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Units 6+7
Learning and Memory
103
Psychology
12th Grade
04/27/2012
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Term
Learning
 Definition
A relatively permanent change in an organism’s behavior due to experience
Term
Associative Learning
 Definition
Learning that certain events occur together. The events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequences (as in operant conditioning).
Term
Behaviorism
 Definition
The view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not (2)
Term
Classical Conditioning
 Definition
A type of learning in which an organism comes to associate stimuli. A neural stimulus that signals an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) begins to produce a response that anticipates and prepares for the unconditioned stimulus (also called Pavlovian Conditioning)
Term
Unconditioned Response (UCR)
 Definition
In classical conditioning, the unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus (UCS), such as salivation when food is in the mouth.
Term
Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)
 Definition
In classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally - naturally and automatically – triggers a response.
Term
Conditioned Response (CR)
 Definition
In classical conditioning, the learned response to a previously neutral conditioned stimulus (CS)
Term
Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
 Definition
In classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (UCS), comes to trigger a conditioned response.
Term
Acquisition
 Definition
The initial stage in classical conditioning; the phase associating a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus so that the neural stimulus comes to elicit a conditioned response. In operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response.
Term
Extinction
 Definition
The diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning when an unconditioned stimulus (US) does not follow a conditioned stimulus (CS); occurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced.
Term
Spontaneous recovery
 Definition
The reappearance, after a rest period, of an extinguished conditioned response.
Term
Generalization
 Definition
The tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses.
Term
Discrimination
 Definition
In classical condition, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus.
Term
Operant conditioning
 Definition
A type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by reinforcement or diminished if followed by punishment.
Term
Respondent behavior
 Definition
Behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus; Skinner’s term for behavior learned through classical conditioning.
Term
Operant Behavior
 Definition
Behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences.
Term
Law of Effect
 Definition
Thorndike’s principles that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely.
Term
Operant Chamber
 Definition
“Skinner Box” a chamber containing a bar or key that an animal can manipulated to obtain a food or water reinforcer, with attached devices to record the animal’s rate of bar pressing or key pecking. Used in operant conditioning research.
Term
Shaping
 Definition
An operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of a desired goal.
Term
Reinforcer
 Definition
In operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows.
Term
Conditioned Reinforcer
 Definition
(or secondary reinforcer) a stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer.
Term
Continuous Reinforcement
 Definition
Reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs.
Term
Partial (intermittent) reinforcement
 Definition
Reinforcing a response only part of the time; results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance to extinction than does continuous reinforcement.
Term
Fixed-ratio Schedule
 Definition
In operant conditioning, a schedule of reinforcement that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses.
Term
Variable-ratio schedule
 Definition
In operant conditioning, a schedule of reinforcement that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses.
Term
Fixed-interval schedule
 Definition
In operant conditioning, a schedule of reinforcement that reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed.
Term
Variable-interval schedule
 Definition
In operant conditioning, a schedule of reinforcement that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals.
Term
Punishment
 Definition
An event that decreases the behavior that it follows.
Term
Cognitive Map
 Definition
A mental representation of the layout of one’s environment. For example, after exploring a maze, rats act as if they have learned a cognitive map of it.
Term
Latent Learning
 Definition
Learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it.
Term
Overjustification Act
 Definition
The effect of promising a reward for doing what one already likes to do. The person may not see the reward, rather than intrinsic interest, as the motivation for performing the task.
Term
Observational learning
 Definition
Learning by observing others
Term
Modeling
 Definition
The process of observing and imitating a specific behavior.
Term
Prosocial behavior
 Definition
Positive, constructive, helpful behavior. The opposite of antisocial behavior.
Term
Memory
 Definition
The persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information.
Term
Flashbulb Memory
 Definition
A clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event
Term
Encoding
 Definition
The processing of information into the memory system- for example, by extracting meaning.
Term
Storage
 Definition
The retention of encoded information over time.
Term
Retrieval
 Definition
The process of getting information out of memory storage.
Term
Sensory memory
 Definition
The immediate, initial recording of sensory information in the memory system.
Term
Short-term memory
 Definition
Activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing, before the information is stored or forgotten.
Term
Long-term memory
 Definition
The relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system.
Term
Working memory
 Definition
Is a similar concept that focuses more on the processing of briefly stored information.
Term
Automatic processing
 Definition
Unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings.
Term
Effortful processing
 Definition
Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort
Term
Rehearsal
 Definition
The conscious repetition of information, either to maintain it in consciousness or to encode it for storage.
