Learning and Memory
Learning
Relatively permanent change in the immediate or potential behavior or mental process that results from past experiences or practice
Acquiring knowledge or developing the ability to perform new behaviors
5 Processes of Learning
HabituationClassical ConditioningOperant ConditioningSocial LearningCognitive Processes in learning
1. Habituation
Simplest kind of learningAccounts for learning to ignore a
stimulus that has become a familiar and has no serious consequences
The tendency to become familiar with a stimulus after repeated exposure to it
Example: Children playing in the school playground
2. Classical Conditioning
An individual learns that one follows another
Gives emphasis on the association of the stimulus with the response
Also called as Pavlonian Conditioning
Basic Terms
Unconditioned-unlearned, untaughtConditioned- learned, taughtStimulus-something that elicits a
responseResponse- a reaction
caused by a stimulus
Terms
1. Neutral Stimulus- a stimulus that doesn’t produce an reflexive response until it is paired with an unconditioned stimulus.
2. UCS (unconditioned stimulus) - produces a response with no prior learning.
-an unconditioned stimulus that always elicits an reflexive or unconditioned response.
UCS - food (triggers drool reflex)
3. UCR(unconditioned response)-is an unlearned response or reflexive response automatically elicited by the UCS.
UCR - drool in response to food (not learned)
Terms 4. CS (conditioned stimulus) – is a previously neutral
stimulus that acquires the capacity to elicit a reflexive response ( or eventually elicits the CR after being associated with the UCS).
CS - sound of bell (triggers drool reflex)
5. CR (conditioned response)- is a learned response to the CS that occurs after CS-UCS pairing.
CR - drool in response to sound of bell (learned)
Sample Situation:
Sarah has always felt calm and relaxed when listening to classical music. Lately, she’s been lighting a candle just before she listens to classical music. Now, she doesn’t feel the need to listen to classical music to feel relaxed.
Terms
NS- candleUCS- classical musicUCR- calm/relax feelingCR-calm/relax feeling at the
sight of lighted candleCS- sight of lighted candle while
hearing classical music
Basic Processes
a. AcquisitionA neutral stimulus and an
unconditioned stimulus (UCS) are paired (Initial learning of the stimulus link).Example: A child learns to fear (CR) the
Dental Clinic (CS) by associating it with the reflexive emotional reaction(UCR) to a painful tooth extraction (UCS)
Basic Processes
b. Stimulus GeneralizationIndividual’s ability to react to novel stimuli
that are similar to familiar ones.A conditioned response (CR) is elicited not
only by the conditioned stimulus (CS) but also by the stimulus similar to the conditioned stimulus(CS)Example: A child fears (Conditioned Response) all
Dental clinic (Conditioned Stimulus) and other places that smells like them (Similar CS)
Basic Processes
c. Stimulus DiscriminationA process complimentary to generalizationDiscrimination is a reaction to differencesLimited in such that some stimulus similar to
the CS do not elicit the CRExample: A child learns that his mother’s Dental
Clinic is not associated only with Tooth Extraction UCS
Basic Process
d. ExtinctionThe CS is presented alone with the UCS.
Gradually, the CS no longer elicits the CRUsed to describe the elimination of the CR by
repeatedly presenting the CS without the unconditioned stimulusExample: A child visits the dentist several times
for prophylaxis. Fear gradually decreases
3. Operant Conditioning-B. F. Skinner
An organism learns a response by operating on its environment.A response an individual makes will be followed by a particular
consequencePrimary aim: To analyze how
behavior is changed by its consequences
The Consequences of Behavior
Reinforcement: The process by which a stimulus or event strengthens or increases the probability of the response that it follows.
Punishment: The process by which a stimulus or event weakens or reduces the probability of the response that it follows.
Reinforcement
1. Positive Reinforcement: The frequency of the response increases because the behavior is followed by a rewarding stimulus.
2. Negative Reinforcement: The response is followed by removal, delay, or decrease in intensity of, an unpleasant stimulus.
Punishment
1. Positive Punishment: The behavior decreases when it is followed by an unpleasant stimulus.
2. Negative Punishment: A behavior decreases because a positive stimulus is removed.
4. Social Learning
Learning from the experiences of othersExample: A girl always says “thank you”
whenever she receives something because she observes this from her mother, who serves as her model
Bandura came up with several processes of learning
Vicarious conditioning
Observational learning
Processes of Learning
a. Vicarious ConditioningLearning by seeing or hearing
about the consequences of other people’s actionExample: An IT student who has
heard a batch mate being sent to the Office of Student Affairs for going to class drunk
Processes of Learning
b. Observational LearningLearning by watching what others are doingModel – the person being watched.
Requirements to determine whether observational learning has occurredAttentionRetention Ability to reproduce the behavior Motivation
5. Cognitive Learning
Learning is not simply an automatic process
Learning results from thinking and other mental processes
All organisms, including animals are capable of thinking and this capacity must be considered in any explanation of learning
Memory
The ability to recover information about past events or knowledge.
The ability to store information so that it can be used at a later time
Types of Memory
Episodic MemoryA memory of specific event that happened while
you were present
Semantic MemoryContains generalized knowledge of the world
that does not involve memory of a specific event
Procedural MemoryAlso called skill memory because it involves on
how to do things
Consists of a complicated sequence of movements that cannot be described adequately in words
Steps of Memory Storage
EncodingPutting Information into memory.
StoringRefers to how a system maintains or
remembers information.
RetrievingGetting the stored information out of memory
ForgettingInability to recall a particular piece of
information accurately
3 Causes of forgetting (Ebbinghaus, 1985)
Retrieval Failure
Due to the inability to recall the information
Decay Theory
This suggests that if people do not use information stored in long term memory, it gradually fades until it is lost
Interference theory
Forgetting of information in long term memory is due to the influences of other learning
Stages of Memory
Sensory MemoryFirst stage wherein the on information from
the senses – sight, sound or smell is held in the sensory register.
Stages of Memory
Short-term MemoryAllows one to recall
something from several seconds to as long as a minute without rehearsal.
Stages of Memory
Long-term MemoryCan store much larger quantities
of information for potentially unlimited duration (sometimes a whole life span).