Download Psy 200 Exam 2 Study Guide: Memory and Learning and more Exams Psychology in PDF only on Docsity!
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Psy 200 Exam 2 Study Guide
1. What is memory: The ability of our mind to store & remember information
2. What is encoding?: Encoding is how our brain breaks down information into something we can understand as well as putting
it in terms we can store in our brains.
3. What is storage?: Storage is placing newly acquired information into memory which is then later modified
4. What is retrieval?: the process of getting information out of memory storage
5. Explain the study by Craik & Tulving (1975): Researchers presented participants with a series of words and
asked them to make one of three types of judgements a)Semantic judgement - required the participants to think about the meaning of the word. b) Rhyme judgements - required the participants to think about the sound of the word. c)Visual judgements - required the participant to think about the appearance of the word. The type of judgement task had a powerful impact on their memories. The participants who made semantic judgements had much better memory for the words than did participants who had thought about how the word looked or sounded. The results of this has shown that long-term retention is greatly enhanced by elaborative encoding
6. What is visual imagery encoding?: storing new information by converting it into mental pictures
7. What area of the brain is active during semantic encoding?: Frontal lobe
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8. What area of the brain is active during visual encoding?: Occipital lobe
9. What is organizational encoding?: the process of categorizing information according to the rela- tionships among a
series of items
10. What is semantic encoding?: the encoding of meaning, including the meaning of words
11. What is the sensory memory store?: A type of storage that holds sensory information for a few seconds or
less.
12. What is iconic memory?: a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-im- age memory
lasting no more than a few tenths of a second
13. What is echoic memory?: a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and
words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds
14. Describe the experiment by Sperling (1960) and how it showed sensory memory exists:
Iconic memory test: When a grid of letters is flashed on screen for only 1/20th of a second, it is diflcult to recall individual letters. But if prompted to remember a particular row immediately after the grid is shown, research participants will do so with high accuracy. Sperling used this procedure to demonstrate that although iconic memory stores the whole grid, the information fades away too quickly for a person to recall everything
15. How long does sensory memory last?: 1/5 to 1/2 of a second
16. What is short term memory?: a memory storage system that briefly holds a limited amount of
information in awareness
17. How long can information stay in short term memory?: Between 15 & 30secs
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30. What is long-term potentiation?: increase in synaptic plasticity/strength of synapse. key component of
learning.
31. What are retrieval cues?: external information that helps bring stored information to mind like a familiar smell or
sound
32. What is the encoding specificity principle?: recall is better if the retrieval context is similar to the
encoding context example: chewing a piece of gum while studying, then chewing the same piece of gum during the exam
33. What is state-dependent retrieval?: The state you're in such as being happy or sad, while
determine which memories etc are more easily retrieved. Your state of consciousness being the same. Example if you're depressed you find it easier to recall sad memories/knowledge than if you were happy.
34. How does retrieval improve memory?: By practicing retrieval, it can help our brain adapt to
remember more and allow us to store more information for long-term.
35. What are the different forms of memory?: sensory (very small periods of times) short-
term (lasts around 30 seconds unless you have repetition) long-term (ditterent forms, what you can remember in a significant period from now)
36. How is explicit memory different from implicit memory?: Explicit memory is something that
can be intentionally recalled whereas implicit is something that cannot Example: explicit - remember information for an exam implicit - remember how to balance
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decreases
37. What is procedural memory?: type of implicit memory that stores information about how to do things
38. What is priming?: the activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory
39. Do people with anterograde amnesia still have the ability to form new
implicit memories?: Yes
40. How is semantic memory different from episodic memory?: Semantic memory is general
facts i.e. the sun is hot, there are 7 continents, cats are felines Episodic memory is recall of personal facts i.e. my name is Sally, I've been to Canada, I once fought a bear with my bare hands
41. What is transience?: forgetting over time
42. How did Ebbinghaus study memory?: by measuring his retention at various delay intervals after he
studied lists of nonsense syllables. Retention was measured in percent savings, that is, the precent age of time needed to relearn the list and compared with the time needed to learn it initially. He came up with the forgetting curve.
