Lauren Bates - Intro to Psych: Exam 2 (Units 5-8)

Differentiate: Encoding, Storage, Retrieval

- Encoding: Getting info in (input)

- Storage: Keeping info

- Retrieval: Getting info out (output)

Processing Theory: 2 Types

Shallow Processing: Rehearse info based on superficial characteristics

Deep Processing:

Rehearse info based on meaningful characteristics (deeper retention)

Encoding: Self-Reference Effect

- YOU make the information meaningful to YOU

- Ex: When studying for an exam, make crucial information meaningful for improved retention

Atkinson-Shiffrin Model: Identify Elements

Sensory Memory

- Brief retention of sensory simulation

- Capacity = Large

- Duration = Short

Short-Term Memory: "Chunking"

Short-term memory has a limited capacity and a short duration, so grouping individual pieces of information into "chunks" can improve retention

Working Memory

A newer understanding of short-term memory that involves conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory.

Working Memory: Chart

Long Term Memory: Chart

Measuring Retrieval: Recall, Recognition, and Relearning

- Recall = Producing the answer yourself

- Recognition = Identifying the correct answer

- Relearning = Measure how much faster you learn information the second time

Karl Lashley

Found that memory is not stored in just one place in the brain

Equipotentiality Hypothesis

If a brain area involving memory is damaged, another part of the SAME area takes over the memory function

Amygdala

- "Emotional computer"

- Organ in the limbic system

- Processes emotion and strengthens emotional memories

Hippocampus: Case of H.M.

- Lost both left and right hippocampi, removed in attempt to control seizures

-Declarative memory was significantly affected and he couldn't form new memories, but retained prior events to the surgery

Flashbulb Memories

- Clear emotional recollection of an event and surrounding details

- Recalled more accurately than everyday memories

- Ex. Tragedy of (9/11)

Why are both types of amnesia incomplete?

Memory loss is partial and selective, people do not lose ALL their memories or total ability to learn

Retrograde Amnesia

Cannot remember events prior to damage

Anterograde Amnesia

Cannot remember events that occur after damage

Loftus and Palmer Study

A car crash study, which demonstrates that memory is not like a video recording of events; it is reconstructive

Source Amnesia

When someone remembers information, but forgets where or how they learned it.

The content of the memory is retained, but the source of the memory is lost.

What does this mean? "Memory is reconstructive, not reproductive."

We construct our memories to align with personal expectations, beliefs, and general knowledge

Retrieval Failure: Proactive Interference

Old information interferes

Retrieval Failure: Retroactive Interference

New information interferes

Mnemonic Devices

Memory techniques for remembering large quantities of info (ex. PEMDAS)

Spacing Effect

Spacing out studying appears to provide learners with more accurate feedback on how they're doing

Spacing Effect: Massed Practice

Produces speedy short-term learning and can cause the illusion of familiarity

Testing Effect

Practice tests are way more effective than rereading the same information multiple times

Encoding Failure

Information is never stored because it wasn't properly encoded initially

Storage Decay

Unused information/memories fading with the passage of time

Motivated Forgetting

- People can intentionally suppress or forget information

- Freud's idea of repression: Traumatic memories are unconsciously pushed out of awareness

Associative Learning

Learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequences (as in operant conditioning).

Classical Conditioning: Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

Naturally triggers a response (no learning needed)

Classical Conditioning: Unconditioned Response (UR)

Automatic response to unconditioned stimulus

Classical Conditioning: Conditioned Stimulus

A former neutral stimulus that, after association with the unconditioned stimulus, triggers a response.

Classical Conditioning: Conditioned Response (CR)

Learned response to conditioned stimulus

Classical Conditioning: Neutral Stimulus (NS)

Initially produces no specific response

What is classical conditioning?

Learning through association

Classical Conditioning: Acquisition

Initial learning of an association; research shows stronger learning when CS comes before US, and the pairing of the US and CS is close in time

Positive Reinforcement

Increases likelihood of a response by adding something desirable

Negative Reinforcement

Increases likelihood of a response by removing something undesirable

Positive Punishment

Decreases the likelihood of a response by adding something undesirable

Negative Punishment

Decreases the likelihood of a response by removing something desirable

Similarities in Classical and Operant Conditioning

- Both examples of associative learning

- Both involve acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recover, generalization, and discrimination

Differences in Classical and Operant Conditioning

Classical = Associating two stimuli

Operant = Associating a behavior with its consequence

Cognition: Tolman's Research

Hypothesized that rats made cognitive maps of the maze he experimented with

Thorndike's Law of Effect

Actions that lead to rewards are strengthened; actions that lead to discomfort are weakened

Primary Reinforcer

Satisfies a basic biological need and is naturally rewarding (food, water, etc.)

Secondary/Conditioned Reinforcer

Something that is learned to be rewarding (money, grades, etc.)

Skinner Box

- Controlled experimental apparatus developed by B. F. Skinner

- Studies operant conditioning,

allows researchers to measure how consequences shape voluntary behavior

Shaping

Reinforcing small steps toward a desired behavior (rewarding a dog first for sitting, then for lying down, and eventually for rolling over)

How do excessive rewards affect intrinsic motivation?

Too many external rewards can reduce intrinsic motivation (overjustification effect), making a person less interested in the activity itself.

Observational Learning

Learning by watching others

Observational Learning: Modeling

The act of imitating the behavior that was observed

Modeling: Bobo Doll Experiment

Children watched an adult either act aggressively toward a Bobo doll or behave calmly. The children were placed in a room with the doll.

Results: Children who observed the aggressive model were more likely to imitate the aggressive behaviors.

