Psychology - Memory
fixed-ratio schedule
after a certain number of behaviours. High rate of responding. Ex, free coffee after 10 purchases
variable-ratio schedule
after an unpredictable number of behaviours. High consistent responding, even if reinforcement stops (resists extinction). Ex, slot machines, checking phone
The operant chamber/The Skinner box
allowed detailed tracking of rates of behavior change in response to different rates of reinforcement
primary reinforcer
something that is innately reinforced (unlearned). Satisfies a basic need. Ex, getting food when hungry
what is memory?
an active system that receives information from our senses. puts info into usable form. organises/stores it away. retrieves the info from storage.
explicit (declarative) memories
facts and experiences that we can consciously know and recall. info acquired through effortful processing
Reinforcement
feedback from the environment that makes a behavior more likely to be done again
retrieval
getting that information back out
storage decay
material encoded into long term memory will decay if the memory is never used, recalled, and re-stored. what hasn't decayed quickly tends to stay intact long-term Decay tends to level off. Ex, rapidly for Ebbinghaus's nonsense syllables and Spanish lessons
implicit memories
memories we are not fully aware of and thus don't "declare" (non-declarative)
why is our memory full of errors?
memory not only gets forgotten, but it gets constructed (imagined, selected, changed and rebuilt). they are altered every time we "recall" (actually reconstruct) them. then they are altered again when we reconsolidate the memory (using working memory to send them into long term storage)
biological constraints on learning
not all associations are learned equally well. taste aversion. powerful/learned quickly.
motivated forgetting
not common. painful memories tend to persist. most memories can fade if we don't rehearse or "use" the memories
state-dependent memory
not just linked to the external context in which we learned them. can be tied to the emotional state we were under when we formed the memory
drawbacks of punishment
person isn't learning new behaviours. learns to discriminate among situations. can teach fear. physical punishment can potentially lead to abuse
negative reinforcement
removing an undesirable/aversive stimulus
negative punishment
removing something desirable. punishment by removal
sleep apnea ("with no breath")
repeated awakening after breathing stops; time in bed is not restorative sleep
how does intense emotion cause the brain to form intense memories?
trigger a rise in stress hormones, which trigger activity in the amygdala. the amygdala increase memory-forming activity and engages the frontal lobes and basal ganglia to "tag" the memories as important. thus stored with more sensory and emotional detail.
variable-interval schedule
unpredictably often. steady, consistent responding. Ex, pop quiz, fishing, checking phone
example of observational learning (AB)
Albert Bandura's Bobo Doll Experiment. Kids saw adults punching an inflated doll while narrating their aggressive behaviours. These kids were then had to acted out the same behaviours in a toy-deprived situation that they had seen.
Operant
Any behaviour that is voluntary
blindsight
Case study: a woman with brain damage, but no eye damage, was unable to use her eyes to report what was in front of her. But, she was able to use her eyes to help her take actions such as putting mail in slots · Describing the mail and the slot = the high road, or conscious track, in this case known as the visual perception track - enables us to think about the world · Judging size and distance well enough to put the mail in the slot: the "low road," or unconscious track
Edward Throndike
Cats in a puzzle box. rewarded with food when they solve the puzzle.
REM Sleep
Dreams occurred during period of wild brain activity and rapid eye movement (REM). lasts about 10 min. Duration increases the longer you remain asleep. With age, there are more awakenings and less deep sleep
sleep stages and sleep cycles: what is measured?
EEG measures brain waves · Not yet asleep: beta and alpha waves · Waking beta · Waking alpha · Alpha waves are the relatively slow brain of a relaxed, awake state (in bed with eyes closed)
condition and learning: latent learning
Edward Tolman. Rats appear to form cognitive maps. refers to skills or knowledge gained from experience, but not apartments in behaviour until rewards are given.
Dual tracking processing
Explicit and implicit memories
example of biological constraints on learning (Garcia)
Garcia and Koelling studied taste aversion on rats
non-REM sleep stages
Getting deeper into sleep ... but not yet dreaming · NREM 1 - light state of sleep, easy to wake someone up · NREM 2 - getting slightly deeper · NREM 3 - deepest stage of sleep, more difficult to wake someone up than NREM 1 & 2
source amnesia/misattribution
Have you ever discussed a childhood memory with a family member only to find that the memory was from a dream you used to have etc. your memory for the event may have been accurate, but you experienced source amnesia
what happens during REM sleep?
Heart rate rise and breathing becomes rapid. "Sleep paralysis" occurs when the brainstem blocks the motor cortex's messages and the muscles don't move. This is sometimes known as "paradoxical sleep;" the brain is active but the body is immobile
retroactive interference and sleep example
In one study, students who studied right before 8 hours of sleep had better recall than those who studied 8 hours of daily activity. The daily activities retroactively interfered with the morning's learning
father of classical conditioning
Ivan Pavlov
repression
Sigmund Freud believed that we sometimes make an unconscious decision to bury our anxiety-provoking memories and hide them from conscious awareness
B.F. Skinner
The operant chamber
the case study of Henry Molaison
The revamp of HM's hippocampus (memory coding and memory storage) at age 27 ended his seizures, but also ended his ability to form new explicit memories. he could learn new skills, but had no memory of the lessons or the instructors etc
inattentional blindness
Various experiments show that when our attention is focused, we miss seeing what others may think is obvious to see. Neisser basketball video with women passing with an umbrella
fixed-interval schedule
a fixed period of time. rapid responding near time of reinforcement. Ex, getting paid once a week, studying for exams
conditioned response
a learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus
spontaneous recovery
a returning of the conditioned response despite a lack of further conditioning
neutral stimulus
a stimulus that does not trigger a response
conditioned reinforcer (secondary reinforcer)
a stimulus that has been associated with a primary reinforcer. Ex, money
unconditioned stimulus
a stimulus that naturally triggers a unconditioned response
positive reinforcement
adding a desirable stimulus
positive punishment
adding something undesirable. punishment by application
conditioned stimulus
an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response
unconditioned response
an unlearned, naturally occurring response to an unconditioned stimulus
Throndike's law effect
behaviours followed by favourable consequences become more likely, and behaviours followed by unfavourable consequences become less likely
having free will
being able to make a conscious decision. a person's mental content, thoughts, and imaginings. many psychologists define consciousness as "our subjective awareness of ourselves and our environment"
alterness
being awake vs being unconscious
dual processing: automatic processing
conscious high track "i saw a bird" unconsciously , we see color, motion, form, and depth
punishment
decreases the frequency if a preceding behaviour (opposite effect of reinforcement)
auditory sensory memory
echoic memory. 3-4 sec long
How does memory work?
