definition of learning
acquiring new and relatively enduring information or behaviors
types of learning
associative, observational, insight
associative learning + ex
connects events that happen in a sequence - from past experience, you know that not studying leads to bad grades
observational learning + ex
learn through observation - watching someone scream at a spider and you’ll learn that you’re supposed to be scared of them
insight learning + ex
learning through self reflection and thoughts - epiphany
describe behaviorism + experiment
nurture focus, objectivity and empiricism, measurable behaviors, learning through repetitive exposures - dog experiment
classical conditioning
associating 2+ stimuli to anticipate events
stimulus + where in the brain
event / situation that evokes response - lower brain regions
neutral stimulus (NS) + ex from dog experiment
stimulus that doesn’t result in response before training - bell
unconditioned stimulus (US) + ex from dog experiment
stimulus that automatically triggers response - food in mouth
unconditioned response (UR) + ex from dog experiment
natural response to US (salivation)
conditioned stimulus (CS) + ex from dog experiment
the irrelevant stimulus that has been changed - same as NS
conditioned response (CR) + ex from dog experiment
learned response to the stimulus - salivation
higher order conditioning
neutral stimulus can become a conditioned stimulus when paired with already established conditioning
acquisition
initial phase of associating neutral stimulus with unconditioned stimulus
extinction
less response to conditioned response
spontaneous recovery
reappearance of weakened CR
generalization + ex
similar stimulus = similar response, little albert afraid of all white, furry things
habituation
organism’s decreasing response to repetitive stimulus, getting bored with stimulus
stimulus discrimination + ex
distinguish between stimulus, hand bell sound vs gong
example of classical conditioning in humans
little albert
what is operant conditioning?
learning where behavior is influenced by reinforcers or punishers
punishers increase or decrease a behavior
decrease
reinforcers increase or decrease a behavior
increase
thorndike’s law of effect
behaviors
positive reinforcement + ex
strengthen response by adding good stimulus - food, attention
negative reinforcement + ex
strengthens response by removed bad or not liked stimulus - alarms, stopping a kid form whining
primary reinforcement
helps us survive - warmth, food
condition / secondary reinforcements
doesn’t mean anything in regards to survival but we value - praise, attention
positive punishment + ex
addition of not liked stimulus - spanking, parking ticket
negative punishment + ex
take away wanted stimulus - time out, revoked driver’s license
what is loss aversion
discomfort in losing something rather than gaining - very effective
continuous reinforcement
reinforcing response every time
partial (intermittent) reinforcement
reinforcing response part of the time - slower acquisition but greater resistance to extinction
fixed ratio schedule (FR) + ex
reinforce response only after a certain number of responses - rat pressing bar 10 times to get 1 food pellet
variable ratio schedule (VR) + ex
reinforces response after unpredictable number of responses - gambling and slot machines
fixed interval schedule (FI)
reinforces a response after specific time elapsed - dog hanging around food bowl near feeding time
variable interval schedule (VI)
reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals - checking email or phone
intrinsic motivation
desire to preform a behavior for its own sake or reaching higher potential - doing something just because you enjoy it
extrinsic motivation
desire to perform behavior to receive a reward or avoid punishment - tells conditioned person that the only reason it’s worth doing is for reward / avoid punishment
drive reduction theory
motivation that arises from a need - internal stimulus or cue
observational learning
learning by observing and imitating - role model
mirror neurons
allow learning and imitation from observation - babies mimic mouth shapes to learn to talk
explain the bobo doll experiment
children watched adults play with a bobo doll and then were told to play - they imitated the language and actions of the adult
achievement tests
measure what you’ve learned - unit tests, ap exams
aptitude tests
measure ability - sat, iq
binet simon intelligence scale
deals with mental age
8 intelligence types - howard gardner
linguistic, logical/mathematical, spatial, bodily kinesthetic, music, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalist
triarchic - sternberg’s intelligence
componential (analytical), experimental (creative), practical (street smarts)
fluid intelligence
capacity to reason and solve problems without knowledge from the past - id patterns and relationships
crystallized intelligence
capacity to use skills, knowledge, and experience
divergent thinking
generates creative ideas, original, flexible, laterally not lineral
functional fixedness
only think of object’s most common use - limited creativity and divergent thinking
mental set
barrier to problem solving - based on solutions that have worked in past
heuristic
mental shortcut, bottom up, not always accurate
algorithm
step by step, accurate, top down
prototype + ex
mental image associated with best example of concept / category - say bird and you think of sparrow, not ostrich
representativeness heuristic
judge something based on how it matches your prototype - confirmation bias
availability heuristic
judge something based on how available examples are in memory
do we remember nicer or scarier things better?
scarier
anchoring heuristic
tendency to rely on 1 piece of info, convenience
linguistics is the study of
language - written and spoken
grammar
set of rules governing how symbols are used to form meaningful expressions
syntax
sets forth a specific order for grammatical elements
semantics + ex
understanding the meaning of language - slang, metaphors
who argued for nature in language development and what was his main idea?
noam chomsky - universal grammar
who argued for nature in language development and what was his main idea?
bf skinner
operant learning
association (sight of thing with sound of word), imitation (of synonyms), reinforcement
encoding
processing info into the memory system
storage
keeping encoded info over time
retrieval
getting info out of storage
sensory memroy
sensory information in the memory system
working memory
bits of info kept in mind for cognitive tasks - remembering phone numbers
how many units of info can we hold in working memory?
7-10
effortful processing
encoding that requires conscious effort, like rehearsal of facts
explicit memories
memory of facts and experiences - conscious, prospective
automatic processing
unconscious encoding of information - breaks into space, time, and frequency
implicit memories
procedural memory, muscle memory
latent learning
learning happens but isn’t apparent until there’s a reason to use it
shallow processing
sensory analysis, not looking for symbolism
deep processing
meaningful analysis, looking for meanings and symbolism
mnemonics
memory aids - ROY G BIV
imagery
visualization of info
chunking
organize numbers into manageable chunks
semantic encoding
encoding through emotional equalities
learning information that’s interesting to you takes ?/? the effort
1/10
what parts of the brain are involved in memory and what do they deal with
hippocampus (conscious memories), cerebellum (unconscious), basal ganglia (procedural), amygdala (emotion)
flashbulb memory
clear memory of emotionally significant event
what % of adults can tell where they were on 9/11
95%
how does dopamine activation influence learning
it tells the brain that the information being taken in is important, more dopamine = more attention = more retention
what kind of effect does rapidly stimulation certain memory circuits have on neurons
increases their sensitivity and allows for more connecting
describe recall + ec
retrieve info learned earlier - fill in blank test
recognition + ex
id items rather than know - multiple choice
relearning + ex
amount of time saved after relearning material
reconsolidation + ex
long term memory retrieved and is susceptible to manipulation
context dependent memory
putting yourself back into context where you experienced something - retracing steps to find keys
mood congruent memory
tendency to remember experiences that match current emotion
proactive interference
disruptive effect that earlier knowledge has on ability to recall new info
retroactive interference
basically rewriting old memories
what is an effect of chronic stress
pruned neural connections