43. What is the forgetting curve?: Forgetting is a steep curve at first and then it leve
more slowly
44. What is the difference between retroactive interference and proactive inter- ference?:
Proactive interference occurs when past memories hold back an individual from retaining new memories i.e. forgetting a new phone number because you keep recalling your old one Retroactive interference occurs when new memories hold back an individual from retaining old memories. i.e. calling your ex boyfriend by your new boyfriend's name
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57. What are flashbulb memories?: Vivid, detailed memories of an important event.
58. What part of the brain seems to help create strong memories for emotional events?:
The amygdala
59. What is learning?: the process of acquiring through experience new information or behaviors
60. What is classical conditioning?: a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and
anticipate events i.e. Pavlov's ringing the bell, the dogs salivate because food is coming experiment
61. Describe Pavlov's dog experiment.: a dog will naturally salivate when it sees food, when you present a
bell with the food and the dog will become conditioned to the sound of the bell. In Pavlov's experiment, he was using the idea that dogs will naturally salivate when they see food. He rang a bell & presented food to try and condition the dogs to salivate at the sound of the bell. Eventually he rang the bell without providing food and the dogs still salivated showing they were conditioned to the response.
62. Describe the Little Albert study: Little albert was an infant that was being used to test whether or
not phobias could be acquired. At first, Albert showed no fear with the stimuli at first. The second time, whenever Albert reached for the object there was a loud sound that would cause Albert to become startled & cry. This continued until it got to the point that whenever the object was placed in front of Albert, he would begin to cry and want it away from him because he was now afraid of the object.
63. What is the unconditioned stimulus?: the thing that elicits the unconditioned response. does not
require learning Ex: a cute rabbit hopping in front of Albert
64. What is a conditioned stimulus?: a previously neutral stimulus that, after becoming associated with the
unconditioned stimulus, eventually comes to trigger a conditioned response i.e. the rabbit being given to Albert with a loud bang
65. What is the unconditioned response?: an unlearned reaction to an unconditioned stimulus that
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66. What is a conditioned response?: a learned response to a previously neutral stimulus i.e. Albert crying when
given a harmless object
67. What is acquisition?: the phase of classical conditioning when the conditioned stimulus and the uncon- ditioned
stimulus are presented together
68. What is extinction?: the diminishing of a conditioned response
69. How does extinction occur in classical conditioning?: When the original stimulus that
triggered the behavior, doesn't elicit the same response, it eventually dies out and is forgotten/extinct
70. What is spontaneous recovery?: the reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response
71. What is generalization?: the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned
stimulus to elicit similar responses
72. What is discrimination in classical conditioning?: the opposite of generalization. An organ- ism
learns to distinguish between two stimuli
73. The Rescorla-Wagner predicts that classical conditioning would be easier when
the CS was what?: When it was an unfamiliar event
74. What is biological preparedness?: the idea that people and animals are inherently inclined to form
associations between certain stimuli and responses
75. What is the Rescorla-Wagner model?: a cognitive model of classical conditioning; it holds that the strength of
the CS-US association is determined by the extent to which the unconditioned stimulus is unexpected
76. How did Garcia and others (1966) show that things that are evolutionarily adaptive
might be more easily conditioned?: used a variety of CS's (visual, auditory, tactile taste, and smell) and several ditterent US's (injection, radiation, etc.) that caused nausea and vomiting hours later, found that conditioning occurred only when the CS had a distinct
10 / 25 the discriminative stimulus and not to similar stimuli. For example, a dog being able to distinguish between the commands for sit or stay
89. How does extinction occur in operant conditioning?: extinction occurs when a response is no
longer reinforced following a discriminative stimulus
90. What is fixed interval reinforcement?: Presented after a designated amount of time
i.e. The response rate (ex. studying) increases toward the end of each interval
91. What is a variable interval?: reward given after varying amounts of time
92. What is a fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement?: schedule of reinforcement in which the number
of responses required for reinforcement is always the same
93. What is a variable ratio schedule?: in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a
response after an unpredictable number of responses
94. What is continuous reinforcement?: reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs (this is still a type of
schedule of reinforcement)
