PSY260 - 9. Procedural Memory

Question 1

What are skill memories?

Answer 1

Abilities that can improve over time
Skill learning: procedural learning
Practice in observation of others performing skills

Question 2

What is procedural memory?

Answer 2

memory storage of skills + procedures.
tacit knowledge/implicit knowledge (remembering how to ride a bike)
often can only be expressed by performing specific skill
people have problems verbalizing what they are doing + why
very important in human motor performance.

Question 3

What is procedural memory?

Answer 3

Some part genetic: innate behavioural traits allow them to acquire more info about environment, to get food, attention
Infants require additional info: learn rules of behaviour
Born with foundation, template to modify rules of some basic actions which they are born – procedural skills
can use fundemental skills to develop more complex skills

Question 4

Skill memories

Answer 4

Cannot always be verbalized
Unconsciously acquired + retrieved
Basis for memories of events and facts

Question 5

Skill memories

Answer 5

acquisition of variety of changes of fundemental skills:
•Motor skills
•Cognitive skills
•During development, diff physical + mental development that allow us to learn diff tasks – learning to walk
•Comes with experience, not necessarily with knowledge
•Implicit in neuronal wiring + muscular development

Question 6

Skill memories

Answer 6

Perception: realize our actions will reward us to an extent
Cognitive understanding: ability to plan actions ahead of time to obtain what we desire
Nonassociative learning part of skill learning
Acquisition of skills akin to acquisition of episodic memory
Acquired as sequence of memories that are put into action
Require memory of objects, contexts that modify application of skill

Question 7

Skill

Answer 7

enduring ability that develops with practice over time
Develops with practice
Various components of an action that needs to be coordinated
Improvements laid down as memory by operant conditioning
don’t always intend to learn a skill, we simply do it more effectively over time
ability to perform task that has been honed through learning

Question 8

Skill

Answer 8

1. Is difficult to convey to others
2. May be acquired without awareness (non transferable to other conditions, don’t realize you’re getting better)
3. Requires several repetitions

Question 9

Memory for Events + Facts

Answer 9

doesn’t result in action

1. Can be communicated flexibly
2. Has content that is consciously accessible (you know what you need to do well, but you need practice)
3. Can be acquired in single exposure (acquire it with one time learning, physical ability require something else)

Question 10

Perceptual-motor skills

Answer 10

learned movement patterns guided by sensory inputs.
Enduring abilities developed with practice
perceptual: based on feedback (how well do we actually do), operant conditioning – decision to shape behaviour with goal in mind
•we have a goal + operant feedback system – compare with expectations

Question 11

Closed skills

Answer 11

involve predefined sequence of movements (ballet, diving, gymnastics)
anything that deviates from our goal is unacceptable, we try to get closer to it, driving ourselves to a particular behaviour
•better at learning sequence of skills
•applicable in limited situations

Question 12

Open skills

Answer 12

respond to environmental changes (soccer, hockey)
Any skill lies somewhere continuum from closed to open
•mental skills work in the same way
skills that require participants to respond based on predictions about changing demands of the environment

Question 13

Cognitive Skills

Answer 13

emphasize problem solving/applying strategies (Tower of Hanoi puzzle)
•understanding how to manipulate environment
•we start with rules

Question 14

Cognitive Skills

Answer 14

•use of tools we consider to be a human trait
•ability to understand how to manipulate things extends to ability to use tools
•we use tools to get stuff we need
Tool use involves perceptual-motor + cognitive skills

Question 15

Cognitive Skills

Answer 15

Require you to solve problems/apply strategies rather than move your body based on what you perceive
Ability to reason + solve problems/perform tasks that require sorting through large amounts of knowledge
Humans not only animals that can learn cognitive skills
•primates can learn how to use tools
•Dolphins can be trained to repeat an action
•Many skills involve both cognitive + perceptual motor components

Question 16

Talent

Answer 16

mastering a skill with little effort (“gift”)

propensity to learn particular skill + apply it

Question 17

Expertise

Answer 17

performing skill better than most people
ability to hone skills, closed + open skills, point close to optimal – considered to be experts
total amount of practice is critical in predicting wether person will be an expert
Perceptual learning may contribute to the superior abilities of experts

Question 18

Rotary pursuit task

Answer 18

user must hold the end of a pointed stick above target on a rotating disk
Skills of identical twins reared apart became more similar
Skills of fraternal twins reared apart became less similar
Genetic differences may become more apparent with practice
More practice people have, more their differences are due to genetic differences

