o   Argued that many functions of the brain operated mechanically, but the soul was what made reason and choice possible and distinguished us from other animals; the soul operated through the brain to govern our behavior

a specialized cell in the nervous system that accumulates and transmits information; main information processors of the nervous system

“input” side; receive signals from many other neutrons; heavily branched

contains the neuron’s nucleus and all the elements needed for the normal metabolic activities of these cells

“output” side; sends neural impulses to other neurons

longest axons in humans; transmit neural impulses from the brain to the muscles

carried in motor neuron; enables the brain to control the muscles by carrying information from the brain to some destination outside the brain

the means through which individual neurons communicate with each other

·      nerves that carry messages outward from the central nervous system

·      nerves that carry messages inward toward the central nervous system; keep the nervous system informed about both the external world and the body’s internal environment; receptor cells that translate the physical stimuli into electrical changes which then trigger a nervous impulse in other neurons

make “local” connections within the nervous system; usually have short axons or none at all

link one area of the central nervous system to some other areas (sometimes distant); thus have long axons

type of cell in the nervous system believed to provide a “support” function for neurons

-nourishment for neurons ->key role in controlling nutrient supply (it converts glucose into lactate to feed the neurons)

-centrol role in brain development: guides newly created neurons from one position in the brain to another so that they make proper connections when arriving to appropriate destination and then produces chemicals to shut down neural growth-->establishes stable connection pattern

In some circumstances, glia can release chemicals that increase the reactivity of neurons: why helpful and why bad?

§  Usually helpful since it makes the nervous system more sensitive to important inputs, but it may also be the source of neuropathic pain (condition in which people feel extreme pain to even a mild touch); also may contribute to development of epilepsy and other illnesses

a fatty substance that makes up some types of glial cells; wraps around the axon of some neurons to provide an insulating “myelin sheath” around these neurons

gaps between the successive wrappers of myelin that speed up the nerve impulses traveling along these myelinated axons

o   Gray matter consists of cell bodies, dendrites, and the unmyelinated axons

neuron’s response to input; information carrier of the nervous system; brief change in the electrical charge of a neuronal membrane; the physical basis of the signal that travels the length of the neuron

·      the voltage difference between the inside and outside of a neuronal membrane when the neuron is stable and not firing

the voltage difference between a neuron’s interior and the exterior that caused the neuron to fire if exceeded

Ion concentration

Ion pumps

Ion channels

• different inside the cell than outside
• actively pumps ions into or out of the cell (sodium out, potassium in)
• passageways through the membrane (open or block channels)

the time after an action potential during which a neuron’s cell membrane is unprepared for the next action potential

in the nervous system, to lose the charge that normally exists across the neuronal membrane; briefly occurs when the neuron’s membrane is disturbed

·      the spread of the action potential down an axon, caused by successive changes in electrical charge along the length of the axon’s membrane

the stimulus is strong enough to destabilize the neuronal membraneà the neuron produces an action potential 

the law that all action potentials have the same strength and speed regardless of the triggering stimulus

Synapse

presynaptic neuron

postsynaptic neuron

the small gap between two adjacent neurons; the neural signal has to jump across this gap to trigger the next neuron’s response

• one before the synapse sends the message
• one after the synapse receives the message

chemical: across neurons

electrical: within neurons

chemicals released by one neuron (the presynaptic one), which trigger a response in another neuron (the postsynaptic one); chief means of communication among neurons

·      the presynaptic neuron’s process of reabsorbing its own neurotransmitters after signaling so that they can be released again the next time the neuron fires; essentially recycling the neurotransmitters

·      theory that proposes that transmitter molecules will affect the postsynaptic membrane only if the molecule’s shape fits precisely into the receptor

drugs that enhance a neurotransmitter’s activity

drugs that impede the activity of a neurotransmitter

a family of chemicals produced inside the brain that powerfully influence how we perceive and cope with pain

chemicals introduced from outside the body

specialized membranes that surround the blood vessels within the brain and filter harmful chemicals out of the brain’s blood supply; acts as a filter to prevent toxins from reaching the central nervous system