95. What is intermittent reinforcement?: when only some of the responses made are followed by
reinforcement
96. What type of schedule does gambling operate under?
a) fixed ratio b) variable ratio c) fixed interval d) variable interval e) continuous reinforcement f) intermittent reinforcement: Variable-ratio
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97. What type of schedule would be: a toddler being potty-trained receives a piece
of candy anytime he uses his potty. a) fixed ratio b) variable ratio c) fixed interval d) variable interval e) continuous reinforcement f) intermittent reinforcement: Continuous reinforcement
98. What type of schedule reinforcement would be a reward being given every 3
times the desire action is performed? a) fixed ratio b) variable ratio c) fixed interval d) variable interval e) continuous reinforcement f) intermittent reinforcement: fixed ratio
99. What type of schedule reinforcement would receiving a paycheck every two weeks
be? a) fixed ratio b) variable ratio c) fixed interval
13 / 25 under intermittent reinforcement schedules resist extinction better than those maintained under continu- ous reinforcement
104. what is shaping in operant conditioning?: rewarding increasingly specific behaviors
105. How can shaping be used to teach a new behavior?: By reinforcing successful behaviors to try and
teach the desired behavior
106. What is latent learning?: learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate
it i.e. a child might learn how to complete a math problem in class, but this learning is not immediately obvious
107. What is a cognitive map?: mental representation of one's environment
108. Explain the studies by Tolman & Honzik (1930) & how they challenged the notion that
there was not a cognitive component to learning: Rats in a control group that never received any reinforcement improved at finding their way through the maze over 17 days but not by much. Rats that received regular reinforcement showed fairly clear learning; their error rate decreased steadily over time. Rats in the latent learning group were treated exactly like the control group rats for the first 10 days and then like the regularly rewarded group for the last 7 days. Their dramatic improvement on day 12 shows that these rats had learned a lot about the maze and the location of the goal box even though they had never received reinforcements. Also on the last 7 days, these latent learners actually seem to make fewer errors than their regularly rewarded counterparts.
109. What are the brain's pleasure centers?: Limbic system, medial forebrain bundles, & the reward
pathway between the hypothalamus & the nucleus acumbens
110. How did the Brelands find that operant conditioning is constrained by evolution?: By
training with pigs and raccoons they found that each species, including humans, is biologically predisposed to learn some things more readily than others and to respond to stimuli in ways that are consistent with its evolutionary history.
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111. What is observational learning?: learning by observing others
112. Describe bandura's bobo doll study: Researches lead individual preschoolers to a room filled with toys
4-year-olds would like. An [adult model], someone whose behavior might serve as a guide for others, then entered the room and started playing with the Bobo doll. The adult played quietly for a moment but then started playing aggressively toward the doll. When the children who observed these actions were later allowed to play with a variety of toys, including the Bobo doll, they were more than twice as likely to interact with it in an aggressive manner.
113. In Bandura's bobo doll experiment, how does seeing the model be punished
or rewarded influence the amount of modeling that occurs?: The study showed that they were sensitive to the consequences of the actions they observed. When they saw the adult model being punished for behaving aggressively, the children showed considerably less aggression. When the children observed a model being rewarded and praised for aggressive behavior, they displayed an increase aggression.
114. What are mirror neurons?: frontal lobe neurons that fire when performing certain actions or when
observing another doing so. The brain's mirroring of another's action may enable imitation, language learning, and empathy.
115. What is implicit learning?: learning that takes place largely independent of awareness of both the
process and the products of information acquisition Basically unconscious learning
116. What's an example of implicit learning?: Children learning to behave civilly through experi-
ence. Though they're given explicit instruction on social contexts, they learn implicitly about how to properly behave in the setting
117. What is habituation?: A decrease in response to a stimulus after repeated presentations
118. What are the best techniques for studying?: practice testing, distributed practice
119. What are the worst techniques for studying?: Summarization
Highlighting/underlining
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121. What is the James-Lange theory of emotion?: a stimulus results first in physiological arousal, which
leads to a secondary response in which the emotion is labeled i.e. you see a bear. Your heart rate picks up and then your brain says you're scared
122. What is the Cannon-Bard theory of emotion?: physiological arousal and feeling of emotion occur at the
same time. Hence, removing atterent neurons will not attect the emotion. i.e. you see a bear and your heart rate increases at the same time fear is registered in your brain
123. What is Schacter/Singer theory of emotion?: Physiological Response must be cognitively interpreted
and labelled to then be felt as an emotion i.e. you see a bear and your heart rate increases. This physiological response is registered in the brain and is then seen as being fear/adrenaline.
