AP Psychology Unit 6

Unit 6

Memory
The persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information

Memory Process

1. Encoding: the processing of information into the memory 
2. Storage: the retention of encoded material over time
3. Retrieval: the process of getting the information of memory storage

Recall vs. Recognition

• With recall you must retrieve the information from your memory (fill-in-the blank test)
• With recognition you must identify the target from possible targets (multiple choice test)

Flashbulb Memory

• A clear moment of an emotionally significant moment or event

3 Types of Memory
Sensory Memory

• The immediate, initial recording of sensory information in the memory system 
• Store just for an instant, and most gets unprocessed

Short-term Memory

• Memory that holds a few items briefly
• Seven digits
• The information will be stored into long-term of forgotten

Working Memory (Modern Day STM)

• Another way of describing the use to short-term memory is called working memory
• Has three parts: 

1. Audio
2. Visual
3. Integration of audio and visual

Long-term Memory 

• The relatively permanent and limited storehouse of the memory system

Encoding
Automatic Processing

• Unconscious encoding of incidental information
• You encode space, time and word meaning without effect
• Things can become automatic with practice

Effortful Processing

• Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort
• Rehearsal is the most common effortful processing technique
• Through enough rehearsal, what was effortful becomes automatic

The Next-in-line Effect

• We seldom remember what the person has just said or done if we are next

Spacing Effect

• We encode better when we study or practice over time 

Serial Positioning Effect 

• Our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list

Three Types of Encoding

1. Semantic: the encoding of meaning, like the meaning of words
2. Acoustic: the encoding of sound, especially the sounds of words
3. Visual: the encoding of picture images

Chuncking

• The organizing items into familiar, manageable units
• Often it will occur automatically

Token Economy

• Every time a desires behavior is performed a token is given
• They can trade tokens in for a variety of prizes 
• Used in homes, prisons, mental institutions, and schools

Fixed Interval

• Requires a set of amount of time to elapse before giving the reinforcement

Variable Interval

• Requires a random amount of time to elapse before giving the reinforcement

Observational Learning 

• Albert Bandura and Bobo Doll 
• We learn through modeling behavior from others 
• Observational learning plus operant conditioning equals social learning theory

Latent Learning 

• Sometimes learning is not immediately evident

Insight Learning 

• Some animals through the "ah ha" experience

Reinforcement 

• Reduce or decrease a desired behavior 

Punishment 

• Used to decrease an unwanted behavior

Types of Long Term Memory
Explicit (declarative) with conscious recall

• Facts, general knowledge (semantic memory)
• Personally experienced events (episodic memory)

Implicit (nondeclarative) with conscious recall

• Skills, motor and cognitive
• Classical and operate conditioning effect

Types of Retrieval Failure 

1. Proactive Interference: the disruptive effect f prior learning on the recall of new information
2. Retroactive Interference: the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information

Misinformation Effect

• Incorporating misleading information into ones memory of an event

Learning 

Associative Learning

• Learning that certain events occur together

Classical Conditioning

• Ivan Pavlov, tested theory on dogs

Unconditional Stimulus (UCS)

• A stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers response

Unconditioned Response (UCR) 

• The unleamed, naturally occurring response the UCS

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

• An originally irrelevant stimulus, that, after association with the UCS, comes to trigger response

Conditioned response (CR)

• The learned response to a previously neutral stimulus

Acquisition

• The phase where the neutral stimulus is associated with the UCS so that the neutral stimulus comes to elicit the CR

Extinction

• The diminishing of a conditional response 
• Will eventually happen when the UCS does not follow the CS

Spontaneous Recovery 

• The reappearance, after a rest period of an extinguished conditioned response 

Generalization

• The tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the CS to elicit similar response

Discrimination

• The ability to distinguish between a CS and other stimuli that does not signal UCS 

Operant Conditioning 

• The learner is not passive
• Learning based on consequences 
• A type of learning in which behavior sis strengthened if followed by reinforcement or diminished if followed by punishment 

Classical vs. Operant 

• They both use acquisition, discrimination, SR, generalization and extinction
• Classical conditioning is automatic
• Operant conditioning involves behavior where one can influence their environment with behaviors which have consequences 

Law of Efferent by Edward Thorndike

• rewarded behavior is likely to reoccur

B.F. Skinner

• Shaping: a procedure in operant conditioning in which reinforcers guide behavior closer and closer towards a foal