·      the system of glands that release secretions (hormones) directly into the bloodstream and affect organs elsewhere in the body

the effort to gain insights into the brain’s function by closely examining individuals who have suffered brain damage

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) 

·      the technique of applying repeated magnetic stimulation at the surface of the skull to temporarily stimulate or disable target brain region

      Electroencephalogram (EEG)

Event-related potential (ERP)

  CT (computerized technology) scan

MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)

·      PET (positron emission tomography) scan

 Function MRI (fMRI) scan

Central nervous system (CNS) 

Peripheral nervous system (PNS)

the division of the PNS that controls the skeletal muscles and transmits sensory information; includes all efferent nerves that control the skeletal muscles as well as the afferent nerves that carry information from the sense organs to the CNS

the division of the PNS that receives information from and controls the internal organs; includes all the efferent nerves that regulate the glands in the body as well as those that regulate the smooth muscles of the internal organs and blood vesicles

the division of the automatic nervous system that mobilizes the organism for physical exertion

the division of the ANS that restores the body’s normal resting state and conserves energy

the brain region at the top of the spinal cord that includes the medulla and the pons

at the bottom of the brain stem; controls breathing and blood circulation; helps maintain balance by controlling head orientation and limb positions in relation to gravity

above the medulla; one of the most important brain areas for controlling the brain’s overall level of attentiveness and helps govern the timing of sleep an dreaming

·      on top of the pons; direct information to the forebrain where the information is more fully processed and interpreted

on top of midbrain and thalamus; largest part of the human brain

the outermost layer of the forebrain; crumpled up/wrinkled appearance

the part of the brain just behind the brain stem that controls muscle coordination and equilibrium

one half of the cerebrum; the topmost part of the brain; left and ride are divided by the longitudinal fissure

the area at the front of each cerebral hemisphere; includes tissue crucial for many aspects of planning and controlling thoughts and behavior

area in each cerebral hemisphere lying below the temples; includes tissue crucial for hearing and many aspects of language use; marked by the lateral fissure

divided from frontal lobe by central fissure; the area in each cerebral hemisphere that lies between the frontal and occipital lobes; includes tissue crucial for receiving information from skin senses

adjoining the parietal and temporal lobes; the rearmost area of each cerebral hemisphere; includes tissue crucial for processing visual information

subcortical structure that plays a vital role in controlling many motivated behaviors like eating, drinking, and sex

group of interconnected structures (including hypothalamus, amygdala, and others) that are crucial for emotion motivation and many aspects of learning and memory

an almost-shaped, temporal lobe structure that play a central role in emotion and evaluating stimuli

a temporal lobe structure that plays a pivotal role in learning and forming new memories

functional differences between the two cerebral hemispheres; asymmetry in function

thick bundle of fibers connecting the cerebral hemispheres

areas in which the brain tissue seems to form a “map” of sensory information

the typical pattern in vertebrates in which movements of the right side of the body are controlled by the left hemisphere, while movements of the left side are controlled by the ride hemisphere

the initial receiving area for sensory information arriving from the skin senses; in the parietal lobe

a serious disturbance in beginning or carrying out voluntary movements; may represent a disconnection between the primary (produce the movement) and nonprimary (organize and initiate the action) motor areas

the inability to recognize a visual stimulus despite the ability to see and describe it

·      the result of certain right parietal lobe lesions that leave a patient completely inattentive to stimuli to her left, including the left side of her own body

