General Psychology, Exam 2 - Larry Jacobs

Learning

A relatively permanent change in behavior due to experience. Acquiring knowledge and abilities. Changes our behavior based on experience.

Classical Conditioning

How we respond to the environment

Operant Conditioning

How we act in the environment

Observational Learning

How we observe the environment

Ivan Pavlov

Won a Nobel Prize for his research on digestion and is the founder of Classical Conditioning

What was the Unconditioned Stimulus in Pavlov's experiment?

Treat

What was the Unconditioned Response in Pavlov's experiment?

Dog salivating at the treat

What was the Controlled Stimulus in Pavlov's experiment?

Bell

What was the Conditioned Response in Pavlov's experiment?

Dog salivating at the bell

Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

A stimulus that evokes an unconditioned response without any prior conditioning

Unconditioned Response (UR)

An unlearned reaction/response to an unconditioned stimulus that occurs without prior conditioning

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

A previously neutral stimulus that has, through conditioning, acquired the capacity to evoke a conditioned response

Conditioned Response (CR)

A learned reaction to a conditioned stimulus that occurs because of prior conditioning

The Processes Of Classical Conditioning

Acquisition, extinction, and spontaneous recovery

Classical Conditioning's Extinction

To extinguish a classically conditioned response, the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus, this causes the CR dependency to disappear

Classical Conditioning's Acquisition

Establishing/Strengthening a conditioned response. Learning something new

Classical Conditioning's Spontaneous Recovery

A reappearance of a response that has been extinguished. Can occur after a period of non-exposure to the CS

Stimulus Generalization

A response to a specific stimulus becomes associated with other stimuli

Stimulus Discrimination

Learning to respond to one stimulus and not another. Organism becomes conditioned to respond to only one stimulus

Edward Thorndike

Developed a behaviorist explanation of learning. Used a learning curve and designed a puzzle box to learn new behaviors. Founder of The Law of Effect. Studied operant/instrumental conditioning.

Learning Curve

A graph of the changes in behavior that occur over successive trials of an experiment

Reinforcement

An event that increases the probability that a response will be repeated

What was Thorndike's Experiment?

He would place an animal in a puzzle box. If it performed the correct response (such as pulling a rope, pressing a lever, or stepping on a platform), the door would swing open and the animal would be rewarded with some food located just outside the cage. Soon, it would take the animal just a few seconds to earn it's reward

Operant Conditioning

Increasing a behavior by following it with a reward or decreasing a behavior by following it with a punishment

The Law of Effect

Behaviors that are followed by pleasant consequences will be strengthened and more likely to occur in the future. Behaviors followed by unpleasant consequences will be weakened and less likely to be repeated in the future

B.F. Skinner

Most influential radical behaviorist. Founder of Operant Conditioning. Studied the behavior of animals in chambers known as Skinner boxes. Believed that much of behavior could be studied in a single, controlled environment

Operant Chamber/Skinner Box

A chamber with a bar or key that an animal manipulates to obtain a reinforcer like food or water. The bar or key is connected to devices that record that animal's response. Animals he wished to train by shaping were put into the chamber

Shaping

Using reward or reinforcement to produce progressive changes in behavior in a desired direction

The Famous Baby box Experiment - Deborah Skinner

The creation of the Air-Crib, which was meant to fulfill every need a child had

Skinner's Famous Pigeon Experiment

To make a pigeon turn in a complete clockwise circle, Skinner would reinforce the pigeon with food for just turning a few degrees to the right. When the pigeon began turning right regularly, he would cease reinforcing until the pigeon turned a few more degrees in that direction. The that behavior was established, he would wait until the pigeon turned further to the right, and reinforce that movement, until finally the pigeon turned in a complete circle

The Eye-Blink Experiment

A rabbit is conditioned to blink its eye. A musical tone is repeatedly followed by a puff of air blown in its eye. After a few repetitions, the rabbit blinks when the tone sounds (Acquisition). The tone is repeatedly played without the air puff. Gradually, the rabbit stops blinking (Extinction)

What is the Conditioned Stimulus in the Eye-Blink Experiment?

Tone

What is the Unconditioned Stimulus in the Eye-Blink Experiment?

Air Puff

What is the Uconditioned Response in the Eye-Blink Experiment?

Eye Blink with puff of air

What is the Conditioned Response in the Eye-Blink Experiment?

Eye blink with tone

Punishment

An event that decreases the probability of a response

People Respond Better To

Immediate reinforcement and immediate punishment

Passive Avoidance Learning/Negative Reinforcement

In response to punishment, the organism avoids the outcome by being passive

Positive Reinforcement

Occurs when an event or stimulus is presented as a consequence of a behavior and the behavior increases

Negative Reinforcement

Occurs when the rate of a behavior increases because an averse event or stimulus is removed or prevented from happening

Chaining Behavior

An operant conditioning method in which sequential behaviors are reinforced by opportunities to engage in the next one

Reinforcer

Something that increases the likelihood of the preceding response

Stimulus

Any stimulating information or event; acts to arouse action

Primary Reinforcers

Unconditioned reinforcers like food and water. They meet biological needs and are found to be reinforcing for almost everyone

Secondary Reinforcers

Conditioned reinforcers like money, because it can be exchanged for food and water which are necessary reinforcers. It's for paying for primary reinforcers

