Download SCC Study Guide – Learning and Memory

General Psychology Study Guide – Unit Three
Chapter 5 - Learning
1.
What is the textbook definition of learning? Differentiate between changes in behavior that
result from learning and changes in behavior that result from reflexes, instincts, or maturation.
What is the central adaptive advantage of learning, as opposed to behavior that is
preprogrammed?
2.
Be able to define and provide examples of habituation.
3.
Given real-life examples, be able to recognize instances of classical conditioning (also known
as Pavlonian conditioning). Given examples from everyday life, be sure you can identify and
differentiate between an unconditioned stimulus (US), a conditioned stimulus (CS), an
unconditioned response (UR), and a conditioned response (CR).
4.
Be able to define and recognize examples of the following terms as they apply to classical
conditioning: stimulus discrimination, stimulus generalization, extinction, and
spontaneous recovery. What is higher-order conditioning?
5.
Be able to differentiate between forward, simultaneous, trace, and backward conditioning.
Which of these techniques results in the strongest conditioning? Which is the least effective?
6.
Understand how research on the classical conditioning of fear responses supports the idea that
organisms are predisposed to form some stimulus–response connections more readily than
others. Understand how this notion of biological preparedness is consistent with an
evolutionary perspective.
7.
Understand how the cognitive perspective on classical conditioning differs from the traditional
behaviorist conception (Hint: from the cognitive perspective, a stimulus becomes a CS because
it predicts that something is about to happen).
8.
Compare and contrast classical conditioning with operant conditioning, and be able to
recognize examples of each type of learning. What is the law of effect? What does shaping
refer to?
9.
Given real life examples, be prepared to differentiate between positive reinforcement,
negative reinforcement, positive punishment and negative punishment. What are some of
the drawbacks associated with the use of punishment? How can the effectiveness of
punishment be maximized?
10.
Be prepared to differentiate between the effects of continuous vs. partial schedules of
reinforcement, and be able to recognize examples of fixed-interval, fixed-ratio, variableinterval, and variable-ratio schedules. Which schedule of reinforcement results in the highest
and steadiest response rates?
11.
Be able to define and recognize examples of discriminative stimuli.
12.
Understand how traditional conceptions of operant conditioning have been challenged by more
interpretations. Be prepared to define and recognize examples of the following terms: latent
learning and observational learning. What does it mean to say that a person has an internal
vs. external locus of control?
Chapter 6 – Memory
1. Understand the information-processing model of memory. Be able to.
a) Distinguish between the three basic processes of memory: encoding, storage, and
retrieval.
b) Distinguish between three means of encoding: visual codes, acoustic codes, and
semantic codes.
c) Contrast the information-processing model with the parallel-processing model
2. Understand the function, duration, and capacity of sensory memory, and compare and contrast
the iconic and the echoic registers. Do iconic memories persist longer than echoic memories, or
vice versa? What is the key factor in determining what information will be transferred from the
sensory register to short-term memory?
3. Understand the function, duration, and capacity of short-term memory (STM). Why is STM
sometimes referred to as our working memory? What do the terms maintenance rehearsal and
chunking refer to with respect to STM? What evidence suggests that information is usually
encoded acoustically in STM? What is the serial position curve (i.e., primacy and recency)?
4. Be able to distinguish between the different formats of long-term memory: declarative (including
semantic and episodic) and procedural. What evidence supports the idea that these are
separate memory systems within long-term memory? What limitations are there, if any, with respect
to the storage capacity of long-term memory?
5. What is the meaning of the term elaborative rehearsal, and how does this concept relate to the
idea that memories are stored in semantic networks?
6. Be prepared to provide examples of anterograde and retrograde amnesia.
7. Compare and contrast implicit and explicit memories (see Table 6.1, pg. 274). Distinguish
between three different approaches to measuring memories: relearning, free recall, and
recognition.
8. Understand what it means to say that memory is context-dependent and state-dependent.
9. Be prepared to recognize examples of proactive and retroactive interference.
10. What do all mnemonics have in common with each other? Be familiar with each of the methods
for improving memory described on pages 244-245.
11. How does the term schema relate to the process of retrieval from long-term memory? What is the
misinformation effect, and how does this contribute to the creation of illusory memories? Be
familiar with the Loftus and Palmer studies described on pg. 247 and on pgs. 260-261.
12. Be familiar with different explanations of childhood amnesia.
13. What are two ways in which memories are affected by one’s sense of self? (Hint: egocentric memory
and hindsight bias)
Chapter 7 - Thought and Language
1. Define and differentiate between algorithms and heuristics in problem solving.
2. What is a mental set, and how does this interfere with problem solving? What does functional
fixedness refer to? Understand how a period of incubation can help to overcome the effects of a
mental set.
3. Be able to define and recognize examples of confirmation bias and the belief perseverance
effect.
4. Be able to define and recognize examples of the following biases in judgment and decision-making:
the representativeness heuristic, the availability heuristic, the gambler’s fallacy, anchoring
effects, and framing effects.
5. Memorize the three crucial steps involved in critical thinking as described in the text on pg. 281.
6. What factors tend to contribute to overconfidence in decisions?
7. According to Steven Pinker, what are the two basic building blocks of language? (see page 286)
8. Be able to define and recognize examples of phonemes and morphemes. How many phonemes
and how many morphemes are contained in the word “cats”?
9. Understand how the terms generativity and displacement apply to human languages.
10. Be able to define the term syntax. What is an example of a rule of syntax that is followed by all
English speakers? How does the term pragmatics apply to language?
11. Be able to describe the developmental sequence of language acquisition in infants and young
children.
a. At what age do children begin making utterances composed of recognizable phonemes
(babbling)? At what age do they typically begin to utter their first meaningful words? At what
age does vocabulary acquisition take off exponentially?
b. What is telegraphic speech?
c. What are overextensions in children’s speech, and why are they significant?
12. Contrast B.F. Skinner’s view that children learn language solely through conditioning and imitation
with Chomsky’s view that the brain is “hard-wired” for language acquisition. What is the evidence
for a critical period for language development? (see pg. 288)
13. Be familiar with research attempting to train other species to use gestural and artificial languages.
What are some of the ways in which children acquire and use language differently than nonhuman
primates? What evidence exists that apes and chimpanzees are capable of communicating about
abstract matters? (Hint: none)
14. What is the linguistic-relativity hypothesis? Evaluate this perspective in terms of the extent to
which language influences thought. Be familiar with the study involving the Dani people and their
perception of color described on pg. 295.