Comprehensive Psychology and Memory: Learning, Brain Injuries, and Disorders

Nonassociative Learning

A change in behavior associated after an event, no reward.

Habituation

Our behavioral response to a stimuli decreases over time.

Sensitization

Our behavioral response to a stimuli increases over time.

Associative Learning

Learning the relationship between two stimuli/events.

Classical Conditioning

Learning a stimulus predicts another stimulus.

UR

Unlearned response to a stimulus.

UR

An unlearned response to a stimulus (salivating).

NS

Nothing happens but can be paired with US.

CR

A learned response to a stimulus.

CR

Learned response to a stimulus.

Acquisition

The process of learning the response to a stimulus.

Extinction

The weakening or disappearance of a CR over time.

Spontaneous Recovery

Recovery of conditioned response.

Operant Conditioning

Learning a behavior will lead to a consequence.

Sensory Memory

Short and automatic retention of sensory information.

Short-Term Memory

Can hold around a minute of memories, 7 +/- 2.

Working Memory

Limited capacity, storing and processing information in some way.

Long-Term Memory

Longest form of memory, theoretically unlimited.

Declarative Memory

Facts and events.

Semantic Memory

Basic pieces of information, like facts and trivia.

Episodic Memory

Events that you've experienced, autobiographical and has more context.

Non-Declarative Memory

Skills and tasks.

Spatial Memory

Involved in remembering places and paths, relies on other forms of memory.

Consolidation

The process of a short-term memory becoming a long-term memory.

Perforant Pathway

Connects the entorhinal cortex to the hippocampus and is extremely important in memory consolidation.

Hebb's Rule

Cells that fire together wire together.

Anterograde Amnesia

The inability to form new long-term memories AFTER a brain injury.

Retrograde Amnesia

Inability to recall memories that happened before the injury.

Brain Plasticity

The brain's ability to reorganize structures and pathways as well as neural functions in response to learning, experience, or injury.

Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)

The long-term strengthening of a synapse that occurs when high and frequent stimulation occurs.

Dopamine's Relationship with Addiction

The primary driver in addiction due to reinforcing behaviors.

Substance Use Disorder

The use of a substance that is dangerous or harmful to a person, or causes impairment in a person's life.

Negative Reinforcement Theory of Addiction

The likeliness of redoing a behavior if it makes us stop feeling bad.

Cerebral Palsy

Caused by a malformation in the brain during or shortly after birth, commonly due to lack of oxygen during birth, leading to partial paralyzation.

Spastic Diplegia

Causes extreme tightening of the muscles, especially in the legs.

Electroconvulsive Therapy

A highly effective procedure done under anesthesia, inducing a short 30-60 second seizure to a patient.

Bipolar I

Characterized by hypermania and depression.

Bipolar II

Characterized by hypomania.

Schizophrenia

Characterized by positive symptoms (delusions and hallucinations) and negative symptoms (lack of motivation).

Alzheimer's Disease

Characterized by the accumulation of tau proteins and beta amyloid protein plaques in the brain.

Seizures

Can be tonic-clonic (with two phases) or absence (hard to notice).

Hemorrhagic Stroke

Caused by the escape of blood from a blood vessel or the bursting of a blood vessel.

Ischemic Stroke

Caused by disrupted blood flow, normally due to blockage.

Benign Tumors

Have a dome and are relatively smaller as well as non-dangerous.

Malignant Tumors

Spread and are extremely dangerous and cancerous.

Coup-Countercoup Injuries

Coup injuries are any form of head injury to the forehead; countercoup occurs when the brain bounces and hits the back of the head.

Meningitis

The inflammation of the meninges.

Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs)

Caused by prions folding then unfolding, leading to infectious prions that kill neurons.