AP Psychology Chapter 6 & 7 Review

Learning

Learning

the process of acquiring new and relatively enduring information or behaviors through experience, observation, or teaching.

Classical Conditioning

• when a stimulus eventually evokes the same reflexive response originally made by another stimulus - a new association is formed. 

• Ivan Pavlol stumbled upon this idea while working with dogs. 

Unconditioned Stimulus

• a stimulus that makes a response without any previous conditioning. Ex. Dog treat.

Unconditioned Response

• the natural, reflexive response to an unconditioned stimulus

Conditioned Stimulus

an unrelated stimulus that through conditioning eventually evokes the same response as the UCS.

Conditioned Response

• the learned reaction for the conditioned stimulus. Usually the same as the UCR.

Acquisition

• Initial stage of learning something

Generalization

• responding the same to other stimuli that are like/similar to the CS. Ex. the case of “Little Albert” 

Discrimination

• not responding the same to like stimuli. Only the original CS elicits the response. 

Extinction

removal of a CR. Repeated exposure to the CS without the UCS.

Spontaneous Recovery

• the reappearance of an extinguished response after a long time of non exposure to the CS. 

Biological Preparedness

•  organisms are innately predisposed to form associations between certain stimuli and responses because those associations between certain stimuli and responses because those associations have evolutionary advantages.                                               

Systematic Desensitization

 a behavior therapy used to reduce clients’ anxiety responses through counterconditioning.

Instinctive Drift

• the tendency for an animal’s innate responses to interfere with conditioning processes. Drifting back to their instinctive behavior. Ex. Dogs chasing squirrels. 

Higher Order Conditioning

• a CS is paired with a new CS to create the same CR - never need the US. 

Counterconditioning

• an undesirable response to a stimulus is replaced with a more desirable response by associating the stimulus with something positive. 

Little Albert

• John B. Watson conducted an influential early study on generalization on a 11-month-old boy. Like many babies, Albert was initially unafraid of a live white rat. Watson paired the presentation of the rat with a loud, startling sound. Albert showed fear in response to the loud noise. After seven pairing of the rat and the sound, the rat was established as a CS eliciting a fear response that exposed Albert to other stimuli that resembled the rat in being white and furry. They found that Albert’s fear response generalized to a variety of stimuli, including a rabbit, a dog, a fur coat, a Santa Claus mask, and Watson’s hair. 

Law of Effect

• behaviors followed by satisfying consequences tend to be repeated, while behaviors followed by unsatisfying consequences are less likely to occur again.

• Developed by Edward Thorndike

Skinner’s Operant Conditioning

• learning in which behavior (voluntary) is shaped by their consequences. Used the Skinner’s Box & mainly rats/pigeons. 

Shaping

• reinforcement of closer approximation of a desired response.

Positive Punishment

• adding something undesirable to decrease a response.

Negative Punishment

•  removal of desirable stimulus to decrease behavior.

Positive Reinforcement

• adding something desirable to increase a response.

Negative Reinforcement

• removal of undesirable stimuli to increase behavior.

Primary Reinforcer

• satisfy biological needs - food, water, sex, removal of pain, affection…

Secondary/Conditioned Reinforcers

• things that gain reinforcing qualities by being associated with primary reinforcers. Ex. light paired with food

Token Economy

• the use of a highly structured environment in which secondary reinforcers are later traded for primary ones. Ex. School book report completion for free Pizza Hut pizzas. 

Extinction

• happens when a previously reinforced behavior is no longer reinforced, leading to a decrease in that behavior. For example, if a child no longer receives praise for good grades, they might stop studying as hard. Extinction highlights the importance of consistent reinforcement to sustain the conditioning 

Generalization

• occurs when a behavior reinforced in one context is performed in similar situations. For instance, a student who studies diligently for calculus and receives excellent grades might apply the same study habits to psychology and history, expecting similar results. Generalization shows how learning in one setting can influence behavior in others.

Discrimination

 involves responding appropriately to stimuli based on whether the behavior will be reinforced. For example, a student may put in more effort in classes where teachers provide encouragement and praise but not in classes where such reinforcement is absent. Discrimination helps individuals discern which situations are likely to result in reinforcement.

Continuous

•  reinforcement every time: learning occurs rapidly, but so does extinction.

Fixed Interval

• reinforcement after a set amount of time.

Variable Interval

reinforcement after a varied amount of time.

Fixed Ratio

• reinforcement after a set number of times. 

Variable Ratio

reinforcement after a varied number of times

Latent Learning

• it is possible for a balance to have been learned in the absence of reinforcement. It is not apparent until there is an incentive. Ex. rat maze study when the rats who got reinforced ran the maze faster than the rats than didn’t until the rats who originally didn’t get reinforced, got reinforced. They ran faster. 

Overjustification

•  the use of external rewards will decrease the internal desire, motivation for a behavior. Ex. Playing piano was for fun but overtime the money (external rewards) will be why you play the piano. 

Social Learning

• Albert Bondura described learning by watching/imitation, this famous study was called the bobo doll experiment. 