The study showed that children learn behaviors through observational learning and modeling.

Learning: Extinction

The weakening of a learned response when reinforcement or the unconditioned stimulus is removed

Learning: Spontaneous Recovery

The reappearance of a previously extinguished response after a rest period

Learning: Generalization

Responding similarly to stimuli that are similar to the original conditioned stimulus

Learning: Discrimination

The ability to distinguish between the conditioned stimulus and other similar stimuli

What is the link between violent media and violent behavior?

Research shows a correlation between violent media exposure and increased aggression, but causation is not fully established

Schedules of Reinforcement: Chart

Schedules of Reinforcement: Fixed Interval

Reinforcement is delivered at predictable time intervals = Moderate response rate with significant pauses after reinforcement (student receives paycheck every 2 weeks)

Schedules of Reinforcement: Variable Interval

Reinforcement is delivered at unpredictable time intervals = Moderate yet steady response rate (checking social media)

Schedules of Reinforcement: Fixed Ratio

Reinforcement is delivered after a predictable number of responses = High response rate with pauses after reinforcement (getting paid x amount per item)

Schedules of Reinforcement: Variable Ratio

Reinforcement is delivered after an unpredictable number of responses = High and steady response rate (gambling)

Sensation

the physical process of sensory receptors and detects raw environmental stimuli converting them into neural signals.

Perception

the psychological process of organizing and interpreting these signals in the brain to make them meaningful.

Example to explain the differences in sensation and perception

The ear drums vibrate from sound waves (sensation) the brain interprets the noise as a fire alarm (perception)

Sensory Adaptation

the reduction in sensitivity to a stimulus after constant, unchanging exposure, allowing the nervous system to filter out background noise and focus on new or significant changes

When we are exposed to a stimulus

repeatedly, the nerve cells fire less frequently

What is transduction?

The process by which sensory information receptors convert physical energy or chemical signals from the environment into electrical impulses that the nervous system can understand.

How is sensory information is detected by the sensory systems and then processed in the brain?

Detect the stimuli -> transduction (stimulus opens/closes ion channels changing the receptors membrane potential) -> transmission (the electrical signal travels along afferent neurons to the central nervous system) -> processing (information passes through the thalamus and acts as a relay station)

Bottom-up Processing

the data-driven sensory based interpretation of stimuli from the environment

Top-down Processing

conceptually driven using prior knowledge, memories, and expectations to interpret sensory information

What is psychophysics?

The scientific study of the relationship between physical stimuli and the sensations or perceptions they produce in the human mind

What was Fechner's key contribution to psychology?

He introduced classic methods for detecting sensory thresholds (just-noticeable differences, or JNDs). He defined "psychophysics" as an exact science mapping the relationship between mind and body.

Absolute Threshold

the minimum intensity of a stimulation required for a person to detect it 50% of the time.

Difference Threshold

the minimum change in intensity required to perceive a difference between two stimuli.

What is signal detection theory?

a statistical framework for measuring how individuals make decisions under uncertainty, specifically how they distinguish between meaningful information (signal) and random background interference (noise)

Wavelength (light wave)

refers to the physical distance between two consecutive peaks (or troughs) of a light wave

psychological property of hue, or color

Amplitude (light wave)

refers to the height of a light wave, measured from the center line (resting position) to the peak or trough

psychological property of brightness or intensity

Iris (part of eye)

Colored part of the eye that controls the size of the pupil and the amount of light entering.

Proximity (Gestalt Principle)

Elements that are close together are perceived as a single, related group.

Similarity or Grouping (Gestalt Principle)

Elements that share similar characteristics (color, shape, size) are perceived as part of the same group

Closure (Gestalt Principle)

The brain fills in missing or incomplete parts of a shape to perceive a complete, whole object

Continuity (Gestalt Principle)

Elements arranged in a line or curve are perceived as related, following a smooth path rather than a broken one

Gestalt Principles

Gestalt principles explain how humans naturally organize visual elements into groups or a unified whole.

Bioncular Cues

Binocular depth cues require both eyes to perceive 3D structure through retinal disparity and convergence, excel at close range, and rely on stereopsis

Monocular Depth Cues

occlusion, relative height, relative size, linear perspective, lighting and shadow

Depth Perception

enables us to estimate

an object's distance from us

Perceptual Constancy

the cognitive ability to perceive familiar objects as having constant, unchanging properties

Color Constancy

The tendency to perceive an object as having a consistent color regardless of the lighting conditions

Shape Constancy

The perception of an object's shape as stable, even though the image it casts on the retina changes as the viewing angle shifts

Size Constancy

The ability to perceive an object as having a constant size, regardless of its distance from the observer, even though its retinal image grows or shrinks

Frequency (Sound Wave)

Frequency is the rate of vibration of a sound wave

corresponds to the psychological property of pitch

What is the human range of hearing?

From 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz

Experience Outside of Range of Hearing

Above this range = ultrasound

Below this range = infrasound

May be experienced as vibration rather than sound

Cortical Magnification

Cortical magnification is the disproportionately large representation of specialized sensory areas (like the fovea in vision or fingertips in touch) in the cerebral cortex compared to their small physical size on the sensory receptor surface

Pinna (Outer Ear)

The visible, cartilaginous part on the side of the head that collects sound waves

Vestibular System (Inner Ear)

Responsible for balance and detecting head movement.

Auditory Nerve (Inner Ear)

Transmits electrical signals from the cochlea to the brain

Biopsychosocial Model

physical damage (biological) initiates pain, emotions/thoughts (psychological) and environment (social) shape its intensity and duration