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McK's Science Review > Learning and Memory > Flashcards

Learning and Memory Flashcards

1
Q

habituation

A

decrease in response to the same stimulus (re: cadaver in an anatomy lab)

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2
Q

dishabituation

A

recovery of a response to a stimulus after habituation has occured

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3
Q

associative learning

A

creation of a pairing, or an association, either between two stimuli or between a behavior and a response

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4
Q

classical conditioning

A

type of associative learning that takes advantage of biological, instinctual response to create associations between two unrelated stimuli. for ex. Pavlov’s dogs

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5
Q

unconditioned stimulus

A

a stimulus that brings about a reflexive response

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6
Q

you rock

A

you’re awesome!

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7
Q

neutral stimuli

A

stimuli that do not produce a reflexive response

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8
Q

conditioned stimulus

A

a normally neutral stimulus that through association now causes a reflexive response called a conditioned stimulus

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9
Q

response to a conditioned stimulus

A

conditioned response

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10
Q

acquistion

A

process of taking advantage of a reflexive, unconditioned stimulus to turn a neutral stimulus into a conditioned stimulus

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11
Q

extinction

A

if the conditioned stimulus is presented without the unconditioned stimulus enough times, the organism can become habituated to the conditioned stimulus and extinction occurs

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12
Q

spontaneous recovery

A

if an extinct conditioned stimulus is presented again, a weak conditioned response can sometimes be exhibited, a phenomenon called spontaneous recovery

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13
Q

generalization

A

a broadening effect by which a stimulus similar enough to a conditioned stimulus can also produce the conditioned response (ex. Little Albert is afraid of white rats, also a white stuffed rabbit)

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14
Q

discrimination

A

an organism learns to distinguish between two similar stimuli

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15
Q

operant conditioning

A

links voluntary behaviors with consequences in an effort to alter the frequency of those behaviors

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16
Q

behaviorism

A

theory that all behaviors are conditioned, associated with BF Skinner/operant conditioning

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17
Q

Reinforcement

A

process of increasing the likelihood that an individual will perform a behavior

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18
Q

positive reinforcers

A

increase a behavior by adding a positive consequence or incentive following the desired behavior (ex. money)

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19
Q

Negative reinforcers

A

increase the frequency of a behavior by removing something unpleasant (like aspirin to remove a headache)

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20
Q

escape learning

A

the role of the behavior is to reduce the unpleasantness of something that already exists, like a headache

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21
Q

avoidance learning

A

meant to prevent the unpleasantness of something that has yet to happen (ex. study for the MCAT to avoid a bad score)

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22
Q

punishment

A

uses conditioning to reduce the occurrence of a behavior

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23
Q

positive punishment

A

adds an unpleasant consequence in response to a behavior to reduce that behavior (flogged for stealing)

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24
Q

negative punishment

A

reduction of a behavior by taking away a stimulus (ex. no TV as a consequence for bad behavior)