• The person being imitated is the model

4 Basic Processes:

1. Attention

2. Retention

3. Reproduction

4. Motivation

 Vicarious Reinforcement

• occurs when the frequency of certain behaviors increases as a result of observing others rewarded for the same behaviors. 

3 Key Processes of Memory - Information Processing:

1. Encoding- forming a memory code

2. Storage- maintaining information overtime

3. Retrieval- recovering information from memory storage

• The number one factor in encoding is attention

Levels of Processing

•  the deeper attention we given, the better memory code formed. 

Structural

based on physical structure of stimulus

Phonemic

• based on how a word sounds

Semantic

• based on the meaning of the word

Mnemonic Device

any learning technique that aids information retention or retrieval in the human memory, often by associating the information with something that is easier to remember

Method of Loci

a mnemonic device that relies on spatial relationships between “loci” (e.g., locations on a familiar route or rooms in a familiar building) to arrange and recollect memorial content.

Visual Imagery

 most people are very visual - use of a visual template: the method of loci/memory palace - an imaginary walk where things are stored in certain visual locations.

Elaboration

linking new information to other information during encoding, doing more than simply rehearsing mnemonic devices (memory aids) are examples: acronyms, linked method (a mental image that links visually together), pegword system (remembers words in a precise order)

Self Referent Encoding

• makes it personally relevant 

Sensory Memory

• preserves information for a fraction of a second, yet can hold about 25 bits of input

• Attention is required for info to go to sensory memory to short term memory.

Short Term Memory

• holds unrehearsed info for 20-30 seconds - holds about 7+/-2 bits of information

• Rehearsal is required for info to go to LTM. Rehearsal will also increase the duration of STM.

Chunking

grouping similar stimuli into a single unit to increase STM capacity. Ex. SOHCAHTOA, KPCOFGS.

Primacy Recency Effect (serial position effect)

• tendency to remember items at the beginning and the end of a list/order best.

Ebbinghaus’ Forgetting Curve

• shows how learned information slips out of our memories over time – unless we take action to keep it there.

Role of STM

helps remember important stuff that is only needed for a small period of time.

Long Term Memory

• unlimited in capacity and stable—lasting for years or even a lifetime

Flashbulb Memory

• a clear memory of an emotional event or moment

Schema

an organized knowledge of a place/activity/thing. A mental construct or framework.Schemas can help us to piece together memories from it, but can lead to false memories based on our impression of how it should have occurred, rather than how it actually happened.

Declarative

 facts/general knowledge

Procedural

motor and cognitive skills - how to think

Semantic

The memory of facts, ideas, and concepts

Episodic

Memories of personal experiences. An example would be telling a friend about what you ate for breakfast or the first time that you went swimming

Implicit

Implicit memory is a type of long-term memory that is remembered unconsciously.

Explicit

• memory involving effortful encoding

Retrospective

• is the ability to recall events, facts, and experiences from the past. 

Prospective

• Prospective memory is remembering to perform an action at a certain time. An example would be remembering to take medicine after breakfast.

Famous Debate

•  Women accuses her parents of rape after having her repressed memories unlocked by a hypnotist. She then goes to interviews talking about her experience and even wrote a book about it. It turned out that repressed memories can’t be trusted and are actually false memories. Her parents took a polygraph test and passed and her siblings came forward and told everyone she lied. There wasn’t enough physical room in their childhood house for this event to even take place. 

Misinformation Effect

when a recall of an event is altered by giving false post-event information. Ex. Loftu’s work on eyewitness testimony - cars hitting vs smashing.

Source Monitoring (amnesia)

• misattributing a memory to the wrong source. 

Reality Monitoring

• processes involved in distinguishing internally generated information from information presented in the external world.

Recall

• retrieving info learned earlier such as fill in the blank vs recognition (identifying items previously learned like multiple choice).

Recognition

• a form of remembering characterized by a feeling of familiarity when something previously experienced is again encountered.

Encoding failure

• memory was never formed originally/or due to lack of attention during encoding - tip of the tongue phenomenon

Interference

•  competition from other material.

Ineffective Encoding

• encoding fails due to lack of attention, shallow processing, no elaboration, insufficient practice/study. 

Decay

 memory fading in time

Proactive Interference

• old information disrupts the new

old information disrupts the new

Retroactive Interference

• new information disrupts the old

Retrieval Failure

a type of forgetting that occurs when information that has been previously encoded and stored in long-term memory cannot be accessed or retrieved when needed due to lack of memory cues.

Repression

• when unacceptable ideas, impulses, and memories are kept out of the consciousness. For example, one might repress embarrassing and harmful memories, and are unable to remember them when others ask.

Retrograde Amnesia

loss of current Long Term Memories

Anterograde Amnesia

 inability to form new  Long Term Memories (damaged hippocampus)

Consolidation

the process by which a temporary, labile memory is transformed into a more stable, long-lasting form.

Long Term Potentiation

a process by which synaptic connections between neurons become stronger with frequent activation.

Distributed Practice

rehearsing material spread out over multiple time periods rather than massed practice