Question 19

Rotary pursuit task

Answer 19

•over time you get better
•older adults don’t acquire ability as easily
•when you come back to do tests on another day, young adults better at doing task rather than daythey acquired skills
improving skill during acquisition, but after acquisition phase, their plateau ends up higher + improving

Question 20

Rotary Pursuit Task: Effects of Practice on Performance

Answer 20

older adults reach plateau after acquisition phase
over next night, people go to sleep - older adults don’t sleep as well
sleep spindles increase after you’ve learned something new, heightened immediately after learning, increased spindle density

Question 21

Results:

Answer 21

Training improves performance (speed & accuracy)
Non-trained (control) sequence is not improved
Improvement does not transfer to contralateral hand
Contralateral motor cortex activity is increased

Question 22

Acquiring skills

Answer 22

Roles of basic conditioning responses

Strategy depends on prior learning

Question 23

Acquiring skills

Answer 23

Modifying old skills: once we have a skill consolidated, it becomes difficult to modify
once you learn a certain style/method + we optimize that, our brain changes to perform that skill again and again
if we are forced to make a change, there’s a drop in ability to perform a task, it takes a while to do it again
it is much easier to perform old habit than acquire a new one

Question 24

Perceptual-Motor Skills

Answer 24

Researchers often study athletes and chess masters.
Games require variety of perceptual-motor + cognitive skills; diverse levels of expertise
Chess masters quickly focus on key board locations, empty squares, relevant chess pieces; amateurs slowly scan many locations

Question 25

Perceptual-Motor Skills

Answer 25

performance requires triggering of motor patterns without conscious control all the time once triggered you perform the entire motor action – more thoroughly when we’ve practiced it we can rehearse to develop skills consciously overlap betw motor + cognitive skills in lots of activities Learn movement patterns guided by sensory inputs

Question 26

Practice

Answer 26

Knowledge of results—performance feedback: improves practice effectiveness. expression of skill requires activation of neurons more time to perform the skill, faster better you’ll be able to perform in the future

Question 27

Power Law of Learning

Answer 27

for perceptual-motor skills, learning first occurs rapidly, then slows, following predictable pattern More proficiency = less room for improvement early learning shows large gains, but after initial improvement, additional training leads to much smaller increases in speed possible to overcome + enhance effects of practice Observational learning

Question 28

Feedback

Answer 28

not all feedback is equally helpful kind of feedback can determine how practice effects performance in simple tasks: Frequent feedback = good short-term, but mediocre long-term performance Infrequent feedback = mediocre short-term, but better long-term performance

Question 29

Acquiring Skills

Answer 29

operant conditioning: doing something well, perfecting closed/open skills •reward implies feedback •practice without feedback is nonassociative situation •no feedback – better at certain motions, better conditioned, but you don’t consciously know what is going on

Question 30

Acquiring Skills

Answer 30

reward = repetition of methods/activity body need to repair themselves + prepare for next time you use them frequent: quick improvements, but plateau infrequent: organs coordinated in better manner 20 min practice a day: optimal time to practice any sort of activity

Question 31

Apportioned Effort

Answer 31

Massed practice: concentrated practice - Better short term retention + performance Spaced practice: practice spread out over several sessions spread out over several sessions - better retention in long run better organization of muscles + brain after a period of break

Question 32

Acquiring Skills: Practice Conditions

Answer 32

Constant Practice: repeatedly practicing same skill under same conditions with very limited set of materials + skills Variable practice: practicing a skill in varied conditions + more varied materials + skills - better performance in later tests Optimal practice schedules are debatable: depends on goals of practice

Question 33

Retention and Forgetting

Answer 33

Skill decay: Skill memories deteriorate with nonuse Retention of perceptual motor skills better than retention of cognitive skills Forgetting occurs after last performance as time goes by less forgetting occurs, similar to learning curves Major determinant is similarity betw retrieval conditions + conditions person experience while learning

Question 34

Retention and Forgetting

Answer 34

Interference can occur even within a single day Skills more complex/distinctive less susceptible to interference effects Proactive Interference: difficulty learning + remembering newer material Retroactive Interference: difficulty remembering older material prior situation becomes less in focus, can be overwritten more focused we are at a particular skill, easier to disrupt performance of skill

Question 35

Transfer of Training

Answer 35

skill memory can be so specific, introduction of additional cues can disrupt performance •can be difficult to express skill in a diff context •stage fright: underneath all we can’t perform in a diff context •skills can seem to transfer to novel situations relatively easy

