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MCAT > Behavioral Sciences Ch3 > Flashcards

Behavioral Sciences Ch3 Flashcards

(100 cards)

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1
Q

Learning

A

The way in which we acquire new behaviour

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2
Q

Stimulus

A

Anything to which an organism can respond

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3
Q

Associative learning

A

The creation of a pairing or association, either between two stimuli or between a behaviour and a response

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4
Q

Classic Conditioning

A

A type of associative learning that takes advantage of biological , instinctual response to create association between two unrelated stimuli

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5
Q

Unconditioned stimulus

A

Any stimulus that brings about a reflexive response

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6
Q

Unconditioned response

A

The innate, reflexive response to a stimuli

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7
Q

Conditioned Stimulus

A

A normal neutral stimulus that, through association, now causes a reflexive response

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8
Q

Conditioned response

A

Reflexive response that occurs in result to a conditioned stimulus

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9
Q

Acquisition

A

The process of using a reflexive, unconditioned stimulus to turn a neutral stimulus into a conditioned stimulus

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10
Q

Extinction

A

The loss of a conditioned response and can occur if the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus

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11
Q

Spontaneous Recovery

A

After some time, presenting subjects again with an extinct conditioned stimulus will sometimes produce a weak condition response

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12
Q

Generalization

A

A broadening effect by which a stimulus similar enough to the condition stimulus can also produce the conditioned response

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13
Q

Stimuli Discrimination

A

An organism learns to distinguish between similar stimuli

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14
Q

Operant Conditioning

A

Examines the ways in which consequences of voluntary behaviours change the frequency of those behaviours

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15
Q

Reinforcement

A

The process of increasing the likelihood that an animal will perform a behaviour

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16
Q

Positive reinforcers

A

Increase the frequency of a behavior by adding a positive consequence or incentive following the desired behaviour

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17
Q

Negative Reinforcers

A

Increase the frequency of a behaviour, but they do so by removing something unpleasant

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18
Q

Escape Learning

A

A situation where the animal experiences the unpleasant stimulus and, in response displays the desire behaviour in order to trigger the removal of the stimulus

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19
Q

Avoidance Learning

A

When the animal displays the desired behaviour in anticipation of the unpleasant stimulus, thereby avoiding the unpleasant stimulus

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20
Q

Discriminative Stimulus

A

Indicates that reward is potentially available in an operant conditioning paradigm

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21
Q

Positive Punishment

A

Adds an unpleasant consequence in response to a behaviour to reduce that behaviour

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22
Q

Negative Punishment

A

Removing a stimulus in order to cause reduction of a behaviour

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23
Q

Fixed-ratio Schedules

A

Reinforce a behaviour after a specific number of performances of that behaviour

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24
Q

Continuous Reinforcement

A

A fixed-ratio schedule in which the behaviour is rewarded every time it is performed

