Learning and Memory unit Flashcards
(17 cards)
What does learning allow us to do?
Learning allows us to acquire new information and refers to the process by which experiences change our nervous system and our behaviour. Long-term changes in the nervous ststem following learning are referred to as a memories. When we experiance new things we experiance change.
What are the types of learning?
Motor learning: moving skillfully.
Perceptual learning: recognise stimuli that have been perceived previously.
Relational learning: a complex type of leanring, involves learning the relationship between stimuli.
What is stimulus-response learning (S-R)?
It is one of the most well-studied types of learning: it involves learning to produce some kind of behaviour when a particular stimulus is present. It can be groups into two main types: Classical conditioning and operant (instrumental) conditioning
What is classical conditioning?
It occurs when an neutral or unimportant stimulus acquires the capacity to elicit some kind of response. A puff of air to the eye causes a reflective eyeblink: this is an unconditioned response because it occurs without any previous training/learning. Repeatedly pairing the puff of air with a tone will eventually lead to the tone producing the eyeblink response on its own: the CS now produces a conditioned response
What about CC have mostly been studied?
CC has been mostly studied in the context of learning conditioned emotional responses, mainly fear
Where does a response to a aversive stimulus come from?
It has been suggested that learning the association between a neutral stimulus and aversive stimulus occurs in the lateral nucleus of the amygdala. It recieves sensory information regarding these two stimuli, and produces synaptic changes responsible for learning their associaton. It also shared information with the central nucleus, which produces the emotional response.
What is operant (instrumental) conditioning?
What is operant conditioning occurs when a reinforcing or punishing outcome follows a specific behaviour: the reinforcer increases the chance of repeating the beh. while a punishment decreases
What is the neural basis of operant conditioning?
The neural basis of operant conditioning involves strengthening connectoins between the sensory circuits that process the stimulus, and the motor circuits that produce the response. The formation of new stimulus-response associations that involve different parts of the cortex is achieved with the help of the hippocampus.
What happens when the operant response becomes more well-learned?
It is passed into the basal ganglia, which takes control of the automatic beh. When we repeat a beh, the basal ganglia gradually learn the association, allowing them to produce the beh. with minimal influence of the cortical circuits originally involved in forming the association
How are S-R reinforced?
Neural reinforcement systems strengthen the connections. One reinforcement system involves the release of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens: When the brain detects the presence of a reinfocer, dopaminergic neurones in the ventral tegmental areas (VTA) active, causing the release of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens
What affect does dopamine have on the nucleus accumbens?
It has the effect of reinforcing the behaviour. Dopamine release is also triggered by cocain, amphetamines, and natural reinforcers, or actions. Carrying out one of these beh. results in the release of dopamine, and the association between the stimulus and response becomes stronger
What are the types of memory?
Sensory memory: stimulation of the sense by a stimulus is retined over very brief periods of time; short-term memory: retains information over seconds (up to around a min and can extent with rehersal), and is limited to a few items; long-term memory: retains information over min, hours, days or permanently. LTM tends to be strengthened with increase retrieval.
What are the two types of LTM?
- Non-declarative (implicit) memory: memories we are not conscious of, or the unconscious retrieval of information from LTM;
- Declarative (explicit) memory: conscious retrieval of event (episodic memory) and facts (semantic memory);
1. Episodic memories: include contextual information: when and under what conditions an episode occured;
2. Semantic memories: however, do not necessarily inlcude contextual information.
What does the formation learning and memory involve?
Their formation involves changes in synapses called long-term potentiation (LTP). LTP happens when a neurone revcieves a lot of stimulation (either through repeated firing from one axon or from multiple axons), it is left in a state in which some of its synapses are potentiated
What produces a strong excitatory post-synaptic potential (EPSP)?
The sensory neurone that sends the puff of air signal does produce a strong EPSP in the eyeblink motor neurone (this is beneficial given that an eyeblink reflex protects the eye from potential damage)
What does pairing neutral stimulus to aversive stimulus causes ?
It causes the neutral stimulus to aversive stimulus neurones to activate at the ssame time.
What is the Hebb Rule?
If a synapse (in this case T) becomes active the same time a postsynaptic neuone fires, then the synapse will strengthen