Question 36

Transfer specificity

Answer 36

restricted applicability of learned skills to specific situations Encoding + subsequent practice in a certain context might lead to transfer specificity: limits transfer of training Identical elements theory: Thorndike proposed that transfer of learned abilities depends on # of elements in new situation identical to situation in which skills are encoded stabilize skill memories by converting them into memories for predefined sequences of actions - motor programs

Question 37

Apes

Answer 37

humans use hands to manipulate environment: motor skill acquired on one hand doesn’t transfer to another hand difficult transfering skills to other appendages chipanzee brain organized that allows them to know what is happening on their feet extent to which we can adapt an appendage not useful, but we can accumulate skill that allows our feet to manipulate the environment

Question 38

Models of Skill Memory: Motor Programs and Rules

Answer 38

initial learning of a new skill, we tend to follow set of rules (declarative) With practice: Steps become automatic (motor programs). Attention to the declarative rules become unimportant

Question 39

Models of Skill Memory: Motor Programs and Rules

Answer 39

consciously aware of the skill initially aware of goal + what action we are taking as we develop, despite of cognitive level of regulation we impose on skill, our body + brain is becoming implicitly adaptive Motor programs/habits: sequences of movements that an organism can perform virtually automatically

Question 40

Models of Skill Memory: Motor Programs and Rules

Answer 40

Skill memories can be memories for events and facts declarative memory becomes an implicit nondeclarative memory: memories not easily put into words in end we can perform without explicit thought

Question 41

Stages of Acquisition: Cognitive stage

Answer 41

full attention to instructions, models, feedback emphasize active thinking required to encode skills depend on memories of verbalized facts/rules

Question 42

Stages of Acquisition: Associative stage

Answer 42

need cues, reminders for actions part of skill | learners begin using stereotyped actions when performing skill + rely less on actively recalled memories of rules

Question 43

Stages of Acquisition: Autonomous stage

Answer 43

loss of the ability to verbalize process specific movements being performed much less dependent on verbalized memories for events + facts •Thinking too much about what you’re doing when you perform a skill can actually impair performance Three stages are obstructions, primarily descriptive Learned abilities may rely on different kinds of memory as practice progresses

Question 44

Brain Substrates

Answer 44

Spinal cord + brainstem control and coordinate skill movements. Regions involved in sensation and perception (sensory cortices) involved in info processing during skill learning. sensory regions important in initial acquisition actions change depending on context

Question 45

Basal ganglia

Answer 45

clusters of ganglia neurons at base of forebrain, close to hippocampus Relay sensory info from cortex to thalamus + brain stem Involved in activation + control of movement velocity, direction + amplitude + preparing to move

Question 46

Basal ganglia

Answer 46

ascending pathway from basal ganglia that activate cortical areas to get info about context + consequences in behaviour Increased activity in basal ganglia as individuals learn cognitive skills + to make judgments

Question 47

Basal ganglia

Answer 47

address attributes important to our well being send info to planning centres + about environment get feedback important and perceptual motor learning that involves generating motor responses based on specific environmental cues

Question 48

Basal ganglia

Answer 48

Basal ganglia sends outputs signals mainly to the thalamus and to the brainstem initiating + maintaining movement Practicing a skill can change how basal ganglia circuits participate in performance of skill + synaptic plasticity is basic neural mechanisms enabling size changes

Question 49

Brain Regions

Answer 49

Cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, cerebellum, brainstem, spinal cord circuit can operate without conscious awareness + allows us to continually work toward our goal

Question 50

Learning and Memory in Everyday Life— | Are Video Games Good for the Brain?

Answer 50

* Video game-playing proficiency requires perceptual-motor + cognitive skill development. * College students who played high-action video games increased visual attention abilities compared with control group * hard to be proficien, can understand the rules, need visual attention abilities

Question 51

Cerebellum and Timing

Answer 51

important in encoding + retrieving skill memories | coordination

Question 52

Cerebellum and Timing

Answer 52

inputs from spinal cord, sensory systems + cerebral cortex outputs to spinal cord + cortical motor systems Important in learning precisely timed movement sequences (dancing)

Question 53

Neoplastic changes in the brain following motor skill learning

Answer 53

Sensorimotor circuits required for learning skills Damage to basal ganglia impairs goal-directed locomotion plastic changes in brain requires cognitive + physical changes

Question 54

Neoplastic changes in the brain following motor skill learning

Answer 54

damage – parkinson’s disease coordination of frontal cortex, sensory cortices, cerebellum + basal ganglia Cortical regions required for sensorimotor coordination Cerebral cortex involved in performing particular skill often expansion area of practice Measures of blood flow reveal larger areas of activation + sensorimotor cortices after extensive practice

