Learning and Memory Exam 2

what are the two main regions of the cerebellum?

cerebral Cortex and cerebellar deep nuclei

what are the two sites that store stimulus information?

purkinjie cells and interpositus nuclues

what does habituation involve?

a decrease in responding after repeated exposure to a stimulus

what does sensitization involve?

an increase in responding after a stimulus

what applies to addiction, types of therapy, disorders such as PTSD and anxiety disorders?

perceptual or spatial learning

what is perceptual learning?

experience with a set of stimuli that makes it easier to distinguish - scribbles

what is spatial learning?

acquiring knowledge of ones surroundings- losing power and navigating

what allows neurons to re-wire based upon our experiences?

synaptic and cortical plasticity

what is an unconditioned stimuli?

a stimulus naturally evoking a response

What is an unconditioned response?

the response doesn't depend on learning; naturally occurs

What is a conditioned stimuli?

a cue paired with an unconditioned stimulus that eventually elicits a response

What is appetitive conditioning?

conditioning in which the unconditioned stimulus is a positive event

What is Aversive conditioning?

conditioning in which the unconditioned stimulus is a negative event

what is eye blink conditioning?

the thought that some cues are more likely to be associated with certain outcomes

What is extinction?

reducing a learned response to a stimulus by ceasing to pair that stimulus with a reward or punishment

How does extinction occur?

Extinction can occur when the conditioned stimulus stops being paired with the unconditioned stimulus

Explain Kamin's blocking effect

a demonstration of useful and non useful cues; associating 2 cues with an unconditioned stimulus

Explain the Rescorla-Wagner model

changes in associations between the conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus are driven by the error between an expectation of the unconditioned stimulus and whether the unconditioned stimulus actually occurs

How do the Rescorla-Wagner and Macintosh model explain blocking?

they both focus on a new stimulus compared to the old one, therefore blocking it out

What areas of the brain are important for classical conditioning?

the cerebellum and hippocampus, specifically the purkinje cells in the cerebellar cortex and the interpositus nucleus

What are the areas of the cerebellum?

the cerebellar cortex (outside area), cerebellar deep nuclei

What is the interpositus nucleus?

a deep cerebellar nucleus that plays a large role in understanding stimulus input

Where are unconditioned stimuli processed in the cerebellum?

in the inferior olive and purkinje cells

Where are conditioned stimuli processed in the cerebellum?

pontine nuclei and granule cells

Explain electrical activity that occurs in the cerebellum in trained vs. untrained animals

spikes after the CS and before the US in trained animals, it only spikes after the US in untrained animals

What is the difference between CREB-1 and CREB-2?

CREB-f1 is a protein that activates the neuron to grow synapses
CREB-2 inhibits actions of CREB-1

What happens to learning when CREB-2 is eliminated?

eliminating CREB-2 allows for many synapses and neurons to grow

Explain the cellular level of conditioning in sea slugs

glutamate is released, motor neuron increases receptors in response, synapses between siphon and gill neurons increase to create strong response

What is an example of associative bias?

conditioned taste aversion

What is conditioned taste aversion?

when an organism learns to avoid a taste that has been paired with an aversive outcome like illness

What is a positive error?

conditioned stimulus predicts a little, but the unconditioned stimulus unexpectedly occurs

What is a negative error?

.conditioned stimulus predicts unconditioned stimulus, but the unconditioned stimulus does not occur

What happens with no error?

conditioned stimulus predicts unconditioned stimulus, and the predicted unconditioned stimulus occurs

What is prediction error?

the difference between expectation and occurrence

What is error-correction learning?

using trial and error to reduce prediction error

What is an anticipatory response?

response given in anticipation of an unconditioned stimulus

what is latent inhibition?

prior exposure to a stimulus decreases its effectiveness as a stimulant

What were the rats in Mozambique trained to do?

they were trained to search for landmines

What was Thorndike's puzzle box?

a puzzle box that a hungry cat would be placed in and have to move around to learn to get out and receive food

What was the main finding of Thorndike's puzzle box?

cats will escape the box more quickly after each trial

What is a discriminative stimulus?

a specific stimulus that increases the likelihood of a particular response because it indicates that reinforcement is likely to occur

Describe discriminative stimulus -> response -> outcome process in operant conditioning?

puzzle box -> movements to open door -> escape

What is a discrete-trials paradigm?

each trial is separate, an experimenter defines the beginning and end points

What is a free-operant paradigm?

an animal can operate as it choses

What is the difference between classical and operant conditioning?

classical conditioning has an outcome following a stimulus whether a learned response is performed or not
operant conditioning has an outcome following a discriminative stimulus only of a particular response is formed

What is a Skinner box?

A small enclosure in which an animal can make a specific response that is systematically recorded while the consequences of the response are controlled

How would a researched examine the discriminative stimulus -> response -> o process using the Skinner box?

light -> lever press -> food

What is the difference between acquisition and extinction?

acquisition is the learning of an association between the response and outcome
extinction occurs after acquisition if an outcome stops occurring the behavior will cease too

How do acquisition and extinction influence the number of responses from an organism?

while an action gives a reward the responses will increase; if an action stops rewarding the responses will stop

What is shaping?

successive approximations to the desired response are rewarded

What is chaining?

organisms are gradually trained to execute complicated sequences of responses

how do individuals apply chaining and shaping to training animals and humans to do complex tasks?

shaping is rewarding an animal/person the closer and more accurate their actions are; chaining is gradually training an animal to do an entire sequence

what are the differences between positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, and negative punishment?

positive reinforcement: something is added,
negative reinforcement: something negative is taken away, positive punishment: something unpleasant is added, negative punishment: something pleasant is taken away

How do the different types of reinforcement and punishment affect the likelihood of reoccurrence?

reinforcement increases the likelihood of something happening, punishment decreases the likelihood something would happen

What is a primary reinforcer?

reinforcers that have biological value to an organism (food, water, sex, or sleep)

How is a primary reinforcer different from a secondary reinforcer?

secondary reinforcers. predict the arrival of a primary reinforcer

What is a token economy?

an environment in which token function the same way as money in the outside world

What are the 4 factors that impact how effective a punishment will be?

