Introduction to Psychology: Exam 2 Review

Memory

The ability to store and retrieve information over time.

Encoding

Transforming what we perceive, think, or feel into an enduring memory. Essentially the sensation/perception of creating memories.

Storage

Maintaining information in memory over time. Exists in three types (sensory, short-term, and long-term), varying depending on the amount of time these memories are kept.

Retrieval

Bringing to mind information that has been previously encoded and stored.

Constructed, Recorded

Memories are __________, not _____________

Semantic Encoding

The process of relating new information in a meaningful way to knowledge that is already stored in memory.

Craik and Tulving

Two people that presented participants with three series of words and asked them to make semantic, rhyme, and visual judgments. Discovered that semantic judgments resulted in much better memory.

Semantic Judgment

A method of judgment that prioritizes the meaning of the words. (ex. is a hat a type of clothing? is this butterfly a pigeon?)

Rhyme Judgments

A method of judgment that prioritizes the sounds of the words. (ex. do the words "cat, sat, and hat" sound similar?)

Visual Judgments

A method of judgment that prioritizes the appearance of the words. (ex. is this word written in uppercase or lowercase? is it bolded or italicized?)

Visual Encoding

Storing new information by converting it into mental pictures. Typically leads to improved memory compared to simple verbal encoding. (ex. taking a mental tour of your house full of weird shit as a reminder to buy those things in the grocery store)

Organizational Encoding

Categorizing information according to the relationship among a series of items. Given a series of words, we group them up based on the categories these words fall under. Results in better memory.

Sensory Memory

Holds sensory information for a few seconds or less.

Sperling

Asked participants to recall twelve letters. Also played a sound that instructs the participates to only report a single row of letters. Discovered that people could recall a single row well with an associated sound, which proved his one of two interpretations that sensory information was encoded, but was just quickly forgotten.

Iconic Memory

Fast-decaying store of visual information. Decays in about one second.

Echoic Memory

Fast-decaying store of auditory information. Decays in about five seconds.

Miller

Discovered that most people could remember seven (+/- 2) pieces of information within their short-term memory. Applies to both individual pieces of information and chunks of information.

Short-Term Memory

Holds non-sensory information for more than a few seconds, but less than a minute.

Peterson and Peterson

Gave participants strings of three letters, then a distraction tasks, and then were asked to recall those letters afterwards. Discovered that the more time have elapsed, the less letter strings were recalled correctly.

Rehearsal

Keeping information in short-term memory by mentally repeating it. Each time we repeat something, we give it another 15-20 seconds of shelf life.

Chunking

Combining small pieces of information into larger clusters or chunks that are more easily held in short-term memory. The reason why phone numbers are divided into sets of three then four, rather than seven individual numbers.

Working Memory

Active maintenance of information in short-term storage. Acknowledges the limited nature of short-term memory and the activities that are commonly associated with it.

Long-Term Memory

Holds information for hours, days, weeks, or years. Has no known capacity limits and memories within this type of storage may never leave.

HM

This patient had his temporal lobes removed after suffering from seizures. After the procedure, he retained his sensory and short-term memories but lost his long-term memory. (They could talk, use, and understand language well, but they could not remember anything that happened to them after the procedure).

Anterograde Amnesia

Inability to transfer new information from the short-term storage into the long-term storage. H.M. suffered this the most, which led to many suggesting that the hippocampus not being the site of long-term memory.

Retrograde Amnesia

Inability to retrieve information that was acquired before a particular date, usually the date of an injury or surgery.

Explicit Memory

Memories that people consciously or intentionally retrieve. These are typically past experiences or memory of facts.

Implicit Memory

Type of memory that represents the influence of past experiences on later behavior and performance, even without an effort to remember them or an awareness of the recollection. These memories are not consciously recalled, but implied by our actions.

Procedural Memory

Type of implicit memory that involves the gradual acquisition of skills as a result of practice. Otherwise known as "knowing how to do something." (ex. riding a bike, tying shoelaces, playing an instrument).

Priming

Type of implicit memory that involves an enhanced ability to think of a stimulus as a result of a recent exposure to the stimulus. Explains why multiple choice questions are easier than fill-in the blanks.

Semantic Memory

Type of explicit memory that involves a network of associated facts and concepts that make up our general knowledge of the world. (ex. what is 9 + 10, why do we celebrate Christmas?)

Episodic Memory

Type of explicit memory that involves the collection of past personal experiences that occurred at a particular time and place. (ex. what is your most embarrassing experience? what was it like waiting for college decisions on Ivy Day?)

Transience

Sense of forgetting that occurs with the passage of time. Involves a gradual switch from specific to more general memories.

Retroactive Interference

Information learned LATER impairs memory for information acquired EARLIER.

Proactive Interference

Information learned EARLIER impairs memory for information acquired LATER.