Aphasia

Nonfluent aphasia

Fluent aphasia

• any of a number of linguistic disorders caused by injury to or malformation of the brain
• aphasia of speech production (talking); lesions in left frontal lobe (Broca’s area)
• ability to speak (not very substantially) but inability to understand; damage to Wernicke’s area (borders on the auditory projection area)

the frontmost portion of the frontal lobes, involved in working memory, strategy formation, and response inhibition

processes such as making plans or overriding habitual responses that let the brain direct its own cognitive activities

the tendency to repeat a response inappropriately; often a result of deficits in executive control caused by prefrontal lesions; repeating an initial response even after feedback that it is now incorrect

·      the brain’s capacity to alter its structure and function

·      neurons can create new synapses in response to new patterns of stimulation; dendrites grow new spines which act as receiving centers so the neuron gains new points of communication with which to make more connections

• ex: blind develops stronger brain activity in other functions besides sight

·      the birth of new neurons; new neuron’s continue to develop throughout a lifetime and this growth is promoted by learning and new experiences; very slow in adult brain and it seems that new neurons don’t survive long

cells found in early stages of an organism’s development and that haven’t begun to specialize or differentiate; responsible for building the nervous system

o   Must have construct validity: it must truly reflect the variable named in the hypothesis

·      variable that is measured or recorded in an experiment; the investigator wants to uncover whether changes in this variable depend on some other factor

the variable that the experimenter manipulates as a basis for making predictions about the dependent variable; we hope to examine its effects

people’s tendency to recall evidence that confirms their views more easily than they can recall evidence that refutes their views

evidence that involves just one of two cases; has been informally collected and informally reported; may represent exceptions à scientists refuse to draw conclusion from it because such a conclusion often draws from someone’s observations rather than from the observations themselves

a procedure in which each member of the population has an equal chance of being picked to participate in a study

a strategy of deliberately seeking out the unusual or extreme cases rather than the typical ones

the degree to which the study represents the worlds as it exists outside of the study so that it reflects the broader population

the cues in a study that might tell a research participant what behaviors are expected or desirable in that setting

neither the collector of the data nor the study participant knows the nature of the hypothesis or sometimes the nature of the groups being compared

mathematical procedures used to characterize a data pattern

a table that lists how many scores fall into each of the designated categories    

a measure of central tendency found by adding up all the scores and then dividing the sum by the number of scores

a measure of central tendency taken by putting the data values in order and finding the value that divides the distribution in half

the degree to which scores in a frequency distribution depart from the central value; how the individual scores differ from one to the next

a measure of the variability of a data set; calculated by the square root of the variance (V)

the tendency of two variable to change together; if one goes up and the other goes upàpositive correlation; if one goes up and the other goes downànegative correlation

a number that expresses both the size and direction of a correlation; varying from +1 (perfect positive correlation) to -1 (perfect negative correlation); always calculated on pairs of observations

how consistent the measure is in its results

the correlation between the ratings of the judges

the extent to which a method measures what it is supposed to measure

the difference between groups in a study, often found by subtracting the mean of one’s groups scores from that of the other’s scores; generally the larger the effect size, the more likely the result can be taken at face value

o   p-value < 5% or .05 à unlikely to be accidental

a comparison that relies on group that already existed (not created by the study)

the investigator analyses the relationships among variables that were in place before the study, without manipulating those variables

the possibility that two correlated variables are changing together only due to a third variable

a study of causal relationships in which the researcher manipulates an independent variable to examine its effect on a dependent variable

the process of using some random device to decide which group (experimental or control) each participant goes into; removes the third-variable problem

·      : comparing the data about each participant in one situation to data about the same participant in another situation

·      comparing one group of individual to a different group

enables us to conclude that the manipulation of the independent variable caused the observed changes in the dependent variable

a repetition of an experiment that yields the same result

·      a statistical technique for combining the results of many studies on a particular topic, even when the studies used different data collection methods

claims that can be true or false depending on the facts

a research participant’s agreement to take part in the study, based on full information about what it will entail

o   Alcohol depresses activity in neural inhibitory circuits that control our impulses

o   Raise blood pressure and heart and breathing rates; increase overall alertness

cocaine, adhd drugs, mdma (E)

drugs that powerfully change perception and can trigger sensory experiences in the absence of any inputs

o   Empiricists believe that we perceive and move around in the world because we have learned from making associations through experience

