Comprehensive Notes on Cognitive Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition

Evolutionary Context and the Nature of Learning

Evolution and Traits

Darwinian vs. Lamarckian Evolution: In understanding evolution, the core debate centers on trait inheritance. Lamarckian evolution suggested that acquired traits (like reaching for tall leaves stretching a giraffe's neck) could be passed down. Darwinian evolution posits that we only inherit traits from parents; traits that are advantageous allow for survival, which is termed the survival of the fittest (not strictly a matter of inventing traits, but surviving long enough to pass them on).

Defining Learning

Definition: Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior or behavioral potential that occurs as a result of experience.
Exceptions: Changes do not count as learning if they are transient or last only a short time.
Non-Associative Learning: This is learning where the reaction is to a single stimulus rather than a relationship between multiple stimuli.

Habituation and Sensory Adaptation

Habituation: A decrease in the strength of a response to a repeated stimulus. It is a brain-level process that helps us "lull" or filter out non-essential stimuli to focus on a novel (new) stimulus.
Sensory Adaptation: This happens on the sense-organ level (peripheral) rather than the brain level (central).
Principles of Habituation: - Course of Habituation: Occurs gradually over a number of trials. - Initial Dip: Higher frequency responses (e.g., $90$ , $45$ , $20$ , $4$ , $2$ ) drop as the brain understands the stimulus is not dangerous. - Effects of Time: If a lapse in the stimulus occurs, a recovery of the habituated response is seen (spontaneous recovery). A longer time gap leads to a stronger recovery. - Relearning Effects: Habituation becomes faster with repeated exposures (fewer trials needed). - Overlearning: Continuing to present the stimulus after habituation has happened (e.g., $20$ trials instead of $10$ ) reduces the trials needed for subsequent relearning. Ebbinghaus noted extra trials send the subject into overlearning. - Stimulus Generalization: Habituation can happen to a new stimulus if it is highly similar to a learned one.

Sensitization and Unlearned Behaviors

Sensitization: An increase in the strength of a response to a repeated stimulus (e.g., being more aware because the orienting response increases due to perceived threat).
Unlearned Behaviors: - Reflexes: Innate responses happening without learning (e.g., knee jerk, sucking). - Tropism: Movement or change in orientation in response to a stimulus. - Kinesis: Random movement without respect to location (e.g., cockroaches scattering). - Taxis: Movement toward or away from a location (e.g., sunflowers turning to the sun). - Fixed Action Pattern (FAP): A sequence of behaviors that cannot be interrupted once started, activated by a "sign stimulus" or "releaser." - Response Chain: Unlike FAP, these are not fixed and can be adjusted (e.g., crabs).

Classical Conditioning

Fundamental Concepts

Ivan Pavlov: Pavlov described classical conditioning as a process where a neutral stimulus starts eliciting an innate response. It is also called respondent conditioning.
Elements: - Unconditioned Stimulus (US): A stimulus that naturally triggers a response (e.g., food). - Unconditioned Response (UR): The unlearned, natural response (e.g., salivation). - Conditioned Stimulus (CS): A previously neutral stimulus that, after association with the US, triggers a response (e.g., bell). - Conditioned Response (CR): The learned response to the CS (e.g., salivating to the bell).

Theories of Association

Stimulus Substitution Theory (Pavlov): Pavlov believed the CS and US become substituted in the brain. This is challenged because the CR is rarely the same intensity as the UR.
Conditioned Compensatory Response: In drug tolerance, the CS triggers a CR opposite to the UR (e.g., the sight of cocaine leads the body to compensate for the upcoming high).
Sign Tracking Theory (Hearst and Jenkins): The CS becomes a signal for the organism to follow or track.

Phases of Conditioning

Acquisition: The stage when the CS and US are first paired. - Asymptote: The maximum level of learning reached. A higher asymptote indicates stronger conditioning.
Extinction: When the CS is presented without the US, the CR diminishes. This is not erasing learning but creating an inhibitory connection.
Spontaneous Recovery: Reappearance of the CR after a time delay following extinction.
Rapid Reacquisition: Relearning after extinction is faster than initial learning.