Negative Punishment

Omission Training. Removal of a pleasant stimulus to decrease a behavior

The Four Categories Of Operant Conditioning

Positive Reinforcement, Punishment, Negative Punishment, Negative Reinforcement

Behavior Leads To The Event

Positive Reinforcement and Punishment

Behavior Avoids The Event

Negative Punishment and Negative Reinforcement

Conditioned Taste Aversions

One learns to avoid foods, especially unfamiliar foods, if they become sick afterwards

Albert Bandura

Founder of Observational Learning. Used the social-learning approach. Did the BOBO Doll Experiment

Social-Learning Approach

We learn many different behaviors before we attempt them for the first time

Two Major Components Of Social Learning

Modeling and Imitation

The Famous BOBO Doll Experiment

Children watched films of real people and cartoon characters who either attacked an inflated "Bobo" doll or did not. The children who saw the versions of the films with aggressive behavior were more likely to repeat those actions when left alone with a similar toy. The implication was that the children were imitating the aggressive behavior they had just witnessed in the film

Memory

A general term for storage, retention, and recall of events, information, and procedures. It is the process by which we store, save, and recall information

Forgetting

The inability to recall stored info or the failure to store info

Hermann Ebbinghaus

Conducted the scientific study of memory that showed one's capacity for memorizing lists of nonsense syllables

Hermann Ebbinghaus' Experiment

He invented over 2300 nonsense syllables and put them into random lists. He memorized these syllabled. Showed one's ability to memorize new material and the Von Restorff Effect

Von Restorff Effect

The tendency of people to remember unusual items better than more common items

Recall (Free Recall)

The simplest method for the tester, but the most difficult for the person being tested. It is a memory task in which the individual must reproduce material from memory without cue

Retrieval Cues

Reminders of hints that help us to retrieve information from long-term memory

Cued Recall

Gives significant hints about the correct answer. A fill-in-the-blank test uses this method

Recognition

Requires the person being tested to identify the correct item from a list of choices. Multiple-choice tests use the recognition method

Savings (Relearned) Method

Compares the speed that new material is learned to the speed of relearning of old material

Example of The Difference of Recall and Cued Recall

Free recall is remembering the author of the book without any hints. Cued recall is seeing the hint of the author's initials

Explicit Memory

Memory that we are aware we are using. Your ability to retain info that you've put real effort into learning

Implicit/Indirect Memory

Any experience that influences us without our awareness. This is your ability to remember info you did not deliberately try to learn, that you did not know exists

Declarative Memory

Fact memory. The ability to state a fact, info, names, dates, and faces. It stores why, how, when, where, what, and who.

Procedural Memory

Skills memory. Memory of how to do something. It's performing actions. It's conditioned responses like writing, riding a bike, and typing

Semantic

Dealing with principles of knowledge. It stores meanings of words

Episodic

Containing events and details of life history

The Information-Processing View Of Memory

You input information into the system, you file and save it, and you can retrieve the info

Sensory Memory

The first stage of memory processing. It is a combination of memory & perception

Short-Term Memory (Working Memory)

If a friend asks you what was just said in class, and you were paying attention, you could repeat it. This is because you are being asked to recall something from short-term memory. Attention moves info from the sensory store to short-term memory

Long-Term Memory

A relatively permanent storage of mostly meaningful information

Decay Of Long-Term Memory

Vulnerable to the effects of interference

Decay Of Short-Term Memory

Forgetting begins in seconds unless rehearsal is permitted

Chunking

Grouping or packing info into units, making info more manageable to remember

The Three Mental Operations Required For Memory

Encoding, Storage, and Retrieval

Encoding

Transferring info into your memory

Storage

Holding info for later use. Filing it alway

Retrieval

Recovering info from storage. Finding it

The Primacy Effect

The tendency to remember the beginning of the list

The Recency Effect

The tendency to remember the items at the end of the list

The SPAR Method

The best strategy for anyone who needs to learn a lot of material is to space out the study sessions

Mnemonic Devices

Any memory aid that is based on encoding each item in a special way. Short, verbal strategies that improve, expand our ability to remember new info

The Method Of Loci

One of the oldest mnemonic devices. First, learn a list of places. Then, list each of these places to an item on a list of words or names, such as a list of the names of Nobel Prize winners

Reconstruction

We construct a memory during the event. When remembering an event, you start with details you remember clearly and fill in the gaps

Interference

Memories block each other

Decay

The memory is subject to the combined effects of time and interference

Proactive Interference

Old information interferes with newly learned information

Retroactive Interference

New information interferes with information learned in the past

Hindsight Bias

The tendency to mold our recollection of the past to how events later turn out

Memory For Traumatic Events

Sigmund Freud believed that it was possible to repress a painful memory, motivation, or emotion and to move those from the conscious to the unconscious

Flashbulb Memory

Long lasting deep memories in response to traumatic events

False Memory

A report that an individual believes to be a memory, but actually never occurred. Memories may or may not be reliable

Repressed Memory

Memory of a traumatic event that is same unavailable for recall

Amnesia

A severe loss or deterioration of memory. A memory disorder that is caused by brain damage or a traumatic event

Anterograde Amnesia

A disorder that results in the loss of memory after an injury. Unable to store any new memories

Retrograde Amnesia

A disorder that results in the loss of memory prior to an injury. could not remember many events that occurred between 1 and 3 years before surgery