·      an object or event in the outside world

·      the energies from the outside world that directly reach our sense organs

the active perceiver

(what person argued this?)

o   Kant argued that perception is possible only because the mind organizes sensory information into preexisting categories

·      an approach to perception that relates the characteristics of physical stimuli to the sensory experiences they produce; understanding the relationship between the world as it actually is and the world as we perceive it to be

·      the smallest quantity of a stimulus that an individual can detect

the smallest amount that a given stimulus must be changed so that an individual can detect the difference

the smallest different that an organism can reliably detect between two stimuli

Allows us to compare the sensitivities of different sensory modalities

o   Law does not hold perfectly in all situations

an organism’s ability to detect a signal

·      an organism’s rule for how much evidence it needs before responding

the theory that perceiving or not perceiving a stimulus is actually a judgment about whether a momentary sensory experience is due to background noise alone or to the background noise plus a signal

·      the pattern of benefits and costs associated with certain types of responses

the process through which a physical stimulus is converted into a signal within the nervous system

·      the process through which the nervous system represents the qualities of the incoming stimulus—whether auditory or visual, for example, or whether a red or green light, a sour or sweet taste

o   the difference between a bright light a dim one, or a subtle scent versus a dense cloud of the smell; generally the nervous system codes stimulus intensity through the rate of firing by the neurons in the sensory system

o   how the nervous system represents the different between, say, vision and hearing; or within a modality, how it represent the difference between, for example, a high-pitched versus a low-pitched note

·      the proposal that different sensory qualities are signaled by different quality-specific neurons (correct only in a few cases like pain)

·      the proposal that different sensory qualities are encoded by specific patterns of firing among the relevant neurons (more common explanation)

·      the process by which the sensitivity to a stimulus declines if the stimulus is presented for an extended period of time

the sensations generated by receptors in the muscles, tendons, and joints that inform us of our skeletal movement and our body in space

the sensations generated by receptors in the semicircular canals of the inner ear that inform us about the head’s orientation and movements; informs us which way is up and down

·      the group of senses including pressure, warmth, cold, and pain, through which we gain information about our immediate surroundings

receptors in the skin that give rise to the sense of pain; they respond to various forms of tissue damage and to temperature extremes

o   allows rapid transmission of information and are responsible for the pain experienced right after an injury

o   unmyelinated and therefore slower in their transmission; the source of the dull ache that remains long after the injury occurs

·      a mucous membrane at the top of the nasal cavity; contains the olfactory receptor neurons that respond to airborne molecules called odorants

the proposal that pain sensations must pass through a neural “gate” in order to reach the brain and can be blocked at that gate by neurons that inhibit signals from the nociceptors

sites in the brain’s olfactory bulb where signals from the smell receptors converge

biologically produced odorants that convey information to other members of the species

structures on the tongue that contain the taste buds which in turn contain taste receptors

·      savory; the flavor that characterizes many high-protein foods

successive pressure variations in the air that vary in amplitude and wavelength

the number of wave peaks per second; in sound it governs the perceived pitch of the sound

the coiled structure in the inner ear that contains the basilar membrane

the taut membrane that transmits the vibrations caused by sound waves from the auditory canal to the ossicles in the middle ear

the membrane separating the middle ear from the inner ear

the three bones of the middle ear that transmit the vibrations of the eardrum to the oval window

a membrane running the length of the cochlea; sound waves cause a deformation of it, bending the hair cells in the cochlea and thus stimulating the auditory receptors

the auditory receptors in the cochlea, lodged between the basilar membrane and other membranes above

a proposal about pitch perception stating that regions of the basilar membrane respond to particular sound frequencies, and the nervous system interprets the excitation from different basilar regions as different pitches

the quality of a sound apart from its pitch or loudness; timbre enables us to distinguish a clarinet from an oboe, or one person’s voice from another

