleeting kind of memory storage; preserves information in its original sensory form (auditory, visual, etc.) with high accuracy; lasts only a very short time (<1 s)

iconic memory

fast-decaying sensory memory of visual stimuli; occipital lobe

echoic memory

fast-decaying sensory memory of auditory stimuli; temporal lobe

haptic memory

fast-decaying sensory memory of touch stimuli; somatosensory cortex

whole-report

a method used in studies of iconic memory in which the participant attempts to recall all of the presented information

partial-report

a method of testing memory in which only some of the total information presented is to be recalled

Eidetic memory

the ability to recall, with high precision, an image after only a brief exposure; may represent an extreme example of iconic memory that endures for a few minutes; generally not observed in adults, but reported in a small percentage of children

short-term memory

the reproduction, recognition, or recall of a limited amount of material; memory fades quickly (~30 s w/o rehearsal)

memory capacity

the number of items we can hold in our short-term memory at any given time

7 ± 2 rule

hippocampus

memory center of brain; both short- and long-term memory

Working memory

enables us to keep a few pieces of information in our consciousness simultaneously and to manipulate that information; integrate short-term memory, attention, and executive function; mental math

long-term memory

an essentially limitless warehouse for knowledge that we are then able to recall on demand

elaborative rehearsal

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

cerebral cortex

holds very long-term memories

visuospatial sketchpad

aspect of working memory; stores and manipulates visual and spatial information

Baddeley and Hitch working memory model

• central executive

• visuospatial sketchpad

• phonological loop

• episodic buffer

Implicit/nondeclarative memory

skills, habits, and conditioned responses, none of which need to be consciously recalled

procedural memory

unconscious memory of the skills required to complete procedural tasks

priming

the presentation of one stimulus affecting perception of a second

Positive priming

exposure to the first stimulus improves processing of the second stimulus; 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

explicit/declarative memory

memories that require conscious recall

episodic and semantic

episodic memory

recollection of life experiences

semantic memory

ideas, concepts, or facts that we know, but are not tied to specific life experiences

Autobiographical memory

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

the detailed recollection of stimuli immediately surrounding an important (or emotionally arousing) event

retrieval

to the process of demonstrating that something that has been learned has been retained

recall

the retrieval and statement of previously learned information

recognition

process of merely identifying a piece of information that was previously learned

Relearning

second time memorising/learning is much faster than first

spacing effect

the longer the amount of time between sessions of relearning, the greater the retention of the information later on

semantic network

concepts are linked together in the brain based on similar meaning

spreading activation

When one node of our semantic network is activated, the other linked concepts around it are also unconsciously activated

recall cue

a word or phrase that is close to the desired semantic memory.

context effect

where memory is aided by being in the physical location where encoding took place

source monitoring

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/effect

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