learning & memory. learning change in behavior or mental processes due to experience allows us...
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Learning
• Change in behavior or mental processes due to experience
• Allows us to adapt to our environment
Learning
• Association - connection between events that occur together– Classical conditioning– Operant conditioning– Observational learning
• Learning is flexible
Classical conditioning
• Ivan Pavlov– Studying digestive reflexes
• Classical conditioning– Learning an automatic association between
two stimuli– Response is reflexive
Classical conditioning
• Requires the pairing of two stimuli to condition a response– Stimulus
• Neutral stimulus • Unconditioned stimulus
– Response • Unconditioned response
Classical conditioning
Food
This is an unlearned (unconditioned) association
Salivation
Unconditioned Stimulus Unconditioned Response
SalivationFoodUnconditioned
StimulusUnconditioned
Response
Bell (Neutral Stimulus)
• If you pair a NS with UCS a number of times…
Classical conditioning
Salivation(Conditioned
Response)
Bell (Conditioned Stimulus)
• It will begin to elicit a conditioned response
Classical conditioning
Classical conditioning review
+
Neutral stimulus
Unconditioned stimulus
Unconditioned response
Conditioned stimulus
Conditioned response
E.L. Thorndike
• Puzzle box paradigm– Learning curve for escape
• Law of effect– Successful behaviors are likely to be repeated
B.F. Skinner
• Major pioneer of behaviorism– All responses can be scientifically
measured
• Skinner box– Used to shape complex behaviors
Learning and association between a response and a consequence
• Consequence must follow a behavior
• Reinforcement - increases the likelihood of the response– Positive reinforcement +
• Adds something desirable
– Negative reinforcement -• Takes away something unpleasant
• Punishment - decreases the likelihood of the response– Positive punishment +
• Adds something unpleasant
– Negative punishment -• Takes away something desirable
Consequences
• Reinforcement– Primary reinforcers - innately satisfying– Secondary (conditioned) reinforcers - associated with
satisfaction
• Punisment– Not simply the opposite of reinforcement– Creates several unwanted side effects
• Suppresses all behaviors• Creates fear• Teaches/increases aggression & cruelty
Reinforcement schedules
• Affect speed and retention of learning
• Continuous reinforcement
• Partial reinforcement– Fixed ratio– Variable ratio– Fixed interval– Variable interval
Shaping
• Complex behaviors are created by reinforcing successive approximations of the desired behavior– Each response that comes closer to the
desired behavior is rewarded– Discrete segments of the behavior eventually
comprise the whole behavior
Applications of operant conditioning
• Behavior modification– Applied behavioral therapy
– Animal training
– Teaching children good behaviors and basic skills
– Increasing employee productivity
Extinction
• In the absence of a consequence, conditioned behavior will diminish
– Following extinction, the learned behavior may be recovered
Classical and Operant conditioning
• Contrast– Classical conditioning creates an automatic
response– Operant conditioning teaches an association
between behavior and consequence
• Compare– Associative learning
Observational learning
• Animals and humans learn through watching and imitating others
• Part of typical development
Observational learning
• Observational learning utilizes mirror neurons– Neurons in the frontal cortex– Respond to observation of activity and
emotion
Albert Bandura
• Observational learning relies on watching another’s behavior and observing the outcome
• Bobo doll study
Observational learning
• Modeling/observation of prosocial behaviors increases the occurrence of those behaviors
• Modeling/observation of negative behaviors can have antisocial effects – Children exposed to violence are more aggressive– Television is a model of many negative behaviors
• Correlation• Causation
– Effects of media violence on attitudes and behaviors• Immitation• Desensitization
Memory• The persistence of learning over time.
• Nondeclarative memory– Perceptual– Procedural– Stimulus-response
• Declarative memory– Episodic– Semantic
3 steps to form a memory
Encoding
Storage
Retrieval
Analogy: New sweater
• Fold the sweater and put it away in the closet
• Sweater sits in the closet
• Take the sweater out to wear it
3-stage memory model• Sensory memory - limited sensory record
– Some information is automatically encoded
• Working memory (short-term memory) - active encoding– Processes new information – Utilizes and modifies previously stored memories– “Active” component of memory
• Long-term memory - encoded and stored
Encoding
• Processing information into memory• How we encode
– Automatic encoding - requires little effort or conscious awareness• Space - visual maps• Time - sequence of events• Frequency - repetition of events
– Effortful encoding - requires attention and effort• Rehearsal
Ebbinghaus - rehearsal studies
• The amount of information remembered depends on the amount of time spent learning
Effects on encoding• Serial position effect
– Primacy• Following a delay
– Recency • Immediately after learning
• Spacing effect• Small, repeated rehearsals improve retention
• Effortful processing often becomes automatic with rehearsal
Encoding
• What we encode– Semantic encoding - meaning– Visual encoding - imagery– Organization
• Chunking • Hierarchies
Storage• Retention of memories in the brain
• Stages of Memory– Sensory memory– Working memory– Long-term memory
Sensory memory• Sensory information trace
– Remains in the sensory system momentarily– May be encoded into a short-term memory
• Iconic memories - visual– ½ second
• Echoic memories - auditory– 3-4 seconds
Working memory• The mid-stage of memory storage
– Short-term memories + recalled long-term memories
– Consciously aware of our memories and can work with them at this stage
• Sensory memories short-term memories– Incoming memories must be rehearsed to be
maintained
Working memory• Working memory has a limited capacity
– 7 +/- 2 pieces of information– 20 seconds
• Capacity extended by– Chunking– Rehearsal
Storing memories• Formation of long-term memories relies
on neural changes– Long-term potentiation– Not an exact replica– Not located in one spot in the brain– Brain damage has varying impact, due to the
nature of memory storage
Memory and stress• High stress and strong emotions fuel
brain activity
• Flashbulb memories– Reliable– Not completely infallible
Retrieval
• Getting information out of long-term storage• Memories are stored in a network of related
information– Retrieval cues
• Memory associations are activated by conscious and unconscious events– Priming– Context
• Déjà vu - sensation of reliving a previously experienced situation
– Emotions• State-dependent memory
Forgetting
• Inability to retrieve information– Can happen at any memory stage
• Encoding failure– Information not encoded at any stage will be
forgotten– Encoding affected by
• Age• Arousal• Mood
Anterograde amnesia
• Inability to for NEW declarative memories– Failure of encoding– Due to hippocampal damage
Forgetting
• Storage decay– Encoded, stored memories may be lost
– Forgetting curve• Less durable memories are lost most easily
Retrograde amnesia
• Large-scale loss of previously stored memories– Due to brain injury– Time frame of loss varies– Often temporary
Retrieval failure
• Some memories are not readily retrieved from storage– “Tip of the tongue” phenomenon
• Interference– Proactive interference– Retroactive interference
• Revision
Memory is a constructive process
• Schemas– New memories are fit into existing belief
structures– Assimilation– Accommodation
Memory is a constructive process
• Memory recall is not an exact replica of original events and information– Recall is a reconstructing of memory based
on:• New experience, ideas, information• Alteration in the strength of some memories• Interaction with others• Filtering out information• Filling in missing pieces
Memory is a constructive process
• Memory is influenced by faulty information
• Misinformation effect– Loftus’s research on false memories
• Imagination– We can create our own false memories