·      our perceived brightness; height of the waves

Frequency (how many times the wave reaches its max. amplitude) of light waves are..

very high since light travels so swiftly

major determinant of perceived color; the inverse of frequency; distance between the crests of two waves

the narrow band of wavelengths between 750 and 360 nanometers that are visible to us

a light-sensitive cell on the retina that converts light energy into neural impulses; detects light

·      the image of an object that is projected on the retina; its size increases with the size of that object and decreases with the object’s distance from the eye

o   Adjustments in the iris are under reflex control à cause the pupil to dilate or contract à allows considerable control over how much light reaches the retina

has a fixed shape; bends the light rays so they end up properly focused

just behind the cornea; fine-tuning after going through the cornea; surrounded by a ring of ligaments that exert an outward pull that causes the lens to flatten somewhat à allows proper focus for far away objects

where the physical stimulus energy is transduced into a neural impulse

photoreceptors in the retina that respond to lower light intensities and give rise to achromatic (colorless) sensations; receptors for night vision

§  Acuity (ability to perceive detail) is much greater in the cones than in the rods

area roughly at the retina’s center where cones are plentiful and visual acuity is at its greatest

they actually do not report directly to the brain; they stimulate bipolar cells which in turn excite the ganglion cells (collect information from all over the retina and the axons of these cells then converge to form a bundle of fibers called the optic nerve): the optic nerve, leaving the eyeball, then carries information first to the lateral geniculate nucleus in the thalamus and then to the cortex

·      the bundle of fibers that proceeds from each retina to the brain

·      space at the back of each eyeball for the axons of the ganglion cells to exit the eye on their way to the thalamus; these axons fill the space leaving no room for rods or cones à no photoreceptors in the region which makes it completely insensitive to light

·      chemical in the photoreceptors that changes its form in response to light à producing an electrical change that tells the nervous system that light is present

the one photopigment of rods; breaks down more readily in response to light than the cone pigments do; sensitive to differences in brightness but cannot differentiate among different colors

o   differences among the three are crucial to the cones’ ability to discriminate colors

the effect that makes a stimulus look much brighter on a dark background than on a bright one

relies on brightness contrast and allows us to see the edges between objects more clearly

illusion produced by contrast effects; dark region next to light region à contrast makes the light one look lighter and the dark one look darker

the pattern of interaction among neurons in the visual system in which activity in one neuron inhibits adjacent neurons’ responses

·      color; the attribute that distinguishes blue from green from red; but shared by bright orange, middle orange, and dark orange

dimension of color that differentiates black (low brightness) from white (high brightness) and distinguishes the various shades of gray in between

·      no hue; black, white, and all grays

the purity of a color; the extent to which it is chromatic rather than achromatic; the more gray/black/white that is mixed with a color, the less saturation it has

·      the principle of human color vision; color vision occurs through three sets of cones, each cone contains a different photopigment, all photopigments have broad sensitivities but each photopigment is sensitive to a distinct wavelength of light

·      the chromatic counterpart of brightness contrast

the tendency of any chromatic region on the visual field to induce a complementary color in adjoining areas

·      after staring at a green patch for a while then looking at a white wall, you would see this

a theory of color vision proposing three pairs of color antagonists; red-green, blue-yellow, black-white.  Excitation of neurons sensitive to one member of a pair automatically inhibits neurons sensitive to the other member   

Psychological experience of seeing color (hue) can be attributed to this theory

o   Most color blind people are missing a pigment (dichromatic rather than trichromatic)

·      a preferred target; a type of stimulus that’s especially effective in causing that cell to fire

for each cell in the visual system, the region or pattern of the retina where the particular cell responds most effectively to stimuli; for some it is just a location, but for others it is a particular shape, color, or direction of motion

