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PSY100H1 Study Guide - Final Guide: Iconic Memory, Soltyrei, Sensory Memory

Course Code
Michael Inzlicht
Study Guide

Classical Conditioning —> A type of learning that occurs when a neutral stimulus
elicits a reﬂexive response caused by another stimulus that already produced that
-Acquisition —> The gradual formation of learning where a response is established
between the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli
-Extinction —> A process in which the conditioned response is weakened when the
conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus
(when the conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus no longer occur
together => NO LEARNING)
-Spontaneous Recovery —> A process in which a previously extinguished response
re-emerges following presentation of the conditioned stimulus (The reoccurrence of
a conditioned response after it has become extinct)
-Stimulus Generalization —> Occurs when a stimuli that are similar but not identical
to the conditioned stimulus produce the conditioned response (When a response
that occurs to one speciﬁc stimulus occurs to another similar stimulus)
-Stimulus Discrimination —> A differentiation between two similar stimulus when only
one of them is consistently associated with the unconditioned stimulus (When an
organism learned to respond to an original stimulus but not to a new very
similar stimulus)
-Second-order Conditioning —> When something is consistently paired with the
conditioned stimulus, without the unconditioned stimulus, and leads to a conditioned
Phobias —> These are acquired fears that are out of proportion to the real threat of
the object or situation
-Conditioned Taste Aversion —> Associating a particular food with an unpleasant
outcome (Ex. If one has bad milk, then one gets sick and that sickness can lead
to having a milk aversion for future times)
-Preparedness —> Animals are genetically programmed to fear some speciﬁc things
more than others (Ex. we are naturally more afraid of snakes than we are of
-Rascorla-Wagner Model —> A cognitive model of classical conditioning which
states that the strength of the CS-US association is determined by the extent to
which the US is unexpected or surprising —> This is because it leads to greater
effort by the animal to understand why the US appeared
-HEBB RULE —> Neurons that ﬁre together wire together
-When a weak connection between neurons is stimulated at the same time as a
strong connection => weak connection becomes stronger
Operant Conditioning —> Learning in which the behaviour is inﬂuenced (likely to be
repeated or not repeated) by the consequences that follow
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-Thorndike’s Law of Effect —> Any behaviour that leads to a ‘satisfying state of
affairs’ is more likely to occur again, and any behaviour that leads to an
‘annoying state of affairs’ is less likely to recur
-He learned that cats were able to escape puzzle boxes faster and more easily after
they escaped the ﬁrst time and learned how to escape the box by performing the
right actions
-Reinforcer —> A stimulus that occurs after a response and increases the likelihood
that the response will be repeated —> (a reward that follows an action => makes that
action more likely to occur again)
-Primary Reinforcer????
-Secondary Reinforcer ???
-Shaping —> Involves reinforcing behaviours that are increasingly similar to the
desired behaviour
-Reinforcing successive approximations eventually produces the desired behaviour
by teaching the animal to discriminate which behaviour us being reinforced
-Operant conditioning can happen in 4 ways:
1. Positive reinforcement —> Increases the probability of a behaviour being
repeated by the administration of a positive/rewarding stimulus (give a
reward for an action to occur again)
2. Negative reinforcement —> Increases the probability of a behaviour being
repeated by the removal of a negative/aversive stimulus (remove the bad
thing to allow for the action to happen again)
3. Positive punishment —> Decreases the probability of a behaviour being
repeated by the administration of a negative/punishing stimulus (give a
punishment to prevent action from happening)
4. Negative punishment —> Decreases the probability of a behaviour being
repeated by the removal positive/pleasurable stimulus (remove the reward
given to prevent action from happening again)
-Reinforcement can happen partially—> it does not have to happen all at once
-Fixed schedule —> Reinforcement is consistent and predictable because it
happens at the exact same time
-Variable schedule —> Reinforcement is variable and unpredictable —>
Can occur after a varying number of behaviours or a varying amount of time
-Ratio schedule —> Based on the number of times the behaviour occurs —
> Ex. you get paid for every 10 toys you build
-Interval schedule —> Based on the passage of time —> Ex. you get paid
for every hour of work
-Operational conditioning can have later developments:
-Biological Constraints —> Animals have a difﬁcult time learning behaviours that are
incompatible with innate, adaptive behaviours —> Conditioning is most effective
when the association between the behavioural response and the reinforcement is
similar to the animal’s built-in predispositions
-Latent Learning —> Edward Tolman argued that reinforcement had more impact on
performance than acquisition/learning —> Learning that is not immediately
expressed by a response until the organism is reinforced for performing the action
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Observational Learning —> Learning that occurs when behaviours are acquired or
modiﬁed following exposure to others performing the behaviour —> Involves changes
in behaviours & knowledge that results from watching others —> These are supported by
attention, memory, ability to reproduce it & motivation
-Superstitious behaviour —> When we associate events with other events that occur
together in time can lead us to associate chance events unrelated to reinforcements
or punishments
Biological basis of learning comes from a desire to want to be rewarded again by the
-This experience of pleasure usually results from activation of dopamine neurons in
the nucleus accumbent —> More dopamine being released under deprived
conditions —> Leads person to perform action again to receive more dopamine
To be able to remember something, you must attend to it ﬁrst, however attention is
selective and therefore not everything will be remembered
Change Blindness —> The common failure for the people to notice large changes in
their environment
Models of Memory:
-The information processing model goes from Encoding —> Storage —> Retrieval
-Encoding —> Is when information that has been stored into the STM is moved into
LTM (info is acquired and processed into a neuracode that the brain can use)
-Storage —> The retention of encoded information (doesn’t matter how long the
information is held for —> info can be stored for a second or a lifetime)
-Retrieval —> Recalling information from the LTM into the STM when we need to
access that information
Atkinson-Shiffrin Memory Model —> Memory is comprised of 3 sections (sensory,
short term & long term)
Sensory —> Holds perceptual information for a brief amount of time. It can be split
into Iconic memory (which is visual memory/ 0.5 - 1 sec) or Echoic memory (which is
auditory memory/ 5 sec) —> We are not usually aware of the sensory memory
Short-Term Memory —> Information moved into this section will only be held in
memory for about 20-30 seconds, unless one actively rehearses and thinks about it
=> Info will last longer —> Ex. when trying to remember a phone number you repeat
it constantly
Long-Term Memory —> Information in this section is relatively permanently stored
—> This differs from the working memory in both duration and capacity
-Information Organization:
-Schemas —> Hypothetical cognitive structures that help us perceive,
organize, process, and use information (way of organizing and
understanding the world) —> In young children it often refers to repeated
patterns of activity which helps the children learn
-Context Dependent Memory —> Memory enhancement that occurs when
the recall situation is similar to the encoding situation
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