psyc exam 2 - Chapter 5-7

PSYC 2301 EXAM 2 CHAPTER 5-7 REVIEW

Chapter 5:

1) Know the definition of learning.

Learning:

Any relatively permanent change in behavior brought about by experience or practice

- When people learn anything, some part of their brain is physically changed to record what they have learned.

- Not all change accomplished through learning: some is maturation

2) Know the definition of Classical Conditioning. Know the name of the person who discovered it. Know all of the parts and pieces to it.

Classical conditioning:

Learning to make a involuntary response to a stimulus other than the original, natural stimulus that normally produces the response

The person who discovered it was Ivan (Petrovich) Pavlov – he did the experiment with the bell, food and dog

Unconditioned Stimulus UCS (in Pavlov’s experiment was food)

Unconditioned Response UCR (in Pavlov’s experiment was drool)

Conditioned Stimulus CS (in Pavlov’s experiment was bell)

Conditioned Response CR (in Pavlov’s experiment was drool)

Neutral Stimulus NS (in Pavlov's experiment was the bell)

3) Know about extinction and spontaneous recovery.

Extinction:

Disappearance or weakening of a learned response following the removal or absence of the unconditioned stimulus (in classical conditioning) or the removal of a reinforcer (in operant conditioning)

Spontaneous recovery:

Reappearance of a learned response after extinction has occurred

4) Know about conditioned taste aversion

Development of a nausea or aversive response to a particular taste because that taste was followed by a nausea reaction

– Occurs after only one association

(if you eat or drink something that made you sick before, you will most likely get sick from eating or drinking it again)

5) Know the definition for the operant conditioning.

The learning of voluntary behavior through the effects of pleasant and unpleasant consequences to responses

6) Know about reinforcement. Know primary and secondary reinforcers. Know positive and negative reinforcement.

Reinforcement:

Any event or stimulus, that when following a response, increases the probability that the response will occur again

– Reinforcement = behavior increases

Primary Reinforcer:

Any reinforcer that is naturally reinforcing by meeting a basic biological need, such as hunger, thirst, or touch

Secondary Reinforcer:

Any reinforcer that becomes reinforcing after being paired with a primary reinforcer, such as praise, tokens, gold stars, or money

• Positive Reinforcement

–the reinforcement of a response by the addition or experiencing of a pleasurable stimulus – rewarding stimulus is “added”

• Negative Reinforcement

–the reinforcement of a response by the removal, escape from, or avoidance of an unpleasant stimulus – aversive (unpleasant) stimulus is “removed”

7) Know the different schedules of reinforcement (fixed ratio, variable ratio, fixed interval, variable interval)

Fixed ratio:

You have to make a certain number of responses to get reinforced, but the number is always the same (rat presses button 10x and gets a pellet each time it gets to 10)

Variable ratio:

The number of responses you have to make to get rewarded is different each time (eg - slot machines)

Fixed interval:

The amount of time in between reinforcement is always the same (eg getting a paycheck every 2 weeks doesn’t matter how many hours you worked, you'll still get paid every 2 weeks)

Variable interval:

The amount of time in between reinforcement changes and varies each time (eg. Fishing, it's different each time you may catch a fish in 5 minutes or an hour, it's different in between every catch)

8) Know about punishment. Know punishment by application and punishment by removal.

Punishment:

Any event or object that, when following a response, makes that response less likely to happen again – Punishment = behavior decreases

Punishment by application (positive punishment):

the punishment of a response by the addition or experiencing of an unpleasant stimulus (eg a hiding/spanking)

Punishment by removal (negative punishment):

the punishment of a response by the removal of a pleasurable stimulus (eg when a parent takes away a kids cellphone for a week – removing something they like – or grounding a kid)

9) Know how to make punishment more effective.

• Effective punishment should be:

– Immediate

– Consistent

– Punishment of the wrong behavior should be paired, whenever possible, with reinforcement of the right behavior

10) Know about observational learning.

Observational learning:

Learning new behavior by watching a model perform that behavior

• Behavior can be desirable or not desirable

Four Key Elements to Observational Learning:

1. Attention – the learner must pay attention to the model

2. Memory – the learner must be able to retain the memory of what was done

3. Imitation – the learner must be capable of reproducing, or imitating, the actions of the model

4. Desire – the learner must have the desire or motivation to perform the action

Chapter 6:

11) Know the definition for memory.