·      neurons in the retina or brain that respond to specific attributes of the stimulus, such as movement or orientation

a theoretical approach emphasizing the role of organization in perception and other processes; we understand the elements of a visual input as linked/related to each other

how you separate a scene into individual objects and link together the parts of each object but do not link one object’s parts to some other object

in perception, a principle by which we tend to group like figures, especially by color and orientation

in perception, the closeness of two figures; the closer they are together, the more we tend to group them together perceptually

New synapses 

(plasticity)

Modified cortical organization

(plasticity)

a factor in visual grouping; we tend to perceive contours in a way that alters their direction as little as possible

perceived contours that do not exist physically; we tend to complete figures that have gaps in them by perceiving a contour as continuing along its original path

a visual pattern that easily allows more than one interpretation; often in changing the specification of figure versus ground or in changing the perceived organization of depth

a task in which participants are asked to determine whether a specified target is present within a field of stimuli

a hierarchical model of pattern recognition involving a network of detectors with feature detectors at the network’s starting point

simple geometric features that can be combined to create all other shapes; an early and crucial step in some models of object recognition is determining which geons are present

ganglion cells that are particularly suited to perceive color and form due to their sensitivity to differences in hue; they blanket the entire retina and largely outnumber magno cells

ganglion cells that are particularly suited to perceiving motion and deption due to their sensitivity to brightness changes; found in the retina’s periphery    

the cells analyzing the forms, the cells analyzing the motion, and all other analyzing cells work simultaneously à allows greater speed and sharpens your understanding of an object

the visual pathway leading from the visual cortex to the temporal lobe; especially involved in identifying objects

the visual pathway leading from the visual cortex to the parietal lobe; especially involved in locating objects in space and coordinating movements

different neurons firing in synchrony with each other

the accurate perception of certain attributes of a distal object (such as its shape, size, and brightness) despite changes in the proximal stimulus caused by variations in our viewing circumstances

process by Helmholtz to explain certain perpetual phenomena like size constancy

a depth cue based on the differences between the two eyes’ views of the world; difference becomes less pronounced the farther an object is from the observer

features of the visual stimulus that indicate distance even if the stimulus is viewed with only one eye

patterns that can be represented on a flat surface in order to create a sense of a three-dimensional object/scene

a monocular cue to distance that relies on the fact that objects farther away are blocked from view by closer objects

 a cue for distance based on the fact that parallel lines seem to converge as they get farther away from the viewer

a depth cue based on the fact that, as an observer moves, the retinal images of nearby objects move more rapidly than do the retinal images of objects farther away

gives crucial information about depth and plays a large role in the coordination of our movements

cells in the visual cortex that are sensitive to an image moving in a particular direction across the retina

·      the perception of movement produced by stimuli that are stationary but are presented first at one position and then at a different one

as your view changes, the perpetual task of determining which aspects of the current view correspond to which aspects of the view seen a moment ago

search in which the target is defined by a combination of features

 pattern of errors in which observers correctly perceive the features present in a display (such as color and shape), but misperceive how they are combined (i.e. seeing a green O and a red X when a green X and a red O were presented)

o   Priming based on expectations rather than recently-viewed stimuli: the relevant detectors will be more efficient if you were expecting the stimulus before it appeared à top-down priming

a decline in the response to a stimulus once the stimulus has become familiar

an increase in responsiveness when something new/different is presented after a series of presentations of something familiar

·      salivation (of dogs in the experiment) occurs not just from food itself, but from things that the dog has learned to associate with food (the bowl it usually eats from, the sound of a bell that signals meal time, etc.)

o   Pavlov’s experiment: salivation

o   Pavlov’s experiment: Food in dog’s mouth

o   Pavlov’s experiment: salivation = CR

o   Pavlov’s experiment: bell = CS

·      form of learning based on Pavlov’s experiment

·      a form of learning in which a neutral stimulus (i.e. the bell) is first made meaningful through classical conditioning; then, that stimulus (now the CS) is paired with a new, neutral stimulus repeatedly until the new stimulus also triggers the original reaction (salivation)

the weakening of a learned response à Conditioned response to an unconditioned stimulus can gradually be undone if they do not appear together for a long time (mouse will lose its fear of the “cat’s area” in the house if the cat left the household several months ago)

the reappearance of an extinguished response after a period in which no further conditioning trials were presented

the person is repeatedly exposed to the specific stimulus/situation that had been a source of anxiety or fear for that person

