I Learning

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Learning: associative and nonassociative

The acquisition of knowledge or skill;

Associative and nonassociative learning

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 Nonassociative
No paired
stimulus/response

Habituation - becomes less responsive to repeated

no-harmful stimuli
Sensitization - becomes more responsive – to
repeated harmful stimulation

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Nonassociative learning (video)

Non associative learning Behavior MCAT Khan Academy [VDownloader].mp4

Non associative learning Behavior MCAT Khan Academy [VDownloader].mp4

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What's the difference between
habituation and desensitization
Habituation is a decrease in the response to the
stimulus that essentially starts from your baseline
response. So if your baseline response is "50," anything
trending down from that would be habituation.

Desensitization is a decrease to the heightened or

sensitized response to the stimulus back down to
baseline. So if you become sensitized and your
heightened response is now "100," dropping back down
to your baseline response of 50 would be desensitization.

You can only become desensitized if you have already

been sensitized, if that makes sense.

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 Associative
Paired stimulus/response
Two basic types
classical conditioning (two stimuli are
paired; when the light shines ----- get food)
operant conditioning (stimuli and
response are paired; push lever = food

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Psychological aspects
Classical conditioning requires that the
learning have predictive value
Conditioned stimuli (no overt response) and
unconditioned stimuli (gives an overt
response)
not simply timing of events relative to each other
blocking phenomena (tone and light experiment)
 tone does not add anything so not learned

we can detect a positive correlation between two

stimuli (efficiency of pairing)
Extinction can occur over time (unpaired)

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Classical conditioning

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 Psychological
aspects
Operant conditioning
(trial-and-error learning)
A predictive relationship between response and a stimulus
behaviors that are rewarded tend to be repeated; those that
cause aversive consequences are not repeated
timing is important
must have predictive element

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 Classical conditioning Neutral, conditioned, and unconditioned stimuli and responses Khan Academy [VDownloader].mp4

Classical conditioning Neutral, conditioned, and unconditioned stimuli and responses Khan Academy [VDownloader].srt

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 Memory
Memory is the storage
and retrieval of information
The three principles of
memory are:
Storage – occurs in stages
and is continually changing
Processing – accomplished
by the hippocampus and
surrounding structures
Memory traces – chemical
or structural changes that
encode memory

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1. Stages of Memory

The two stages of memory are short-term memory and

long-term memory
Short-term memory (STM, or working memory) – a
fleeting memory of the events that continually happen
STM lasts seconds to hours and is limited to 7 or 8
(not more than 12 items) pieces of information
Long-term memory (LTM) has limitless capacity

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 Basics relationships

SHORT TERM - limited capacity and duration (12 items, few

minutes)
LONG TERM - more permanent; can be blocked by blocking
Protein synthesis

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 Transfer from STM to LTM
Factors that affect transfer of memory from STM to
LTM include:
Emotional state – we learn best when we are
alert, motivated, and aroused
Rehearsal – repeating or rehearsing material
enhances memory
Association – associating new information with
old memories in LTM enhances memory
Automatic memory – subconscious information
stored in LTM

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Declarative (Explicit) or Nondeclarative (Implicit)
Memory

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1. Declarative - Explicit
a. Semantic - general knowledge of the world
b. Episodic - knowledge of your own past
experiences
2. Nondeclarative or Implicit
- Procedural
- learned skills or habitual responses,
- classical conditioning

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Declarative (Fact) memory:
–Entails learning explicit information
–Is related to our conscious thoughts and our
language ability
–Is stored with the context in which it was
learned

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 Nondeclarative (Skill) Memory
Skill memory is less conscious than fact
memory and involves motor activity
It is acquired through practice
Skill memories do not retain the context in
which they were learned

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 Structures Involved in Fact Memory
Fact memory involves the following brain areas:
Hippocampus and the amygdala, both limbic system
structures
Specific areas of
the thalamus and
hypothalamus of
the diencephalon
Ventromedial
prefrontal cortex
and the basal
forebrain

Figure 15.8a
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What happenes when remove
hippocamp?

What happens when you remove the hippocampus - Sam Kean [VDownloader].mp4

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Major Structures Involved with Skill Memory
Skills memory involves:
Corpus striatum – mediates the automatic
connections between a stimulus and a motor
response
Portion of the
brain receiving
the stimulus
(visual in this
figure)
Premotor and
motor cortex

Figure 15.8b
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3. Mechanisms of Memory
The engram, a hypothetical unit of memory, has
never be elucidated
Changes that take place during memory include:
Neuronal RNA content is altered
Dendritic spines change shape
Unique extracellular proteins are deposited at
synapses involved in LTM
Presynaptic terminals increase in number and
size, and release more neurotransmitter

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26
Forgetting as a result of
decay?

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Simple passage of
time after learning
has minimal effect
on retention

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Forgetting as a result of interference

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 Retroactive Interference

Current learning interferes with recall of

previously learned material

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Retroactive Interference

Learn Learn Memory

A B Loss
for A

Time
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 Proactive Interference

Prior learning interferes with

retention of new information

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Proactive Interference

Learn Learn Memory

A B Loss
for B

Time
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 Retrograde and Anterograde
Amnesia

Time
Retrograde Anterograde

Head Trauma
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Information processing model: Sensory,
working, and long term memory (video)

Information processing model Sensory, working, and long term memory MCAT Khan Academy [VDownloader].mp4

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 QUESTIONS FOR LECTURES
1. Nonassociative learning
2. Associative learning
3. Operant conditioning
4. The three principles of memory
5. Transfer from STM to LTM
6. Declarative (Explicit) or Nondeclarative
(Implicit) Memory
7. Mechanisms of Memory
8. FORGETTING

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