Absentmindedness

Lapse in attention that results in memory failure. Material is much less likely to be stored properly and recalled later without proper attention. This is why we should pay attention in class lmao.

Blocking

Failure to retrieve information that is available in memory even though you are trying to produce it. Best known as the "tip-of-the-tongue" and most often occurs in names of people or places.

Memory Misattribution

Assigning a recollection or idea to the wrong source. (ex. Australian psychologist Dr. Donald Thomson was falsely presumed of a crime) More prominent in individuals with frontal lobe damage.

Source Memory

Recall of when, where, and how information was acquired.

Suggestibility

Tendency to incorporate misleading information from external sources into personal recollections.

Bias

The distorting influences of present knowledge, beliefs, and feelings on recollection of previous experiences. Suggests that sometimes what people remember from their past says less about what happen and more about how they feel about what happened.

Persistence

Intrusive recollection of events that we wish we could forget.

Flashbulb Memories

Detailed recollections of when and where we were about shocking events. Not as accurate as we think.

A truly blank slate could not response to the environment, since it would have no rules for how to respond. Thus, responses are impossible without rules for responding, which a blank slate does not provide.

Some believe that things we learn, such as language, is based solely on experience (Philosophical Empiricism) Why is this intuitive assumption incorrect?

Learning

Acquisition of new knowledge, skills, or responses from experience that results in a relatively permanent change in the state of the learner. Keep in mind that this definition was highly influenced by behaviorists.

Habituation

Simple form of learning in which repeated or prolonged exposure to a stimulus results in a gradual reduction in responding. After a while, some stimuli are "tuned out."

Sensitization

Simple form of learning that occurs when presentation of a stimulus leads to an increased response to a later stimulus.

John Watson

The man who began the behaviorist movement. Wanted to take the "mind" out of Psychology. Largely influenced by Ivan Pavlov

Ivan Pavlov

The man who studied digestion in laboratory animals and measured salivary responses to food in dogs. Accidentally discovered classical conditioning, in which dogs learned to salivate in response to a neutral stimulus (bell) after it was paired with a stimulus that evokes salivation (food).

Classical Conditioning

When a neutral stimulus produces a response after being paired with a stimulus that naturally produces a response.

Unconditioned (Unlearned) Stimulus (US)

Something that reliably produces a naturally occurring reaction in an organism.

Unconditioned (Unlearned) Response (UR)

A reflexive reaction that is reliably produced by an unconditioned stimulus. Also known as an evolved response, as it is through evolution, not learning.

Neutral Stimulus

A stimulus that does not normally cause an unconditioned response. Once paired with a stimulus that provokes a UR, it becomes a conditioned stimulus.

Conditioned (Learned) Stimulus (CS)

A former neutral stimulus that produces a reliable response in an organism after being paired with an unconditioned stimulus.

Conditioned (Learned) Response (CR)

A reaction that resembles the unconditioned response (UR) but is produced by a conditioned stimulus (CS).

Acquisition

The phase of classical conditioning when the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus are presented together.

Second-Order Conditioning

Conditioning where a conditioned stimulus is paired with a stimulus that became associated with the unconditioned stimulus in an earlier procedure. The conditioned stimulus could be used as an unconditioned stimulus to condition a new stimulus. Typically not as strong.

Extinction

Gradual elimination of a learned response that occurs when the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus. Behavior declines abruptly and continues until the conditioned stimulus no longer produces a conditioned response.

Spontaneous Recovery

Tendency of a learned behavior to recover from extinction after a rest period. Portrays that not all learning is lost.

Generalization

The conditioned response is observed even though the conditioned stimulus is slightly different from the one used in acquisition.

Discrimination

Capacity to distinguish between similar but distinct stimulus.

More, Less

The _______ a stimulus changes, the _________ conditioned response is observed.

Two Sides of the Same Coin.

Generalization and discrimination are known as __________, since if an organism shows more of one, it shows less of the other.

Little Albert

The child known for being "stolid and unemotional." Was experimented on by Watson and Raynor to show that classical conditioning can be applied to complex behaviors such as fear. Involves a white rat and a banging noise.

Operant Conditioning

Type of learning in which the consequences of an organism's behavior determine whether it will be repeated in the future. Behaviors are active and voluntary in this model.

Thorndike

Worked on instrumental behaviors and eventually developed the law of effect.

Instrumental Behaviors

Behaviors that require an organism to do something, solve a problem, or otherwise manipulate elements of its environment.

Law of Effect

Behaviors that are followed by a "satisfying state of affairs" tend to be repeated. Behaviors that produce an "unpleasant state of affairs" are less likely to be repeated.

Skinner

The man who approached the studying of learning through reinforcement and punishment. Thought most organisms do not behave passively, rather they actively engage the environment to reap rewards.