Reinforcers

• Any event that strengthens the behavior it follows
• Two types of reinforcement

1. Positive
2. Negative

Positive Reinforcement 

• Strengthens a response by presenting a stimulus after a response

Negative Reinforcement

• Strengthens a response by reducing or removing an aversive stimulus

Types of Reinforcers

Primary Reinforcers

• An innately reinforcing stimulus 

Conditioned (Secondary) Reinforcer

• A stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association within its primary reinforcement

Punishment 

• An event that decreases the behavior that it follows

Reinforcement Schedules 

Continuous Reinforcement 

• Reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs

Partial Reinforcement 

• Reinforcing a response only part of the time 
• The acquisition process is slower
• Greater resistance to extinction 

Fixed Ratio Schedule

• A schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses

Variable Ratio Schedule 

• A schedule of reinforcement that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses

Fixed Interval

• A schedule of reinforcement that reinforces a response only after a specified time as elapsed

 Variable Interval Schedule 

• A schedule of reinforcement that reinforces a response at unpredictable intervals

Sleep

• State of unconscious 
• We are less aware of our surroundings 

Conscious, Subconscious, Unconscious

Daydream

• They can help us prepare for future events
• They can nourish our social development 
• Can substitute for impulsive behavior 

Fantasy Prone Personalities

• Someone who imagines and recalls experiences with life like vividness and who spends considerable time fantasizing 

Biological Rhythms 

• Annual cycle: seasonal variation (bear hibernation)
• 28 Day cycle: sleep cycle
• 24 Hour cycle: our circulation rhythm 
• 90 Minute cycle: sleep cycle

Circadian Rhythm 

• Biological clock
• Our body temperature and awareness changes throughout the day

Sleep Stage 

• There are 5 identified stages
• It takes about 90-100 minutes to pass through the five stages
• The brain's waves will change according to the sleep stage you are in
• The first four stages are known as NREM sleep
• The 5th stage is called REM sleep

First Stage

• Kind of awake and kind of asleep 
• Only last a few minutes, and you usually only experience it once a night
• Eyes begin produces theta waves

Second Stage

• This follows stage one of sleep and is the "baseline" of sleep
• This stage is part of the 90 minute cycle and occupies approximately 45-60 % of sleep
• More theta waves that progressively slower 

Stage Three and Four

• Slow wave sleep
• You produce delta waves
• If awoken you will be very groggy
• Vital for restoring body's growth hormones and overall health 
• May last 15-30
• It is called "slow wave" sleep because brain activity slows down dramatically from the "theta" rhythm of stage two to a much slower rhythm called "delta" and the height or amplitude of the waves increases dramatically 
• Contrary to popular belief, it is delta sleep that is the "deepest" stage of sleep and the most restorative
• It is delta sleep that asleep-deprives person's brain craves the first and foremost

REM Sleep

• Rapid eye movement
• Brain is very active 
• Dreams occur
• Body is essentially paralyzed
• 20-25 % of normal nights sleep
• Breathing, heart rate, and brain wave activity quickens
• Vivid dreams can occur
• From REM, you back to stage two

Insomnia 

• Persistent problems falling asleep
• Affects 10% of the population

Narcolepsy

• Suffer from sleeplessness and may fall asleep at unpredictable or inappropriate times
• Directly into REM sleep
• Less than .001% of population

Sleep Apnea

• Wake up momentarily, gasps for air, the  falls back asleep
• Very common, especially in heavy males
• Can be fatal

Night Terrors

• A sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and an appearance of being terrified
• Occurs in stage four, not REM, are not often remembered

Sleep Walking

• Sleep disorder affecting an estimated 10 percent of all humans at least once in their lives
• Most often occurs during deep non-REM sleep (stage 3 or stage 4 sleep) early in the night

Dreams 

• A sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping person's mind
• Manifest Content: the remembered story line of a dream
• Latent Content: the underlying meaning of a dream 

Three Theories 
Freud's Wish-Fulfillment Theory

• Dreams are the key to understanding our inner conflict
• Ideas and thoughts that are hidden in our unconscious 
• Manifest and latent content

Information Processing Theory 

• Dreams act to sort out and understand the memories that you experience that day 
• REM sleep does increase after stressful events

Activation-Synthesis Theory

• During the night out brain stem releases random neural activity, dreams may be a way to make sense of that activity