Stimulus generalization

·      the tendency for stimuli similar to those used during learning to trigger a reaction similar to the learned response

an aspect of learning in which the person learns to respond differently to stimuli that have been associated with a US and stimuli that have not

·      a stimulus signaling that an event is not coming, which triggers a response opposite to the one that the event usually causes

·      the fact that the CS provides information about the arrival of the US à a CR is acquired only when the CS is informative about things to come

a result showing that an animal learns nothing about a stimulus if the stimulus provides no new information

a response that offsets the effects of the upcoming unconditioned stimulus

·      the cat learned how to escape the box gradually in increments, rather than exhibiting any sudden insight into the problem’s solution

Thorndike’s theory that a response followed by a reward will be strengthened, whereas a response followed by no reward or by punishment will be weakened

o   actions come more from within (voluntary)

one of the first theorists to insist on a sharp distinction between classical and instrumental conditioning

o   Procedure to expand on Thorndike’s cat experiment: rat pressing lever in order to gain a reward and then record the response rate

a stimulus delivered after a response that makes the response more likely in the future

external events in instrumental conditioning that signal what sorts of behavior will be rewarded in a given situation

the process of causing a desired response by rewarding behavior that are increasingly similar to that response (successive approximations)

a response in which an organism evaluates a reward relative to other available rewards or those that have been available recently

a learning condition in which only some of the organism’s responses are reinforced

a pattern of delivering reinforcements only after a certain number of responses

o   Rats learning to get out of a maze

o   Shocked dogs experiment: dogs that could control the stopping of the shock learned to avoid the shock in the next activity better than the dogs who had no control over the unavoidable shock

process of watching how others behave and learning from their example

a form of learning in which the learner acquires a conditioned response merely by observing another participant being conditioned

neurons that fire whenever an animal performs an action, such as stretching out its arm or reaching toward a target, and also whenever the animal watches another performing the same action

predispositions that govern what the species can learn easily or with difficulty

an organism learns to avoid a taste after just one pairing of that taste with illness à due to classical conditioningo  

Example of prepared learning

occurs without extensive training because of an evolved predisposition to the behavior 

the capacity for neurons to change the way they function as a result of experience

Aplysia’s sensory neurons

the neurons that receive the CS

After conditioning they release more neurotransmitters into the synapse than they did before

Presynaptic facilitation

·      a process documented in Aplysia studies that underlies many kinds of learning; occurs when learning results in an increased release of neurotransmitter into the synapse à explains why at the end of learning thee neurons are able to trigger a new response

Long-term potentiation (LTP) 

a long-lasting increase in a neuron’s response to specific inputs, caused by repeated stimulation

·      Acquisition - storage - retrieval

·      a type of retrieval that requires you to produce an item from memory in response to a cue or question

a type of retrieval that requires you to judge whether you have encountered a stimulus previously

the processes of gaining new information and placing it in memory

placing new information into memory in anticipation of being tested on it later

learning without trying to learn and often without awareness that learning is occurring

input in “raw” sensory information

for visual inputs

·      for auditory inputs

·      describes the status of thoughts in memory that are currently being activated

