Learning and Memory I
What is the average capacity of short-term memory in terms of digit span?
7 +/- 2 digits
As far as we know, the capacity of the long-term memory is...
unlimited
The process of transforming information into a form that can be entered and retained by the memory system is called….
Encoding
At what age does long-term memory begin to fully function on average?
5 years
Which form of sensory memory lasts the shortest?
Iconic
Short-term memory typically only lasts about _____ seconds, but this duration can be increased using ______.
20 seconds; rehearsal
Pavlov presented a sound followed by meat in his experiments. Gradually, the sound came to elicit salivation. The salivation to the meat in this experiment was the ____.
Unconditioned response
What type of memory is essential in the development of motor skills?
Procedural Memory
Which memory mechanism is considered the first stage or “input” of the stage model?
Sensory memory
Mental “blueprints” for various situations, objects, and interactions are known as what?
Schema
Specialized neurons in the ___________ fire to represent spatial locations in the brain.
Hippocampus
Which brain structure appears to be most involved in classical conditioning?
The cerebellum
Which mode of cognitive processing is used for new information that does not have any familiar context?
Bottom-up processing
Retrograde amnesia involves ____.
loss of memory for old events
When we rely on mental short-cuts to solve problems or make decisions we are relying on __________.
Heuristics
What is the major difference between classical and operant conditioning?
Classical targets involuntary behavior, operant conditioning targets voluntary behaviors.
When learning to drive, most people think about what they are doing step by step, but with experience, driving becomes more and more automatic. Which structure is particularly important in this type of learning?
The striatum
Memories that we do not have to intentionally recall to use are called…
Non-declarative memory
When we experience certain emotions (e.g., anger) it can make us more likely to recall other times we were feeling that emotion. This is an example of…
State-dependent memory
Define a "reinforcer" in the context of operant conditioning
A reinforcer is any stimuli or consequence that increases the likelihood of the target behavior.
When does the striatum become more involved in memory formation?
You are practicing a skill that you haven’t mastered yet
Which brain region is involved with problems that require us to piece together information from different sources?
the Parietal Lobe
A group of undergraduate students begin studying for exams in the classrooms they take their tests in after hours. They find that they have an easier time remembering things while studying and during the test as a result. What is this an example of?
Context Dependent Memory
Why do our brains “want” to rely on top-down processing instead of bottom-up?
Top-down processing uses fewer cognitive resources
Ice cream trucks are a fairly successful venture during the summer. One of the main methods they use to make money is that they play a song over a loudspeaker which acts as a signal to the neighborhood kids that ice cream is available! This "signal" is an example of what?
Discriminant Stimulus