Generalization and Discrimination

Generalization: Not responding with discrimination; reacting to stimuli similar to the trained CS.
Taste Aversion (The Garcia Effect): A unique form of conditioning where a novel taste associated with illness causes an immediate aversion. - Violations: It violates the frequency principle (requires only a single trial), the contiguity principle (time gap between taste and illness can be long), and the equipotentiality principle (not every stimulus can be paired with every response).
Conditioned Suppression: When a conditioned emotional response (e.g., fear) stops an ongoing activity (e.g., reducing music volume when feeling fear).
Disinhibition: The reappearance of a CR after extinction due to a distracting stimulus that disrupts the inhibitory connection.

Conditioned Inhibition and Higher-Order Learning

Conditioned Inhibition: Learning not to respond. This is observed in drug tolerance where the body prepares an inhibitory response.
Blocking: Failure to learn an association to a second stimulus because the first stimulus already perfectly predicts the outcome.
Second-Order Conditioning: A CS is paired with another neutral stimulus to create a new CS (e.g., Light paired with Food $\rightarrow$ salivation; then Tone paired with Light $\rightarrow$ salivation).

Timing and Mathematical Models

Temporal Coding Hypothesis: Individuals learn not just associations but the specific timing of the US.
Types of Timing: - Short-delay: Strongest conditioning. - Simultaneous: Weak; lacks predictive value. - Trace: Based on memory trace; weak. - Long-delay: Weak; the subject learns exactly when the US arrives. - Backward Conditioning: CS follows the US; leads to inhibitory conditioning.
Rescorla-Wagner Model: A mathematical model of classical conditioning. - Rule 1: If the actual US is stronger than expected, it leads to excitatory conditioning. - Rule 2: If the actual US is weaker than expected, it leads to inhibitory conditioning. - Limitations: Cannot explain rapid reacquisition, spontaneous recovery, or disinhibition.
Overshadowing and Overexpectation: A more salient CS overshadows a less salient one. Overexpectation occurs when two stimuli together predict more than the received US, leading to a decrease in CR strength.

Behavioral Therapy Applications

Phobias

Experimental Example: Little Albert (John Watson and Rosalie Rayner). Induced a fear of white furry things (generalized) by pairing a loud noise (US) with a white rat (CS).
Systematic Desensitization (Joseph Wolpe): Treatment using reciprocal inhibition—pairing relaxation with a fear hierarchy.
Flooding and Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP): Forcing exposure to the feared object until the anxiety dissipates (Thomas Stampfl and Victor Meyer). Used heavily in OCD.

Aversive Conditioning

Technique: Using nausea-inducing drugs mixed with alcohol to create a conditioned aversion.
Aversive Counter-conditioning: Replacing a positive feeling toward a substance with an aversive one.

Operant Conditioning

Thorndike’s Trial and Error

Connectionism: Theory of connecting a response to a situation to get a desired response.
Three Laws: - Law of Effect: Responses followed by a satisfying state of affairs are strengthened. - Law of Readiness: The organism must be motivated/capable to learn. - Law of Exercise: Repetition strengthens the S-R bond.

Guthrie-Horton and Contiguity

S-R Relationship: Learning involves specific muscle movements.
Stop Action Principle: Reinforcement strengthens the exact muscle movement happening at the time of the reward (Brown and Houston).
Principle of Postremity: We remember the last thing we did in a situation (e.g., ordering vanilla vs chocolate).
Breaking Habits: Threshold Method (gradual), Fatigue Method (repeatedly performing response until exhausted), and Incompatible Stimulus Method.

B.F. Skinner and Functionalism

Instrumental Conditioning: Also called operant conditioning; focuses on voluntary behavior.
Skinner Box: Used for free operant procedures where animals make repeated attempts without interference.
Contingency (ABC): Antecedent, Behavior (response), Consequence (reinforcer).
Reinforcement vs. Punishment: - Positive Reinforcement: Adding something desired to increase behavior. - Negative Reinforcement: Subtracting something undesired (like a headache by taking aspirin) to increase behavior. - Punishment: Decreases the likelihood of behavior.

