Definition of perception Interpretation

o Expectations can influence perceptions

Bottom-up processing; Top-down processing
o Bottom-up processing: No idea what you are processing
o Top-down processing: When you know what you are processing
Perceptual constancy (including size constancy, shape constancy, brightness
constancy)
o
Gestalt principles of grouping (The world is greater than the sum of its
parts)
o Proximity: Closeness to each other
o Similarity: Same color/shape 000 0o0
o Continuity: No sharp corners
o Closure: Completing a shape
Figure-ground phenomenon
o We divide our world into figure and background
o Optical illusions
Depth perception
o Binocular cues (Both eyes)
Binocular disparity Distance between eyes (think Kinect)
Convergence Lines of sight cross
o Monocular cues (One eye) *Page 121
Linear perspective Parallel lines converging
Interposition One object blocking another
Relative size Objects that look small from faraway
Aerial perspective Fuzziness of a faraway object
Texture gradient Texture that gets smaller and finer the farther
away it is
Motion parallax Things going by while in a car

Books definition of learning

o Learning is any relatively permanent change in behavior brought about
by experience or practice
What is classical conditioning? (Pavlov)
o Tone before
o Food (stimulus) Salivation (Response) ; Bell (Conditioned stimulus)
Salivation (Response)
o It modifies a reflex/automatic response
Know what is meant by
o Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) Natural stimulus (Dogs; Food)
o Conditioned stimulus (CS) Unnatural stimulus (Dogs; Bell)
o Unconditioned response (UCR) Unlearned response (Dogs; Salivation)
o Conditioned response (CR) Learned response (Dogs; Salivation)
Order of presentation
o Conditioned stimulus must come before the Unconditioned stimulus

o Proper timing between the two

What is operant conditioning?
o Reward/punishment after
o Learned behavior
o B. F. Skinner Skinner box (Rat. Lever. Light on. Food.)
o Modifies voluntary/purposeful behavior
What is Thorndikes Law of Effect
o Behavior is rewarded = Behavior strengthened
o Behavior is punished = Behavior weakened
Reinforcers They increase (strengthen) a response
o Positive reinforcement Something nice is added
o Negative reinforcement Something nasty is taken away
o Primary reinforcers Reinforcers that didnt need to be learned (food,
love)
o Secondary reinforcers Reinforcers that is learned (money, praise)
Punishment it reduces (weakens) a response
o Punishment by application Something Nasty is added
o Punishment by removal Something Nice is taken away

Added to (+)
Taken away
(-)

Nice
Positive
reinforcement
Punishment by
removal

Nasty
Punishment by
application
Negative
reinforcement

Problems that can arise from using punishment

o The effects may only be temporary
o It creates fear
o The aggressive behavior demonstrated by the punisher may be copied
by the child
Definitions
o Shaping Shape behavior to what we want it to be
o Reinforcing successive approximations Rewarding each successive
attempt
Know the difference between
o Continuous schedule of reinforcement (Rewarding every time)
Learns quicker
But extinguishes quicker
o Partial schedules of reinforcement
Takes longer to extinguish
But takes longer to train
Fixed ratio Always the same (Every 5 times)
Variable ratio* Changes every time (Every 1-10 times)
Fixed interval Always a certain time (Every 10 seconds)
Variable interval* The time changes (Every 1-60
seconds)

*Slowest learned; Slowest extinction

Stimulus generalization
o If Clap = Food and Snap = Food ; then Clap = Snap as a stimulus
Stimulus discrimination; discriminative stimulus
o If Clap = Food and Snap = No food ; then snaps will be ignored as a
stimulus
Extinction When a conditioned response dies out after a conditioned
stimulus is stopped
o know what causes it to occur in classical conditioning; know
what causes it to occur in operant conditioning
o Spontaneous recovery When a conditioned response comes back
after the conditioned stimulus returns
What is taste aversion and how does it differ from other forms of classical
conditioning?
o Taste aversion is when you avoid a certain food the you believe could
have made you sick
o Its able to skip the long training of classic conditioning because it is a
survival instinct and once is enough
Instinctive drift Reverting back to genetically controlled behaviors
Tolman; latent learning; cognitive map
o Tolman Rat-maze trials
o Latent learning Learning that remains hidden until its application
becomes useful
Observational learning (modeling) Copying what you see others do. AIMM
o Attention Watching what others do
o Memory Remembering what others do
o Imitation Be able to replicate what other do
o Motivation Have a reason to do what others do

Three fundamental processes of memory

o Encoding Getting sensory information into a form our brain can use
o Storage Holding information for period of time
o Retrieval Getting the information you know out of storage
Levels-of-processing model The different levels that you process incoming
information
o The deeper the processing the better the retention
Three stages of memory
o Sensory memory
Iconic Sight sensory memory
Echoic Hearing sensory memory
o Short-term memory (Working memory)
Attention gets information into STM
Maintenance rehearsal keeps it there
Magic 7 number (Seven items can be in your STM at once) +/- 2

Long-term memory
Unlimited capacity and duration
Elaborative rehearsal helps to get information into LTM
Chunking Combining information into meaningful groups
o Able to store more into your STM using this
Procedural memory
o Things you know the procedure for (Tying shoes, riding bikes,
actions)
Declarative memory
o Facts you can declare (Facts and information that make up our
knowledge)
o Semantic General knowledge that anyone has the ability to know
(meanings of words, concepts, math skills)
o Episodic Meaningful memories (Birthdays, first day of school,
autobiographical memories)
Retrieval cues A stimulus for remembering
Encoding specificity Retrieval cues connected with your surroundings
Recall, recognition, relearning
o Recall Memories are retrieved with few or no external cues
o Recognition Involves looking at or hearing information and matching
it to what is already in memory
o Relearn
Serial position effect Information at the beginning and endings of a list are
more easily remembered
Flashbulb memory Memories that are linked to a highly emotional event
Ebbinghaus, nonsense syllables
o Ebbinghaus First researcher to study forgetting
Nonsense syllables In order to prevent any verbal association
Theories of forgetting
o Decay or disuse Not using information causes it to disappear
o Encoding failure Failure to process information into memory
o Retrieval failure Failure to retrieve information from memory
o Proactive interference When previously learned material interferes
with the retrieval of newer material
o Retroactive interference When newer information interferes with the
retrieval of older material
o Reconstructed memories Trace is distorted and changed/created
o Motivated forgetting Selectively forget information that is harmful
o