Question 55

Neoplastic changes in the brain following motor skill learning

Answer 55

Practice can change amount of cortical gray matter Perceptual motor skill learning associated with expansion of representations sensory cortex involved in performing skill Practicing perceptual motor skill can cause representations within motor cortex to expand Representational expansion reflects strengthening + weakening of connections within cortex resulting from synaptic plasticity

Question 56

What happens in Periphery

Answer 56

Plasticity occurs at neuromuscular junction Motor skill learning involves changes in musculature if we can’t coordinate muscles in periphery, we can’t do it more synapses at muscular junctions that are used more often - can have long term changes such as potentiation

Question 57

What happens in Periphery

Answer 57

muscles work better when working in concert with one another = more synapses between one another opposing sets of actions

Question 58

Blocking action

Answer 58

Blocking action of ion exchangers results in longer Ca2+ retention in terminal postsynaptic elements that affect presynaptic membrane activity possible release of neurotransmitter ability to regulate presynaptic terminal activity

Question 59

Blocking action

Answer 59

amount released affects postsynaptic Ca comes in = neurotransmitter release Removal of Ca requires active transport – requires coordination of Ca pumps

Question 60

Blocking action

Answer 60

Shut down these pumps = more neurotransmitter is released = more likely to fire Ways of regulating strength of activity in the periphery

Question 61

Sleep Learning

Answer 61

Memory consolidation Integration of new experiences Rehearsal of new skills Absorb large amounts of new info quickly by going directly to subconscious mind

Question 62

Sleep

Answer 62

Sleep is diff from rest During sleep: changes in hormone use, electrical changes – allows rehearsal of events that occurred during the day: involves sleep spindles

Question 63

Sleep

Answer 63

Sleep consolidates skills | Sleep during day after learning – no improvement

Question 64

Sleep

Answer 64

No sleep – do somewhat worse Students given alcohol – after practice – then went to sleep = improved Alcohol as they went to sleep, wiped out learning Correlate well with acquired skill levels during sleep

Question 65

Implicit learning

Answer 65

Explicit learning: learn skill + able to verbalize how it is done Produces implicit memories occurs without learner being consciously aware of improving anterograde amnesia show improvement even if they don’t know that they are practicing

Question 66

Implicit learning

Answer 66

Serial reaction time task: participants learn to press one of four keys as soon as visual cue indicates which key to press Participants begin to get a feel for repeating sequential patterns and anticipate no awareness sequences were repeating patterns Perceptual motor skills more likely than cognitive skills to be learned implicitly

Question 67

Neural activity during perceptual motor skill learning

Answer 67

encoding/control of skills by basal ganglia changes as learning progresses Basal ganglia developed motor plan that directed movements until trial ended Automatically engaged motor programs gradually replaced active controlled movement

Question 68

Are skill memory stored in cerebral cortex?

Answer 68

Behavioural stages of skill acquisition paralleled by changes in cortical activity begin learning motor skill that requires sequential finger movements, part of Motor cortex activated during performance increases rapidly during first training session + more gradually in later sessions Consistent with power law of learning

Question 69

Are skill memory stored in cerebral cortex?

Answer 69

Period of fast learning involves processes that select + establish optimal plans for performing particular task, subsequent slower stages of learning reflect long-term structural changes of basic motor control circuits in cortex Wide variety of sensory + motor events activate circuits in cerebral cortex, brain regions contribute to skill learning + performance

Question 70

The cerebellum and timing

Answer 70

Cerebellar changes that occur during learning of mirror reading tasks are lateralized – different in each hemisphere, left cerebellum showing decreased activity + right cerebellum showing increased activity with training

Question 71

The cerebellum and timing

Answer 71

Changes and cerebellar activity during learning of cognitive skills reflect learning of motor sequences required for performing cognitive activity Cerebellum, cerebral cortex and basal ganglia each critical in different ways to skill learning Importance of each for encoding of performing depends on particular skill and level of expertise Cerebellum most critical for timing; cerebral cortex most critical for controlling complex action sequences; basal ganglia most critical for linking sensory events to responses

Question 72

The cerebellum and timing

Answer 72

At different points in learning process: cerebellum, visual cortex + motor cortex may work together early on to coordinate timing + sequencing of movements After extensive practice, basal ganglia may begin to initiate + control more automatic sequences Skill learning associated with gradual changes in firing of neurons in these areas during performance of skill Practice can change structure of neural circuits to make control + coordination of movement/thoughts more accurate + efficient