encoding, storage, retrieval
encoding failure
even if we paid attention to it enough to get it into working memory, maybe we still didn't bother rehearsing it and encoding it into long term memory. Ex, penny.
forgetting (summary)
forgetting can occur at any memory stage. as we process information, we filter, alter, or lose much of it
amnesia
forgetting where the story came from, and attributing the source to your own experience
flashbulb memory
highly vivid and detailed snapshot of a moment in which a consequential, surprising and emotionally arousing piece of news was learned.
visual sensory memory
iconic memory. 1/20th of a sedc
the misinformation effect
incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event. Ex, 1974, Elizabeth Loftus and John Palmer asked people to watch a video of a minor car accident. Those who were asked "...when the cars smashed into each other?" reported higher speeds and remembered broken glass that wasn't there
Skinner's Legacy
insisted that external influences (not internal thoughts/feelings) shape behaviour. urge people to influence others' behaviours
classical conditioning
involves forming association between stimuli. Automatic, involuntary behaviour
constructed memories and children
kids have underdeveloped frontal lobes, they are even more prone to implanted memories. Ex, when interviewing kids, don't lead; be neutral and non suggestive in your question
mirror neurons
neutrons fire in patterns that would fire if we were doing the action or having the same feeling ourselves. they fire to only select the actions/feelings of others.
retroactive interference and sleep
occurs when new stimuli/learning interferes with the storage and retrieval of previously formed memories
operant conditioning
occurs when organisms associate their own actions with consequences (rewards and punishments). Voluntary behaviours
proactive interference
occurs when past information interferes with learning new information. Ex, confusing and old password with a new password
interference and positive transfer
old and new memories can interfere with each other, making it difficult to store new memories and retrieve old ones
unconscious low track
our minds perform automatic actions, often without being aware of them. Ex, walking, acquiring phobias, processing sensory detail into perceptions and memories
conscious "high" track (dual-track mind)
our minds take deliberate actions we know we are doing. Ex, problem solving, naming an object, defending a word
context dependent memory
part of the web of associations of a memory is the context. we retrieve a memory more easily when in the same context as when we formed the memory
insomnia
persistent inability to fall asleep or stay awake
automatic processing examples
procedural memory (riding bike), conditioned associations (time, space, frequency, fear of dogs)
night terrors
refer to sudden scared-looking behavior, with rapid heartbeat and breathing. Night terrors and sleepwalking mostly affect children, and occur in NONREM-3 sleep. They are not considered dreaming
anterograde amnesia
refers to an inability to form new long-term declarative/explicit memories. Ex, HM lived with no memories of life after surgery
retrograde amnesia
refers to an inability to retrieve memory of the past. can be caused by head injury or emotional trauma and is often temporary. it can also be caused by more severe brain damage; in that case, it may include anterograde amnesia
Extinction
refers to the diminishing of a conditioned response. If the unconditioned stimulus stops appearing with the conditioned stimulus, the conditioned response decreases.
mood-congruent memory
refers to the tendency to selectively recall details that are consistent with one's current mood
serial position effect
refers to the tendency, when learning information in a long list, to more likely recall the first items (primacy effect) and the last items (recency effect)
storage
retaining information
Ways to make punishment more effective
should be consistent. should be immediately followed with the behaviour it's meant to punish.
narcolepsy (numb seizure):
sleep attacks (<5 min), even a collapse into REM/paralyzed sleep, at inopportune times
tip of the tongue: retrieval failure
sometimes, the memory does not decay. seem just below the surface. prevention when storing and rehearsing memories, you can build retrieval cues: linking your memorized material to images, rhymes, categories, initials, lists
memory formation models
the Atkinson-Shiffrin model. stimuli are recorded by our senses and held briefly in sensory memory. some info is processed into short-term memory and encoded through rehearsal. info moves into long-term memory, where it can be retrieved later
self-awareness
the ability to think about self
sensory memory (first phase of encoding and processing)
the immediate, very brief recording of sensory information before it is processed into short-term or long-term memory.
encoding
the information gets into our brains
Discrimination
the learned ability to only respond to a specific stimuli, preventing generalisation
continuous reinforcement
the subject acquires the desired behaviour quickly.
partial (intermittent) reinforcement
the targets behaviour takes longer to be acquired/established but persists longer without reward
Generalization
the tendency to have conditioned responses triggered by related stimuli
repressed or constructed memories of childhood abuse?
therapists "uncover" repressed memories of childhood abuse by using hypnosis. can result in false accusation
cocktail party effect
we can focus our mental spotlight on a conversation even when other conversations are going on around us
selective inattention
what we are not focused on, what we do not notice. refers to our failure to notice part of our environment when our attention is directed elsewhere
selective attention
what we focus on, what we notice. our brain is able to choose a focus and select what to notice. bad Ex, we can hyper focus on a call/text while driving a car, putting ourselves and others at risk