1. punishment leads to more variable behavior, 2. discriminative stimuli for punishment can encourage cheating, 3. concurrent reinforcement can undermine the punishment, 4. initial intensity matters

What is a fixed ratio schedule?

reinforcement provided after a fixed number of responses

What is a variable ratio schedule?

reinforcement provided after an unpredictable number of responses

What is a fixed interval schedule?

behavior is reinforced after a fixed period of time

What is a variable interval schedule?

behavior is reinforced after an unpredictable period of time

What area of the brain plays a role in learning association between discriminative stimuli and responses?

dorsal striatum

What diseases of the brain are linked to the dorsal striatum

Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases

Which area is important for learning to predict outcomes?

orbitofrontal cortex

What does the orbitofrontal cortex do with inputs from sensory and visceral sensations

determines what motor response is necessary

What happened to the rat that received a shock in the VTA?

demonstrate erratic behavior, go back to the lever, almost excited for the lever

Which area is known as a pleasure center in the brain and contains dopamine-producing neurons?

Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA)

What is the difference between hedonic value and motivational value?

hedonic value is how much a reinforcer is liked, motivational value is how much a reinforcer is wanted

Which brain area is associated with hedonic value?

the basal ganglia

Which brain area is associated with motivational value?

the orbitofrontal cortex

What is the incentive salience hypothesis?

dopamine helps provide organisms with the motivation to work for reinforcement

Is incentive salience related to liking or wanted?

it is not related to liking, it is related to wanting

Which receptors respond to sensory stimulation that is considered painful?

Nociceptors respond to physical pain

Which area of the brain allows awareness of emotional pain?

the Insula respond to emotional pain

Which brain area is related to behavior changes as a result of pain?

the Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex (dACC)

What is the difference between pathological addiction and behavioral addiction?

pathological addiction is a strong habit that is maintained despite harmful consequences (alcoholism), behavioral addiction is an addiction to behaviors that produce reinforcements as well as cravings and withdrawal (gambling)

How do long-term users experience wanting vs. liking?

long-term users experience wanting without liking

What are some treatments for addiction?

therapy, medications, distancing, and reinforcing staying away

what is a reinforcer?

a consequence that leads to increased likelihood of a behavior occurring

what is a punisher?

a consequence that leads to a decreased likelihood of the behavior occurring

Jose is conditioning an animal to respond to a tone. He uses electrophysiological recording of the cerebellum to examine how electrical activity changes during conditioning. How should activity change from pre-training to post-training?

Pre-training -> electrical spike after US
Post-training -> electrical spike after the CS and before the US

Which neurotransmitter is responsible for the muscle movement associated with habituation and sensitization?

Glutamate

What is the name for the type of conditioning in which the unconditioned stimulus is an unpleasant event? Name an example.

Aversive conditioning; eye blink conditioning

Which neurotransmitter plays a key role in the "liking" response to reinforcement?

Endogenous opioids

What type of synaptic changes occur during habituation?

Homosynaptic changes

What is an example of a primary reinforcer

sleep, sex, food, etc.

What is an example of a secondary reinforcer

money, tokens, etc.

Explain how processes associated with both classical conditioning and operant conditioning play a role in drug addiction?

Classical Conditioning: associating an involuntary response with a stimulus
Operant Conditioning: associating voluntary behavior with a consequence

John is conducting research with rats. In his research he places a rat in a box, Then , he trains the rat to press a lever in response to a tone. If the rat presses the lever after hearing the tone, they receive food. If the rat presses the lever without hearing the tone, they do not receive food. In this example what is the discriminative stimulus, response, and outcome?

DS: tone
Response: lever press
Outcome: food

Which type of theory of classical conditioning proposes that the stimulus that enters into an association is determined by a change in ow the unconditioned stimulus is processed?

US modulation theory

Imagine you are wanting to train a dog to go outside to use the bathroom. Explain how you would use operant conditioning to train the dog.

Goes outside to use the bathroom -> treat
Goes inside to use the bathroom -> no treat

What determines whether an outcome is a reinforcer or punisher?

How it changes the behavior: increase -> reinforcer, decrease -> punishment

Alex has a rare brain abnormality. As a result of this abnormality, they have decreased activity in their orbitofronal cortex. How might this influence their ability to experience operant conditioning?

Orbitofrontal cortex is responsible for r -> o associations; Alex would be unable to predict how their response would lead to an outcome

Shannon is training her child to clean up her toys when she is finished playing. When her child does not clean up her toys, she takes away 1 toy for the day. When her child does clean up her toys, she does not respond to the behavior. Why might Shannon's attempts to get her child to pick up after herself fail?

not rewarding the desired behavior; punishment is not as effective for teaching the desired response

Sarina is studying for her statistics edam. To reward herself, she eats a handful of m&ms for each 3 practice problems she completes. Sarina is using which type of reinforcement schedule?

Fixed ratio schedule

According to the Rescorla-Wagner model, what type of future response will an organism make if they commit a negative error during training?

The organism's responses to the CS will decrease

What are the main differences in how the Rescorla-Wagner model and Mackintosh models explain Kamin's Blocking effect?

Rescorla Wagner: how expected the US is
Mackintosh: salience of the CS

what is a conditioned response?

the trained response to a conditioned stimulus

what is classical conditioning?

form of learning when a organism learns one stimulus predicts a upcoming event