“#M3ExpTask”

I performed an experiment which challenged that task of memory of two individuals. The two individuals were names Haley and Ashley. More specifically this experiment tested "false memory" and "serial position" effect. "False memory" is an apparent recollection of an event that did not actually occur. "Serial position" is the tendency of a person to recall the first and last items in a series best, and the middle items worst. To test these specific memory skills I asked my patients to recall specific words. 

To begin, I read a list of words to both Haley and Ashley. 
The list read thread:
pin
eye
injection
syringe
sewing
sharp
point
hurt
knitting
prick
thimble
haystack
pain 

Afterward, they wrote the words they remembered on a sheet of paper. 
Haley wrote down the words pin, eye, inject, syringe, thimble, hurt, knitting, and prick. Ashley wrote the words eye, syringe, hurt, point, haystack, pain, thimble, inject, sewing, and knitting. I, then, read them a second list which was much longer and more difficult. 
The list read:
Bed                     Drowse
Awake                 Nurse
Tired                    Sick
Dream                 Lawyer
Wake                   Medicine
Snooze                Health
Snore                   Hospital
Rest                     Dentist
Blanket                Physician
Doze                    Patient
Slumber               Stethoscope
Nap                      Curse
Peace                   Clinic
Yawn                    Surgeon 

Like previously, they had to recall the words they remembered on paper. Haley wrote the words bed, blanket, slumber, peace, yawn, nurse, lawyer, stethoscope, clinical, and medicine. Ashley wrote down the words bed, awake, wake, snooze, slumber, rest, peace, yawn, lawyer, nurse, patient, physician, doctor, stethoscope, health, and curse. 

Following, I asked them if they wrote the word "aardvark" when I read off the first set of words. They responded with confused looks much like this: 
"No, but should it?" replied Haley. I also asked if the word "needle" was present on their first paper as well and they both replied "No." I, then, proceeded to ask if they had either "doctor" or "sleep" written about the second list of words. Ashley had written down "doctor." I explained to her that the word "doctor" was not on the second list. The reason she had written it down was due to "false memory." She remembered that the second list involved a few medical professionals such as "nurse", "dentist", and "physician". Her mind assumed "doctor" must also be on the list because it fits and relates to both medical professionals and medical terms. 

Next, I asked them about the first list. I asked if they had written down the words pain, thread, point, and sharp. Ashley, again, was the one to write the "magic" words. She wrote down "pain" and "point". As you recall "pain" and "point" were the last and middle words. This type of remembering displayed the "primacy" and "recency"effect. When asked to recall a list of items in any order people tend to begin recall with the end of the list, recalling those items best - the recency effect.  Among earlier list items, the first few items are recalled more frequently than the middle items- the primacy effect. 

I enjoyed putting my friends' memory to the test. After I recorded their results I took the same test to better understand my memory. I tested positive for the "primacy effect". I found it kind of crazy that my mind bypassed mostly all the middle terms of a list and focused instead on the first few. This experiment is a fun, easy, and eyeopening experience that everyone should take part in. It will help to better understand your unique way of remembering information and reveal to you what memory you excel and struggle with. 

Week 8 Memory

Forgetting information or even simple tasks is a daily reoccurrence in the lives in children, teens, and adults alike. Forgetting can take place anywhere and in any situation. You can forget what to buy at the grocery store, you can forget to eat, you can forget to go to class, you might have even forget to do this assignment- hopefully not though. 

Encoding
For being such a complex organ it can seem somewhat offensive for the brain to forget. Is that not one of its main jobs? However, it may not be entirely the brain's fault. Psychology states that forgetting is due to the lack of encoding. Encoding allows the perceived item of use or interest to be converted into a construct that can be stored within the brain and recalled later from short-term or long-term memory. Encoding failure is a lack of paying attention to specific detail. For example, by not looking at your phone or computer keyboard, can you recall what letters are by the letters "T". This is something we see everyday but rarely anyone knows what the surround letters are. We can't remember this because our brain does not see it as essential due to the lack of encoding. 


Decay
Another reason brains forget is because memories fade and decay overtime. If a memory is not used frequently it is filtered out of the brain and, therefore, forgotten. The memory representation may disappear entirely or fade to the point where it can no longer be accessed.

Retrieval
Forgetting may also occur when a memory exists yet we temporarily cannot access it. This type of forgetting may occur when we lack the appropriate retrieval cues for bringing the memory to mind.  For example, remembering passwords. However, such things as hints or clue words can help jog your memory, ultimately helping your recall what you forgot. Names are powerful enough retrieval cues that they bring back the memories of the faces that went with them. The fact that the presence of the right retrieval cues is critical for remembering adds to the difficulty in proving that a memory is permanently forgotten as opposed to temporarily unavailable.

 

Interference
Forgetting can also occur because other memories are blocking or getting in the way of recalling the desired memory. This is referred to as interference. An example of this is remembering where you vacationed a few years ago. What might come to mind instead is other cities you visited on that vacation along with the remembrance of other vacation cities. Your brain has jumbled up the memory of all these cities so is requires more knowledge to decipher specifically where these memories took place.  



Purposefully Forgetting
Lastly, some memories can be forgotten intentionally. You choose to forget these memories due to personal opinion. However, over time, by actively trying not to remember an event, we can sometimes successfully keep the undesirable memory from being retrieved either by inhibiting the undesirable memory or generating diversionary thoughts. An example of this is the memories of embarrassing moments. If you tripped in front of your crush, it is likely this memory will be purposefully forgotten in order not to relive the embarrassment mentally. However, by trying so hard to forget it, it may be the first thing that pops to mind when you see them from now on. 