Verbal Operants and Schedules

Universal Operants: - Mand: A demand (e.g., "I want milk"). - Tact: A comment/label (labels an experience). - Intraverbal: Response to a question (e.g., "Yes"). - Echoic: Repeated word. - Autoclitic: Statements about statements (e.g., "I think," "I feel").
Reinforcement Schedules: - Continuous: Reinforced every time; fastest learning but least resistant to extinction. - Fixed Ratio (FR): After a fixed number of responses. - Variable Ratio (VR): Average number of responses; highest frequency/strength. - Fixed Interval (FI): After a fixed time interval; leads to a scalloped response pattern. - Variable Interval (VI): Based on an average time interval.

Behavioral Phenomena

Overjustification Effect: High extrinsic motivation causes intrinsic interest to drop.
Instinctive Drift: Innate behaviors eventually overpower learned ones (e.g., raccoons washing inedible items).
Shaping: Reinforcing successive approximations of a target behavior.
Chaining: Sequential behaviors (Forward, Backward, or Total Task).
Premack’s Principle: A high-probability behavior can reinforce a low-probability behavior ("Eat vegetables to get ice cream").
Response Deprivation Theory (Timberlake and Allison): Restricting access to a behavior makes it a powerful reinforcer.
Two-Factor Theory of Avoidance (Mowrer and Mowrer): Avoidance behavior is learned through a combination of classical (fear of CS) and operant conditioning (reduction of fear).

Cognitive Theories of Learning

Tolman and Purposive Behaviorism

Purposive Behavior: Behavior is goal-directed.
Latent Learning: Rats in mazes showed they had built a "cognitive map" even without reinforcement, only utilizing it when motivated.
Place Learning: Identifying where things are (incidental learning).
Three Factors: Significance (goal), Sign (signal), and Means-end process.

Insight and Social Learning

Insight Learning (Wolfgang Kohler): The "Eureka" or "Aha" moment where a mind suddenly rearranges elements to find a solution.
Stages of Insight (Graham Wallas): 1. Preparation: Gathering info. 2. Incubation: Not actively thinking about the problem. 3. Illumination: The insight moment. 4. Verification: Checking the solution.
Bandura’s Social Learning: Bobo Doll experiment showed children imitate violence based on observed reinforcement/punishment. - Necessary Factors: Attention, Retention, Reproduction (motor skills), and Motivation.

Hull and Seligman

Hull’s Drive Reduction Theory: Primary reinforcers reduce physiological needs (Thirst, Hunger). Uses the Mathematico-Deductive model.
Learned Helplessness (Martin Seligman): Occurs when an organism is exposed to inescapable shocks and stops trying to escape even when an exit is provided (Group 1 - harnessed dogs).
Immunization: If dogs first learn to escape, they are "immunized" against learned helplessness.

Psychology of Memory

Fundamental Processes and Models

Processes: Encoding (physiological storage), Storage (maintaining), and Retrieval (accessing).
Recall vs. Recognition: Identifying from options is recognition; pulling from memory is recall.
Dualist Model (William James): Primary memory (conscious) and Secondary memory (information that is there but not in consciousness).
Atkinson-Shiffrin Multi-store Model: Sensory ( $2.5$ s) $\rightarrow$ Attention $\rightarrow$ STM ( $30$ s) $\rightarrow$ Rehearsal $\rightarrow$ LTM (Permanent).

Working Memory Model (Baddeley and Hitch)

Central Executive: The decision-maker/attention allocator.
Phonological Loop: Subvocal rehearsal (repeating mentally).
Visuo-spatial Sketchpad: Visualizing and changing images.
Episodic Buffer: proposta $25$ years later; holds info immediately required from LTM for use in STM.

Processing and Specificity

Levels of Processing (Craik and Lockhart): Visual/Physical (shallow) $\rightarrow$ Phonological $\rightarrow$ Semantic (deep).
Encoding Specificity (Godden and Baddeley): Recall is better if the physical/mental state matches the encoding state.
Pollyanna Principle: Pleasant items are processed more effectively.
LTM Types (Endel Tulving): - Explicit (Declarative): Divided into Semantic (facts) and Episodic (personal experience). - Implicit (Non-declarative): Divided into Procedural (skills), Conditioning, and Priming.