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25
Variable-ratio Schedules
A behaviour after a varying number of performances of the behaviour, but such that the average number of performances to receive a reward is relatively constant
26
Fixed-interval Schedule
Reinforce the first instance of a behaviour after a specified time period has elapsed
27
Variable-interval Schedule
Reinforce a behaviour the first time that behaviour is performed after varying interval of time
28
Which reinforcement schedule works fastest for learning a new behaviour
Variable-ratio
29
Shaping
The process of rewarding increasingly specific behaviours that become closer to a desire response
30
Latent Learning
Learning that occurs without a reward but that is spontaneously demonstrated once a reward is introduced
31
Instinctive drift
When animals revert to an instinctive behaviour after learning a new behaviour that is similar
32
Observational learning
The process of learning a new behaviour or gaining information by watching others
33
Mirror Neurons
Neurons located in the frontal and parietal lobes of the cerebral cortex and fire both when an individual performs an action and when that individual observes someone else performing that action
34
Encoding
The process of putting new information into memory
35
Automatic processing
Information gained without any effort
36
Controlled processing
AKA effortful processing - Information actively memorized
37
Visual encoding
Encoding visual information
38
Acoustic Encoding
Encoding sounds
39
Elaborative encoding
Linking new encoded information to knowledge that is already in memory
40
Sematic Encoding
encoding meaningful context
41
Self-reference effect
Put it into the content of our own lives
42
Maintenance rehearsal
The repetition of a piece of information to either keep it within working memory or to store it in short-term and eventually log-term memory
43
Mnemonics
acronyms or rhyming phrases that provide a vivid organization of the information one is trying to remember
44
Method of Loci
Involves associating each item in a list which a location along a route through a building that has already been memorized
45
Peg-word system
Associates numbers with items that rhyme with or resemble the numbers
46
Chunking
A memory trick that involves taking individual elements of a larger list and grouping them together into group of elements with related meaning
47
Sensory memory
Preserves information in its original sensory form with high accuracy and lasts only a very short time - first and most fleeting type of memory
48
Iconic Memeory
Fast decaying memory of visual stimuli
49
Echoic Memory
Fast-decaying memory of auditory stimuli
50
Short-term memory
- Information we pay attention to - Memory fades quickly - 30 seconds without rehearsal
51
Memory Capacity
Limited to 7 +/- 2
52
Hippocampus
Houses short-term memory and is responsible for consolidation of short-term memory into long-term memory
53
Working memory
- Enables us to keep a few pieces of information in our consciousness simultaneously and to manipulate that information - integrates short-term memory, attention, and executive function - supported by the hippocampus, with frontal and parietal lobes involved
54
Long term memory
Limitless warehouse for knowledge that we are the able to recall on demand
55
Elaborative Rehearsal
The association of the information to knowledge already stored in long-term memory
56
Implicit memory
Consists of our skills, habits, and conditioned responses, none of which need to be consciously recalled
57
Procedural memory
Relates to our unconscious memory of the skills required to complete procedural tasks
58
Priming
Involves the presentation of one stimulus affecting the perception of a second stimulus
59
Positive priming
when exposure to the first stimulus improves processing the second stimulus
60
Negative priming
The first stimulus interferes with the processing of the second stimulus resulting in slower response times and more errors
61
Explicit memory
Consists of those memories that require conscious recallE
62
Episodic Memory
To our recollection of life experiences
63
Semantic Memory
Ideas, concepts, or facts that we know
64
Autobiographical Memory
the name given to our explicit memories about our lives and ourselves
65
Retrieval
Process of demonstrating that something that has been learned has been retained - can be demonstrated through statements of information, recognition or quick relearning
66
Recognition
The process of merely identifying a piece of information that was previously learned
67
Relearning
Another way of demonstrating that information has been stored in long-term memory
68
Spacing effect
the longer the amount of time between sessions of relearning, the greater the retention of the infomration later of
69
Semantic Network
Concepts are linked together based on similar meaning
70
Spreading activation
When one node of our semantic network is activated, the other linked concepts around it are also unconsciously activated
71
Recall cue
using the presentation of a word or phrase that is close to the desired semantic memory to aid recall
72
Context effect
Memory is aided by being in the physical location where encoding took place
73
Source monitoring
A part of the retrieval process that involves determining the origin of memories, and whether they are factual or fictional
74
State-dependent effect
A retrieval cue based on performing better when in the same mental state as when the information was learned
75
Serial-position effect
Position in the list affect participants' ability to recall
76
Primacy and recency effect
Strong recall for the first few items on a list later recalled, and last few items - however, memory of last few fades as the recency effect is a result of short-term memory
77
Amnesia
A significant loss of memorized information
78
Source amnesia
The inability to remember where, when, or how one has obtained knowledge
79
Alzheimer's disease
A degenerative brain disorder thought to be linked to a loss of acetylcholine in neurons that link to the hippocampus - Marked by progressive dementia and memory loss, with atrophy of the brain - occurs in retrograde fashion, with most recent memories before distant memories - Associated with neurofibrillary tangles and beta-amyloid plaques
80
Sundowning
An increase in dysfunction i the late afternoon and evening in Alzheimer's patients
81
Korsakoff's Syndrome
Form of memory loss caused by thiamine deficiency in the brain - marked by both retrograde and anterograde amnesia - confabulation is another symptom
82
Confabulation
the process of creating vivid but fabricated memories
83
Agnosia
The loss of the ability to recognize objects, people, or sounds, though usually only one of the three
84
Decay
Memories are simply lost naturally over time as the neurochemical trace of a short-term memory fades
85
Retention function
Natural curve of forgetting
86
Interference
A retrieval error caused by the existence of other, usually similar, information
87
Proactive interference
Old information is interfering with new learning
88
Retroactive inference
When new information causes forgetting of old information
89
Aging and memory
- Aging does not necessarily lead to significant memory loss - People in their 70s and 80s tend to say that their most vivid memories are of events that occurred in their 20s suggesting it to be the peak period of encoding in a person's life
90
Prospective memory
Remembering to perform a task at some point in the future - most intact when it is event based - time-based prospective memory declines with age
91
Reproductive Memory
A record of our experiences or a kind of video recording that is stored to be accessed later
92
Reconstructive memory
A theory of memory recall in which cognitive processes such as imagination, semantic memory, and perception affect the act of remembering
93
False Memory
A memory that incorrectly recalls actual events or recalls events that never occured
94
Recovered Memeories
Repressed memories, memories stored I the unconscious mind and blocked from recall brought back into our conscious mind either spontaneously or through psychotherapy
95
Misinformation effect
A person's recall of an event becomes less accurate due to the injection of outside information into the memory
96
Intrusion errors
False memories that have included a false detail into a particular memory - Intruding memory is injected into original memory due to both memories being related or sharing a theme
97
Source-monitoring error
Confusion between semantic and episodic memory - a person remembers the details of an event, but confuses the context under which those details were gained
98
Neuroplasticity
Neural connections form rapidly in response to stimulus
99
Synaptic Pruning
As we grow older, weak neural connections are broken while strong ones are bolstered, increasing the efficiency of our brains' ability to process information
100
Long-term potentiation
The strengthening of neural connections through repeated use - believed to be the neurophysiological basis of long-term memory

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