124. How would all the theories of emotion explain how arousal and emotion are
related?: They all incorporate a physiological response as being how we register emotional responses
125. What division of the nervous system is involved with arousal?: The autonomic nervous
system - it directs the adrenal glands to release epinephrines (stress hormones - this is your adrenaline)
126. What is the best level of arousal for performance?
How does this change with the difficulty of the task?: moderately aroused (alert but not trembling with nervousness) Lower levels for diflcult tasks & higher levels for easier/well learned tasks
127. What is the polygraph?: Machine that measures the several autonomic responses. It is said that it measures
changes that are specific to lying.
128. What does a polygraph measure?: arousal of the sympathetic nervous system
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129. How is a polygraph used to try to detect lying?: The idea is that when we're lying, our nervous
system will be more active hence the little needle will go crazy rather than when we tell the truth where we should be calm & the needle should be relatively chill
130. What are some of the problems with the polygraph?: some people can go in really
nervous about the test and their readings will show them as lying even if they're not. It's not a reliable test at all. Plus there's also people that can be lying completely, but pass the test - like a sociopath.
131. What is the guilty knowledge test?: A test that assesses a suspect's knowledge of details of a
crime that only the guilty person would know.
132. What emotion do we seem to be geared to identify?: Anger/negative emotions
133. Which gender is better at reading nonverbal cues?: Women
134. Which gender is more emotionally expressive?: Women
135. Does the amount of emotional displays vary across cultures?: Yes
136. What is the facial feedback effect?: the tendency of facial muscle states to trigger corresponding feelings
such as fear, anger, or happiness
137. What is motivation?: a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior
138. What is an instinct?: a complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and is unlearned Something
you're born knowing how to do
139. What is drive-reduction theory?: the idea that a physiological need creates an aroused tension state (a
drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need
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146. What part of the brain plays a role in enhancing or suppressing appetite?: -
Thalamus/Hypothalamus
147. What are some psychological and cultural factors that influence hunger?: -
Humans as a species prefer certain tastes (such as sweet and salty) but we satisfy those preferences with specific foods prescribed by our situation and our culture. Some taste preferences, such as the avoidance of new foods or of foods that have made us ill, have survival value
148. What are major eating disorders?: Anorexia, bulimia, binge eating
149. What is obesity and how is it measured?: How much fat a person has that is over the
recommended limit & is measured by their BMI
150. Which hormones are involved in sexual motivation?: testosterone, estrogen, proges- terone,
oxytocin, and vasopressin
151. What is achievement motivation?: a desire for significant accomplishment; for mastery of skills or ideas; for
control; and for attaining a high standard
152. What is unconscious motivation?: Motivation that we aren't necessarily consciously aware about Like
changing a light bulb to be helpful
153. What is intrinsic motivation?: An internal desire to complete the task i.e. studying for an exam because
you want to do good on it
154. What is extrinsic motivation?: An external motivator to complete a task
i.e. studying for an exam because your parents pressure you to do well
155. Can extrinsic motivation work against intrinsic motivation?: Yes
156. What are concepts?: ideas that represent a class or category of objects, events, or activities
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157. What is a prototype?: a mental image or best example of a category
158. What is exemplar theory?: people make category judgments by comparing a new instance with stored
memories for other instances of the category
159. How does exemplar theories & others differ in explaining how we make category
judgments?: Exemplar is based on actual experiences/memories whereas a prototype is just the "best" example of a category & concept is generalizing the similarities i.e. Think of a croissant - that's the prototype Think of a croissant you've eaten - that was an exemplar one
160. What is the availability bias?: the human tendency to think that examples of things that come readily to mind are
more representative than is actually the case
161. What is the conjunction fallacy?: occurs when people estimate that the odds of two uncertain events
happening together are greater than the odds of either event happening alone
162. What is the representativeness heuristic?: when you look for a representative prototype and use that to
make decisions/inferences
163. What are framing effects?: when people give ditterent answers to the same problem depending on how the
problem is phrased
164. What is prospect theory?: people choose to take on risk when evaluating potential losses and avoid risks when
evaluating potential gains
165. What is the probability of an event, and how does it guide human behavior?-
: How likely something is or is not going to happen Humans prefer