Memory:

An active system that receives information from the senses, organizes and alters that information as it stores it away, and then retrieves the information from storage

12) Know the 3 parts of memory: encoding, storage, and retrieval

Encoding:

Converting environmental and mental stimuli into memorable brain codes (eg taking info and getting it into a format you can understand)

Storage:

“Holding on” to encoded information (eg it is holding onto info in a meaningful way)

Retrieval:

Pulling information from storage (eg being able to pull info out so it can be used – getting it out of memory so you can use it)

13) Know the definition for the levels of processing model of memory.

Information processed at a deeper level forms a stronger memory than information processed at a shallow level

14) What are the 3 parts of the information-processing model of memory?

1. Sensory Memory

2. Short-term Memory

3. Long-term Memory

15) Know about sensory memory. Know about echoic and iconic memory.

Sensory memory:

A brief storage system in the brain that holds sensory information from the environment for a very short period

Echoic (Auditory) Memory (brief memory for what you hear) - Shorter capacity but longer duration

Iconic (Visual) Memory (brief memory for what you see) - Larger capacity but shorter duration

16) Know about short-term memory. Know about the ‘’magic number 7’’

It is where we hold onto information briefly while its being used

Magical number 7 means 7 plus or minus 2 – that is how many pieces of information fit in short term memory – it has limited capacity

17) Know about long-term memory.

Relatively permanent with “unlimited” capacity

18) Know about implicit and explicit memories. Also, about semantic and episodic memories.

You have two types of long-term memory:

Declarative memory (explicit memory) - memory you know consciously know

It breaks into 2 parts, episodic memory and semantic memory

Episodic memory:

Is memories that only you know

Semantic memory:

Is just facts that you know, general knowledge

Nondeclarative memory (implicit memory) - motor skills, habits, classically conditioned reflexes

(eg like explaining to someone how to ride a bike – you know how to ride a bike but it would be hard to explain it to someone)

19) Know about encoding specificity.

Tendency for memory of information to be improved if related information

(eg - surroundings or physiological state) available when memory was first formed is also available when memory is retrieved

(eg memories that are formed at a particular emotional state or place means that you'll more likely to remember them in the place or state you were in at the time of making the memory)

20) Know about the serial position effect. Know the primary and recency effect as well.

The serial position effect:

Is the tendency to recall items at beginning and end of a list more readily than those in middle

Primacy effect (early)

This is where you remember the first couple of things eg on a song or list

Recency effect (later)

This is where you remember the last things in a list or song

21) Know about flashbulb memories.

This is when automatic encoding that occurs because an unexpected event has strong emotional associations for person remembering it (this is for a strong emotional memory where you remember something about a highly emotional event)

22) Know about proactive and retroactive interference.

Proactive interference:

Information learned EARLIER interferes with information learned LATER

(Old information blocks New information)

Retroactive interference:

Information learned LATER interferes with information learned EARLIER

(New information blocks Old information)

(this is how it might be on a test eg – moving from us to England, where people drive on left side of road – is that proactive of retroactive?)

23) Know about retrograde and anterograde amnesia.

Retrograde amnesia:

Loss of memory from the point of some injury or trauma backwards, or loss of memory for the past (eg you have a head injury and forget things from your past – another eg is car accident you might not remember the car accident or 6 months before it even)

Anterograde amnesia:

Loss of memory from the point of injury or trauma forward, or the inability to form new long-term memories (eg guy who had hippocampus removed is a good example – people with dementia also, they don’t remember their kids came to visit or that they took their pills, no new memories but they have old memories eg – 50 first dates)

Chapter 7:

24) Know about mental images. Know about Kosslyn’s ‘’imaginary island’’ study.

Mental image are when you picture something in your mind when you think of it

Kosslyn’s Fictional (Imaginary) Island Study

(eg corys explanation for the below is: The bigger the mental image the longer it takes to view in your mind)

In Kosslyn’s 1978 study, participants were asked to push a button when they had imagined themselves moving from one place on the island to another. As the graph below the picture shows, participants took longer times to complete the task when the locations on the image were farther apart. (a good example of this would be to think / visualize how many windows your childhood home had)

25) Know the definition of concepts. Know the different types of concepts: formal concepts, natural concepts, and prototypes.