Operant Behavior

Behavior that an organism produce that has some impact on the environment. The behaviors "operate" on the environment, and the environment responses by providing events that either strengthen or weaken the behavior.

Reinforcer

Stimulus or event that increases the likelihood of the behavior that led to it.

Punisher

Stimulus or event that decreases the likelihood of the behavior that led to it.

Positive

Type of reinforcement/punishment where a stimulus is presented

Negative

Type of reinforcement/punishment where a stimulus is removed

Positive Reinforcement

Rewarding stimulus is presented. (ex. getting an A, given payment).

Negative Reinforcement

Unpleasant stimulus is removed. (ex. curfew is removed, time limit on video games is removed for the weekend).

Positive Punishment

Unpleasant stimulus is presented. (ex. spanking, getting a F)

Negative Punishment

Rewarding stimulus is removed (ex. taking video games away. confiscated cell phone).

Fixed-Interval Schedule

Reinforces are presented at fixed-time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. (on a 2-minute schedule, a response is reinforced after two minutes after the last reinforcements. paychecks are a good example).

Variable-Interval Schedule

A behavior is reinforced based on the average time that has pasted since the last reinforcement. (on a 2-minute schedule, responses are reinforced every two minutes on average, but not after each period. ice-cream trucks are a good example).

Fixed-Ratio Schedule

Reinforcement is delivered after a specific number of responses have been made.

Continuous Reinforcement

Reinforcement is presented after each response. A special branch of a fixed-ratio schedule. (ex. vending machine).

Variable-Ratio Schedule

Delivery of reinforcement is based on a particular average number of responses. Typically produce higher rates of responding than fixed-ratio schedules.

Intermittent Reinforcement

Only some of the responses made are followed by reinforcement. (ex. slot machines).

Intermittent Reinforcement Effect

Operant behaviors that are maintained under intermittent reinforcement schedules resist extinction better than those maintained under continuous reinforcement schedules. (ex. we would stop putting money in a vending machine if it stops working once, but we would likely continue playing on a slot machine despite its low payoff).

Shaping

Learning that results from the reinforcement of successive steps to a final desired behavior. This is how many complex behaviors are learned.

Successive Approximations

a method of shaping operant behavior by reinforcing responses similar to the desired behavior

(this process can speed up the operant learning process)

Small steps in behaviors. Everything one does that brings it closer to the desired goal is reinforced.

Just random pairing of association. Practically mixing correlation with causation.

What leads to superstitious behavior?

Rational Choice Models

People choose the actions that maximize the extent to which they achieve their goals.

The rational choice model appears to be incomplete

We tend to do actions that are at odds with the rational choice model such as tipping at restaurants, voting at elections, and returning stolen belongings. What does this show regarding the rational choice model?

Ultimatum Game

A game in which a proposer gets some money and must offer a portion to a responder. Either the responder accepts the split or no one gets any money at all.

The proposer will offer the lowest amount possible while the responder accepts the lowest offer.

How would people who are SELF-INTERESTED approach the ultimatum game?

The proposer typically offers a 50/50 split. Responders typically reject offers that give them less than 30%

How do people ACTUALLY approach the ultimatum game?

Prisoner's Dilemma Game

Two prisoners who are in separate cells must either confess their crime or remain silent. The amount of years in jail they serve depend on both parties' actions.

Both parties should confess rather than remain silent. No matter what one prisoner does, the other would get fewer years in jail if they ratted them out and confessed.

What is the best strategy for the Prisoner's Dilemma Game, and why?

There is a lack of trust between the prisoners. They do not know the actions of the other person, so they are not certain if the other prisoner would rat them out if they stayed silent.

In the Prisoner's Dilemma Game, both parties suffer worse when they remain silent rather than confessing, and both are aware of this. This prompts both prisoners to confess and serve more jail time rather than both of them remaining silent, which would have led to less jail time. Why is that? (This also applies to all commitment problems such as letting a kidnapping victim free, working on a paper with a partner, or managing a business with a partner).

Commitment Problems

The Prisoner's Dilemma Game, The Ultimatum Game, Kidnapper's Dilemma, The Term Paper Problem, Cheating in relationships, exams, against their business partners... All of these are examples of _______________

Commitment Device

Something that provides someone with an incentive to keep their promise. (ex. blackmail)

Moral Sentiments

Class of emotions that function by competing with calculations that stem from rational self-interest. These can help people solve commitment problems for this reason. (ex. anger, contempt, disgust, envy, greed, shame, and guilt).

They simply do not want to cheat. These feelings of guilt outweigh the material benefits they get from cheating. They feel aversive or hatred towards feelings of guilt and may counteract against choices of rational self-interest. Thus, the aversion to feelings of guilt effectively alters the payoff they face.

Consider feelings of guilt. Why would someone who feels guilty not want to cheat? What impact does guilt have in making choices?