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25
fixed-ratio (FR) schedules
reinforce a behavior after a specific number of performances of that behavior (rat pellet every third push)
26
Continuous reinforcement
a fixed-ratio schedule in which the behavior is rewarded every time it is performed
27
variable-ratio (VR) schedule
reinforces a behavior after a varying number of performances of the behavior (very rapid, very resistant to extinction) --> FASTEST FOR LEARNING A NEW BEHAVIOR
28
fixed-interval (FI) schedule
reinforces the first instance of a behavior after a specific time period has elapsed
29
variable-interval (VI) schedule
reinforces a behavior the first time that behavior is performed after a varying interval of time. Instead of waiting exactly 60 seconds, rat may wait 90 seconds, then 30
30
shaping
the process of rewarding increasingly specific behaviors
31
latent learning
learning that occurs without a reward but that is spontaneously demonstrated once a reward is introduced
32
prepardedness
how animals are predisposed to learn based off their natural abilities and instincts, like birds naturally peck at food, so able to reward them for pecking based behavior is easier
33
instinctive drift
difficulty in overcoming instinctual behaviors
34
observational learning
process of learning a new behavior or gaining information by watching others (ex. Bobo doll experiments)
35
mirror neurons
neurons located in the frontal and parietal lobes of the cerebral cortex and fire when both an individual performs an action and when that individual observes someone else performing the action
36
modeling
determining what behaviors are acceptable by watching others
37
encoding
process of putting new information into memory
38
automatic processing
gaining knowledge without effort
39
controlled processing
effortful processing, when you actively make flashcards to memorize details for the mcat
40
visual encoding
visualizing information
41
acoustic encoding
store the way it sounds
42
semantic encoding
putting the information in meaningful context
43
self-reference effect
we recall information the best when we can put it into the context of our own lives
44
maintenance rehersal
repetition of a piece of information to keep it within working memory or to store it in short-term and eventually long term memory
45
mnemonics
acronyms or rhyming phrases to memorize information
46
method of loci
associating each item in a list with a location along a route through a building that has already been memorized
47
peg-word
associates numbers with items that rhyme with or resemble the numbers
48
chunking
taking individual elements of a larger list and grouping them together into groups of elements with related meanings
49
sensory memory
consists of both iconic (visual) and echoic (auditory) memory; last a very short time, generally under one second, maintained by the occipital lobe (vision) and temporal lobe (hearing)
50
short-term memory
fades quickly, over the course of approximately 30 seconds without rehearsal, limited by 7 +- 2 rule
51
hippocampus
short term memory housed here, responsible for consolidation of short term memory into long-term memory
52
eidetic memory
ability to recall, with high precision, an image after only a brief exposure
53
working memory
allows us to keep a few pieces of information in our consciousness simultaneously and to manipulate that information, allows us to do simple math in our heads
54
elaborative rehersal
the association of the information to knowledge already stored in long-term memory, closely tied to self-reference effect; long-term memories eventually move from hippocampus to cerebral cortex
55
implicit memory
non-declarative or procedural memory, consists of our skills and conditioned responses
56
explicit memory
declarative memory, consists of those memories that require conscious recall (semantic and episodic)
57
semantic memory
facts that we know, a type of explicit/declarative memory
58
episodic memory
our experiences, a type of explicit/declarative memory
59
retrieval
process of demonstrating that something that has been learned has been retained
60
recall
retrieval and statement of previously learned informaiton
61
recognition
process of merely identifying a piece of information
62
relearning
way of demonstrating that information has been stored in long-term memory
63
spacing effect
the greater the spacing between learning something, the greater the retention of information later on, why cramming isn't effective
64
semantic network
a network of interconnected ideas
65
spreading activation
when one node of a semantic network is activated, other linked concepts around it are also unconsciously activated
66
priming
retrieval cue, recall is aided by first being presented with a word or phrase that is close to the desired semantic memory
67
context effects
memory is aided by being in a physical location where encoding took place
68
state-dependent memory
state-dependent effect, people who learn something while drunk recall it better while drunk, why i should study in silence bc i'll be testing in silence too
69
serial position effect
retrieval cue that appears while learning a list, first and last items are remembered better in general
70
primacy effect
remember the first items
71
recency effect
remember the last items
72
Alzheimer's disease
degenerative brain disorder linked to a loss of acetylcholine in neurons that link to the hippocampus, marked by progressive dementia (loss of cognitive functioning); neurofibrillary tangles and B-amyloid plaques; sundowning
73
Sundowning
increase in dysfunction in the late afternoon and evening
74
Korsakoff's Syndrome
memory loss caused by thiamine deficiency in the brain, marked by retrograde and anterograde amnesia; confabulation
75
retrograde amnesia
loss of previously formed memories
76
anterograde amnesia
inability to form new memories
77
confabulation
process of creating vivid but fabricated memories, typically thought to be an attempt made by the brain to fill in gaps of missing memories, example of the creation of false memories
78
agnosia
the loss of the ability to recognize objects, people, or sounds (usually just one of the three), usually caused by a stroke or neurological disorder like MS
79
interference/interference effect
a retrieval error caused by the existence of other, usually similar, information
80
proactive interfence
old information is interfering with new learning (ex. when you move and your old address messes with your ability to learn your new address)
81
retroactive interference
when new information causes forgetting of old information (when a teacher learns a new set of student names so she/he forgets her/his old students)
82
prospective memory
remembering to perform a task at some point in the future
83
misinformation effect
experiment when participants were shown a car stopping at a yield sign, later read things that say it was a stop sign, so then they insist on seeing a stop sign (FAKE NEWS!)
84
source-monitoring error
confusion between semantic and episodic memory, a person remembers the details of an event, but they confuse the context in which it happen (if you watch a movie then remember the events happen to yourself)
85
neuroplasticity
neural connections form rapidly in response to stimuli via a phenomenon called neuroplasticity
86
synaptic pruning
as we grow older, our brains change via synaptic pruning, weak neural connections are broken, strong ones are bolstered
87
long-term potentiation
strengthening of a "long-term" synaptic connection; responsible for the conversion of short-term to long-term memory, is the strengthening of neuronal connections resulting from increased neurotransmitter release and adding of receptor sites

McK's Science Review (24 decks)

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