Term
Spacing effect
 Definition
The tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice.
Term
Serial position effect
 Definition
Our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list.
Term
Semantic encoding
 Definition
The encoding of meaning, including the meaning of words.
Term
Acoustic encoding
 Definition
The encoding of sound, especially the sound of words.
Term
Visual encoding
 Definition
The encoding of picture images.
Term
Imagery
 Definition
Mental pictures: a powerful aid to effortful processing, especially when combined with semantic encoding.
Term
Mnemonics
 Definition
Memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices.
Term
Chunking
 Definition
Organizing items into familiar, manageable units: often occurs automatically
Term
Iconic memory
 Definition
A momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli: a photographic or picture image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second.
Term
Echoic memory
 Definition
Momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli: if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds.
Term
Long term potential
 Definition
An increase in a synapse’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. Believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory
Term
Amnesia
 Definition
Loss of memory.
Term
Implicit memory
 Definition
Retention without conscious recollection.
Term
Explicit memory
 Definition
Memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and “declare”
Term
Hippocampus
 Definition
A neural center located in the limbic system that helps process explicit memories for storage.
Term
Recall
 Definition
A measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the blank test
Term
Recognition
 Definition
A measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned, as on a multiple-choice test.
Term
Relearning
 Definition
A memory measure that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material for a second time.
Term
Priming
 Definition
The activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory.
Term
Déjà vu
 Definition
That eerie sense that “I’ve experienced this before” cues from the current situation may subconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience.
Term
Mood-congruent memory
 Definition
The tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current good or bad mood.
Term
Proactive interference
 Definition
The disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information.
Term
Retroactive interference
 Definition
The disruptive effect of learning on the recall of old information.
Term
Misinformation effect
 Definition
Incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event.
Term
Source amnesia
 Definition
Attributing to the wrong source an event that we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined.
Term
Habituation
 Definition
An organism’s decreasing response to a stimulus with repeated exposure to it.
Term
Higher-order conditioning
 Definition
A procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned stimulus. For example, an animal that has learned that a tone predicts food might then learn that a light predicts the tone and begin responding to the light alone. (Also called second order conditioning)
Term
Learned helplessness
 Definition
The hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events.
Term
Discriminative stimulation
 Definition
In operant conditioning, a stimulus that elicits a response after association with reinforcement (in contrast to related stimuli not associated with reinforcement).
Term
Cognition
 Definition
The mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.
Term
Concept
 Definition
A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people.
Term
Prototype
 Definition
A mental image or best example of a category. Matching new items to a prototype provides a quick and easy method for sorting items into categories (as when comparing feathered creatures to a prototypical bird, such as a robin).
Term
Algorithm
 Definition
A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem. Contrasts with the usually speedier – but also more error prone - use of heuristics.
Term
Heuristic
 Definition
A simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error prone than algorithms.
Term
Insight
 Definition
A sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem; it contrasts with strategy-based solutions.
Term
Creativity
 Definition
The ability to produce novel and valuable ideas.
Term
Confirmation bias
 Definition
A tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence.
Term
Fixation
 Definition
The inability to see a problem from a new perspective, by employing a different mental set.
Term
Mental set
 Definition
A tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past.
Term
Functional fixedness
 Definition
The tendency to think of things only in their usual functions; an impediment to problem solving.
Term
Representativeness heuristic
 Definition
Judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant information.
Term
Availability heuristic
 Definition
Estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common.
Term
Overconfidence
 Definition
The tendency to be more confident than correct- to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments.
Term
Belief perseverance
 Definition
Clinging to one’s initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited.
Term
Intuition
 Definition
An effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning.
Term
Framing
 Definition
The way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments.
Term
Language
 Definition
Our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning.
Term
Phoneme
 Definition
In language, the smallest distinctive sound unit
Term
Morpheme
 Definition
In a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix)
Term
Grammar
 Definition
In a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others.
Term
Semantics
 Definition
The set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and grammatically sensible sentences in a given language.
Term
Syntax
 Definition
The rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences in a given language.
Term
Babbling stage
 Definition
Beginning stage at about 4 months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language.
Term
One-word stage
 Definition
The stage in speech development, from about 1 to 2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words.
Term
Two-word stage
 Definition
Beginning about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly two word statements.
Term
Telegraphic speech
 Definition
Early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram-“go car”- using mostly nouns and verbs.
Term
Linguistic determinism
 Definition
Whorf’s hypothesis that language determines the way we think.
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