LEARNING

Learning is a change in behavior or in potential behavior that occurs as a result

of
experience. Learning
occurs
most
rapidly
on
a
schedule
of continuous reinforcement. However it is fairly easy to extinguish switching
to variable reinforcement after the desired behavior has been reached prevents
extinction.
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
If a neutral stimulus (a stimulus that at first elicits no response) is paired with a
stimulus that already evokes a reflex response, then eventually the new stimulus
will by itself evoke a similar response. (UCS, UCR, CS, CR)

Each pairing of the CS with the UCS strengthens the connection between
the CS and CR.

Timing is important. Usually the strongest and fastest conditioning occurs

when the CS is presented about to one second before the UC.

EXTINCTION - If the CS is presented repeatedly in the absence of the UCS,

the CS-CR bond will weaken and the CR will eventually disappear.

STIMULUS GENERALIZATION - Once conditioning has occurred the subject

may respond not only to the CS, but to stimuli similar to it. For example,
many of our likes and dislikes of new people and situations come from
generalization based on similarities to past experiences.

STIMULUS DISCRIMINATION opposite of stimulus generalization. SD is the

ability to detect differences among stimuli. This procedure is sometimes
used to test the ability of nonverbal subjects to discriminate among various
stimuli, such as color (air puff / eye blink).

OPERANT CONDITIONING
The organism operates on its environment in some way; the behavior in which it
engages are instrumental to achieving some outcome.

Differences Between Operant and Classical Conditioning

1)
In classical conditioning, the conditional behavior (CR) is triggered by the
particular stimulus (CS) and is therefore called an elicited behavior. Operant
behavior is an emitted behavior in the sense that it occurs in a situation containing
many stimuli and seems to be initiated by the organism. In a sense the
subject chooses when and how to respond.
2)
In classical conditioning, behavior (CR) is affected by something that
occurs before the behavior (the CS-UCS pairing). In contrast, the operant response
is affected by what happens after the behavior that is by its consequences.

In psychology, memory is the process in which information is encoded, stored, and

retrieved. Encoding allows information that is from the outside world to reach our
senses in the forms of chemical and physical stimuli. In this first stage we must
change the information so that we may put the memory into the encoding process.
Storage is the second memory stage or process. This entails that we maintain
information over periods of time. Finally the third process is the retrieval of
information that we have stored. We must locate it and return it to
our consciousness. Some retrieval attempts may be effortless due to the type of
information.

2 Basic division of Memory

Declarative memory
Declarative memory requires conscious recall, in that some conscious process must
call back the information. It is sometimes called explicit memory, since it consists of
information that is explicitly stored and retrieved.
Declarative memory can be further sub-divided into semantic memory, concerning
facts taken independent of context; and episodic memory, concerning information
specific to a particular context, such as a time and place. Semantic memory allows
the encoding of abstract knowledge about the world, such as "Paris is the capital of
France". Episodic memory, on the other hand, is used for more personal memories,
such as the sensations, emotions, and personal associations of a particular place or
time. Autobiographical memory - memory for particular events within one's own life
- is generally viewed as either equivalent to, or a subset of, episodic memory. Visual
memory is part of memory preserving some characteristics of our senses pertaining
to visual experience. One is able to place in memory information that resembles
objects, places, animals or people in sort of a mental image. Visual memory can

result in priming and it is assumed some kind of perceptual representational system

underlies this phenomenon.
Procedural memory
In contrast, procedural memory (or implicit memory) is not based on the conscious
recall of information, but on implicit learning. Procedural memory is primarily
employed in learning motor skills and should be considered a subset of implicit
memory. It is revealed when one does better in a given task due only to repetition no new explicit memories have been formed, but one is unconsciously accessing
aspects of those previous experiences. Procedural memory involved in motor
learning depends on the cerebellum and basal ganglia.
A characteristic of procedural memory is the things remembered are automatically
translated into actions, and thus sometimes difficult to describe. Some examples of
procedural memory include the ability to ride a bike or tie shoelaces.

2 Subcategories of Declarative Memory

Semantic memories are those memories that store general factual knowledge
that is independent of personal experience. This includes world knowledge, object
knowledge, language knowledge, and conceptual priming. Some examples of
semantic memory include types of food, capital cities of a geographic region, or
the lexicon of a common language, such as a person's vocabulary.
Episodic memories are those memories that store chunks of observational
information attached to a specific event. Some examples of episodic memory
include the memory of entering a specific classroom for the first time, the memory

of storing your carry-on baggage while boarding a plane headed to a specific

destination on a specific day and time, the memory of being notified that you are
being terminated from your job, or the memory of notifying a subordinate that they
are being terminated from their job. The retrieval of these episodic memories can
be thought of as the action of mentally reliving in detail the past events that they
concern. Episodic memory is believed to be the system that provides the basic
support for semantic memory.