Concept:

A mental category that is used to group objects, events, and characteristics (eg how we group things together – how we simplify the world around us)

Formal concepts:

Defined by specific rules or features

Natural concepts:

Form as a result of real-world experience (fuzziness) (eg – you don’t know how to define these until you get more info – eg – whales and dolphins aren’t fish they are mammals – they fit all the criteria for mammals but the only way to know that is to get more info)

Prototype:

An example of a concept that closely matches the defining characteristics of the concept (most prototypical example of something (eg – what the first thing that comes to mind when they think of blank – that’s a prototype)

26) Know the problem-solving methods trial-and-error (mechanical solution) and algorithms.

Trial and error (mechanical solution):

Problem-solving method in which one possible solution after another is tried

until a successful one is found

(eg – this is when a problem has 5 ways to solve and you just try them all until you get the correct answer)

Algorithms:

Very specific, step-by-step (eg – you follow the same steps each time – it will always give you the answer but you have to follow the steps step by step – eg of this is math or following gps directions or baking) procedures for solving certain types of problems

– Will always result in a correct solution if one exists to be found, such as mathematical formulas

27) Know about heuristics and representative heuristics.

Heuristic:

Educated guess based on prior experiences that helps narrow down possible solutions for a problem

(eg – you use what you already know to solve a problem – it is a shortcut to solving a problem)

– Also known as a “rule of thumb”

Representative heuristic:

This is a stereotype

(eg thinking everyone that belongs to a certain group is exactly the same – eg – all Africans have dark skin)

Availability heuristic:

(eg – sometimes we overestimate how likely something is by how easy you can bring it to mind – eg – we think are way more common than they are – eg a lot of people are scared to swim in the ocean because of shark attacks but shark attacks are really rare – or air travel, you might think of an airplane crash thinking its more dangerous than it really is)

28) Know the barriers to problem-solving: mental set, confirmation bias, and functional fixedness.

Mental set:

Persist in using past problem- solving patterns

(eg – same as fixation - eg – we stuck trying to solve a problem in the same way)

Fixation:

Using a prior strategy and failing to look at a (this one goes with mental set)

problem from a fresh perspective

Confirmation bias:

Search for evidence that fits beliefs while ignoring evidence not fitting beliefs

eg – this is when you believe something that confirms what you’re saying – if you're religious you’ll gravitate towards others who agree with you)

Functional fixedness:

A block to problem solving that comes from thinking about objects only in terms of their typical functions

(eg – we get stuck thinking about something only in the way that its meant to be used instead of thinking that it has more than one use)

29) Know the definition for creativity.

Creativity:

The process of solving problems by combining ideas or behaviors in new ways

(eg – being able to come up with lots of solutions)

30) Know about convergent and divergent thinking.

Convergent:

All lines of problem-solving lead to single answer

(eg - you’re narrowing something down to come up with one answer – eg you need something to write with and you come up with a pencil)

Divergent:

From one point to many ideas or possibilities

(eg - brainstorming – coming up with as many ideas as you can – different uses for one thing)

31) Know the definition for intelligence.

Intelligence:

The ability to learn from one’s experiences, acquire knowledge, and use resources effectively in adapting to new situations or solving problems

32) Know Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligence. Be able to list at least 5 out of the 9 for the bonus.

1. Verbal-linguistic

2. Musical

3. Logical-mathematical

4. Visual-spatial

5. Movement

6. Interpersonal

7. Intrapersonal

8. Naturalist

9. Existentialist

33) Know Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

Analytical:

Ability to break problems down into to component parts, or analysis, for problem solving

Practical:

Ability to use information to get along in life and become successful (street smarts)

Creative:

Ability to deal with new and different concepts and to come up with new ways of solving problems

34) Know about reliability and validity

Reliability:

The tendency of a test to produce the same scores again and again each time it is given to the same people

– Do you get roughly the same score every time you take the test?

Validity:

The degree to which a test actually measures what it’s supposed to measure

35) Know the definition for intellectual disability (formerly mental retardation). Know the 3 criteria that must be met.

Intellectual disability (intellectual developmental disorder):

A person exhibits deficits in mental ability and adaptive behavior

– Formerly known as mental retardation or developmentally delayed

Three criteria must be met:

1. IQ falls below 70

2. Adaptive behavior is severely deficient for a person of a particular chronological age

3. These limitations must be present before the age of 18 (must begin in the developmental period)

36) Know the definition of language.

A system for combining symbols (such as words) so that an unlimited number of meaningful statements can be made for the purpose of communicating with others

37) Know the definition for syntax and semantics.

Syntax:

The system of rules for combining words

and phrases to form grammatically correct

sentences

Semantics:

Rules for determining the meaning of

words and sentences