In conclusion, the brain is full of memories, but retrieving these memories successfully daily is the challenge. By better understanding the different ways people forget things helps us be a little more forgiving when forgetting. Although, frustrating, it is part of what makes us human. We can learn to better adapt to it and better prevent it with the new found knowledge mentioned in this blog.

 

Learning

Learning is the process by which life experience causes change in the behavior or thinking of an organism. Listening is not specific to only humans. Both humans and animals relate to and experience the act of listening. There are 3 distinct ways of learning. They are known as classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning. 
  

🌀CLASSICAL CONDITIONING 🌀
Classical conditioning was mistakenly discovered by Ivan Pavlov while conducting a different experiment. "Classical conditioning is a form of learning in which animals or people make a connection between two stimuli that have occurred together such that one predicts the other (Ch 6)." In other words it is a type of learning that occurs when an association is made between a meaningful stimulus and a non-meaningful stimulus. 



This learning experiment was originally tested on dogs to better understand their learning behaviors. The experiment began by placing food, an unconditioned stimulus, to acquire the goal of salivation, an unconditioned response. A whistle, a neutral stimulus, was then placed in front of the dog which purposefully caused no salivation, a no conditioned response. To then re-aquire salivation, the unconditioned response, food was brought back in the picture, but this time along with the whistle. Although the dog was only salivating because of the food, due to the whistle being paired with the food the dog subconsciously referred to both the whistle and food as the reason for salivating. In return, because the dog now views both of these objects in regards to salivating, if the whistle is shown by itself the dog still salivates because he assumes the whistle and food are now a package deal. "Once the dogs learned that the whistle predicted food, they salivated to the whistle just as automatically and involuntarily as they always had to food itself (Ch 6)." 

 

😃OPERANT CONDITIONING😔 

"B. F. Skinner believed all behavior is determined by its consequences, so we have no free will to act as we want (Ch 6)." This belief led him to discover operant conditioning. Operant Conditioning is the learning of voluntary behavior through the effects of pleasant and unpleasant consequences. 

Example:

Positive reinforcement involves obtaining something desired. Negative reinforcement involves removing a desired object or wish. Skinner found most success in his experiment when he discovered reinforcement schedules. "Reinforcement schedules are patterns by which reinforcements occur in response to a particular behavior. The two types of reinforcement schedules are known as ratio schedules and interval schedules. A fixed-ratio schedule is a reinforcement schedule in which a behavior is reinforced after a consistent, predictable number of occurrences. In contrast, a variable-ratio schedule is a reinforcement schedule in which a behavior is reinforced after an inconsistent, unpredictable number of occurrences. A fixed-interval schedule is a reinforcement schedule in which a behavior can be reinforced after a time interval that is consistent and predictable. By contrast, a variable-interval schedule is a reinforcement schedule in which a behavior can be reinforced after a time interval that is inconsistent and unpredictable (Ch 6)." By using the different types of reinforcements and reinforcement schedules, Skinner accurately provided examples by which reinforcement ensures valid behavior.  

👀OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING🙈🙉🙊
Observational learning was discovered by Albert Bandura and his colleagues. It was discovered via the experiments known as the Bobo Doll Studies. Observational learning is learning that occurs as a result of observing others’ behavior and consequences rather than your own.

The experiments Bandura and his colleagues used involved an adult, a preschool-aged child, and a Bobo doll, a large standup inflatable punching bag figure with a clown painted on it. Children observed as they watched adults interact with these dolls. The children either saw the adult ignore the Bobo doll or act aggressively toward it. "The aggressive adult kicked the doll, yelled at it, punched it, and hit it with a hammer.  How the children dealt with their frustration depended on what they had observed in the adult. The children who saw the adult act aggressively toward the Bobo doll were more likely to act aggressively themselves than the children who saw the adult ignore the Bobo doll. They kicked it, yelled at it, punched it, and hit it with a hammer—just as they had seen the model do moments earlier (Ch 6).



Personal Learning
I personally enjoyed reading about these distinct different ways to learn. I can relate to each one and presently I still see these as ways in which I learn. I feel observational learning and operant conditioning have had the most effects on my learning behaviors. The one I enjoyed reading about the most was operant conditioning. I enjoyed reading about this mainly because I found a related picture that pertained to dog walking- something that I have struggled with. Operant conditioning provided me with more efficient ways to best walk my dogs and train future dogs of mine as well. 




Real World Application
As previously stated, I have found each of these learning styles present in my life. I remember as a child through pre-teen years I learned a lot through observational learning. Media, music, friends, and role-models had significant impacts on how I acted. As I grew older operant conditioning ruled my actions. If I wasn't making good grades or listening to my authoritative instruction I would have my phone or television taken away. I remember my mom used classical conditioning the most. For example, she would honk her horn when it was time to leave the house or unpack groceries from the car. In addition, she would show me my dad's belt if I was misbehaving. The belt signified spankings, which promoted fear, which in return put me in my best behavior real quick. I believe these ways of learning are experienced by everyone. Observational learning promotes ethics. Operant conditioning promotes acceptable behavior for different situations. Classical conditioning promotes obedient and responsive behavior. Although everyone has experienced each of these, there is not one which responds best with everyone. No human is alike and therefore, each person will react to these types of learning differently and agree or disagree with each one differently.