Memory Distortion and Forgetting

7 Sins of Memory (Daniel Schacter): Transience, Absentmindedness, Blocking, Misattribution, Suggestibility, Bias, Persistence.
Bartlett’s Experiment: Found memory involves Omissions, Rationalization, and Transformation of information to fit existing schemas.
Elizabeth Loftus: Misinformation effect and faulty source monitoring.
Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve: Most information is lost in the first hour.
Interference: Retroactive (new hinders old) and Proactive (old hinders new).
Organic Amnesia: - Korsakoff Syndrome: B1 deficiency from alcoholism; global amnesia. - Anterograde: Cannot form new memories (Case of HM, $1953$ ). - Retrograde: Loss of past memories.

Psychophysics and Sensation

Thresholds

Absolute Threshold: Minimum intensity detected $50\%$ of the time.
Differential Threshold (JND): Minimum difference detected $50\%$ of the time.
Methods: Constant Stimuli, Limits (ascending/descending), and Adjustment.

Laws of Psychophysics

Weber’s Law: Ratio of stimulus intensity changes to JND stays same.
Fechner’s Law: $S = K \log(I)$ .
Signal Detection Theory: Noise vs. Signal ratio. Outcomes: Hit, Miss, False Alarm, Correct Rejection.

Vision and Hearing

Feature Detectors (Hubel and Wiesel): Simple cells (orientation), Complex cells (movement), Hypercomplex (angles/size).
Color Vision: Trichromatic ( $3$ cones: RGB) vs. Opponent Process ( $3$ pairs: Red-Green, Blue-Yellow, Black-White).
Pitch Theories: Place Theory (von Helmholtz), Frequency Theory, and Volley Principle.

Perception and Attention

Attention Models

Broadbent: Early filter based on physical properties.
Treisman Attenuation Model: Unattended info is weakened, not blocked; important info (like names) still meets the threshold.
Stroop Effect: Automacity causes interference when word color and reading conflict.

Perceptual Organization (Gestalt)

Laws: Figure-Ground, Proximity, Similarity, Closure, Continuity, Symmetry, and Pragnaz (simplicity).
Depth Cues: Monocular (Size, Linear perspective, Overlap) and Binocular (Retinal disparity, Convergence).

Thinking, Reasoning, and Intelligence

Reasoning Styles

Deductive: General to specific; valid if premises lead logically to conclusion.
Inductive: Specific to general; evaluated by strength and cogency.

Intelligence Theories

Binet: Concept of Mental Age.
Terman: IQ formula $IQ = \frac{MA}{CA} \times 100$ .
Spearman: Two-factor (g - general, s - specific).
Cattell: Fluid (GF - innate) and Crystallized (GC - learned).
Guilford: SOI model ( $180$ boxes).
Gardner: Multiple Intelligences (Bodily-kinesthetic, Musical, etc.).
Sternberg Triarchic Theory: Analytical (componential), Creative (experiential), Practical (contextual).
PASS Theory: Attention, Simultaneous, Successive, Planning.

Creativity

Divergent Thinking: Fluency, Flexibility, Originality, Elaboration.
4 Cs (Kaufman): Mini-c, Little-c, Pro-c, Big-C.
Threshold Theory: Minimum Intelligence needed for creativity, but not sufficient on its own.

Language

Structure

Phoneme: Smallest unit of sound (English has $43$ ).
Morpheme: Smallest unit of meaning.
Syntax: Grammar/Structure.
Semantics: Meaning.

Theories of Acquisition

Skinner: Learned via reinforcement.
Chomsky: Innate via Language Acquisition Device (LAD).
Vygotsky/Brunner: Social interaction (LASS - Support System).

Aphasias

Broca’s Aphasia: Expressive; damage to Left Frontal Lobe.
Wernicke’s Aphasia: Receptive; damage to Left Temporal Lobe.