·      the vast memory depository containing all of an individual’s knowledge and beliefs, including all those not in use at any given time

participants are free to recall the items in any order

·      words presented at the beginning of the list are more likely to be recalled

the last few words presented are more likely to be recalled

·      a process of reorganizing (or recoding) materials in working memory by combining a number of items into a single, larger unit

mechanical repetition of material without thinking about its meaning or patterns 

·      an approach to memorization that involves focusing on the superficial characteristics of the stimulus, such as the sound of a word or the typeface in which it’s printed

an approach to memorization that involves focusing on the meaning of the stimulus

deliberate techniques people use to memorize new materialso  

Method of loci: requires the learner to visualize each of the items she wants to remember in a different spatial location

a physical record in the nervous system that preserves a memory

o   This period allows an adjustment in neural connections to create a new pattern of neurons to manage the newly acquired memory

o   Usually involves recent memories à the older the memory, the less likely it is to be affected

the process of searching for a memory and finding ito  

“Forgetting” = retrieval failure

Tip of the tongue (TOT) effect

the condition in which one remains on the verge of retrieving a word or name but continues to be unsuccessful

a hint or signal that helps one to recall a memory

·      the mental connections linking one idea to the next that people use to locate a bit of information in memoryà routes that lead you back to the desired information

a way of improving retrieval by re-creating the state of mind that accompanied the initial learning

·      the hypothesis that when information is stored in memory, it is not recorded in its original form but rather translate (“encoded”) into a form that includes the thoughts and understanding of the learner

the time that elapses between the learning and retrieval

the graphic pattern representing the relationship between measures of learning and the length of the retention interval: as the retention interval gets longer, memory decreases

o   Involves information you learned only after the event ended

the result of a procedure in which after an experience people are exposed to questions or suggestions that misrepresent what actually happened; people’s tendency to include the misinformation as part of their recall of the original experience

·      presented participants with stories drawn from Native American folklore; stories initially seemed strange to them but they retold the stories after along more familiar lines that made more sense to them à weaved together the story elements with things they already knew from their experience and from their knowledge about the world à prospect of memory errors

an individual’s mental representation that summarizes her knowledge about a certain type of event or situation

Many aspects of our experiences tend to be redundant

a common procedure for studying memory in which participants read and then immediately recall a list of related words, but the word providing the “theme” for the list is not included

·      a general sense that a stimulus has been encountered before

·      recall of the context in which a certain stimulus was encountered

·      on the prefrontal cortex during retrieval (but different parts of the prefrontal cortex)

·      participants chose the face of someone they were shown in a photograph before, but who had not been in the original staged crime at all

Gingko biloba

·      drug sometimes advertised as improving memory and other aspects of intellectual functioning, but it only helps those with a disease and has not been proven to improve the memory of health individuals

·      conscious memories that can be described at will and can be triggered by a direct question

form of explicit: memory for specific events and experiences

form of explicit: o   memory for facts (including word meanings); are not tied to any specific time or place

o   Destroyed episodic memory but in tact semantic memory

memories that we may not recall consciously, but that still demonstrable through an indirect test

o   Seem remarkable due to their clarity and longevity, but they are probably just a product of rehearsal plus ordinary mechanisms involved with emotional remembering; not a basis for claiming that they are in a class by themselves

·      a loss of memories for events that occurred before the brain injury that caused the amnesia

an apparent inability to form new explicit memories, but memories acquired before the injury are savedo   Damage to temporal cortex; could be caused by the illness of encephalitis that inflames the brain tissue or from stroke or physical trauma more often

o   Korsakoff’s syndrome: amnesia = symptom; associated with chronic alcoholism

o   Patients with it did show some form of implicit memory through indirect tests (got faster at a maze even though they did not recall being shown the correct route; participants always favored the tune they had heard before even though they said that they did not recognize it)

suffered from severe epilepsy à 1950s physicians surgically removed most of hippocampus, amygdala, and some nearby tissue

o   Successfully controlled epilepsy, but lost ability to add new information to long-term memory

o   Represented in implicit memory

o   Represented in explicit memory

o   Study (a propagandist’s dream): sentences plainly identified as false when still heard still created an illusion of truth later à familiarity increases credibility

o   Example: implicit learning when your eyes adjust to a stronger eye glass prescription