UNIT-5 ATTENTION,

PERCEPTION, LEARNING,
MEMORY AND FORGETTING

DIWAKAR
EDUCATION HUB
 UNIT-5 ATTENTION, PERCEPTION, LEARNING, MEMORY AND FORGETTING

What is Attention: Forms of attention, Models of attention ?

Attention: Forms of attention, Models of attention

Understanding attention and its types are critical for improving our ability to live our
lives efficiently. In order to fully master the attention mechanism, it is also necessary to
learn both the external or internal factors that strengthen and affect it.

Attention can generally be defined as the ability to produce, select, manage and
maintain sufficient stimulation at a specific amount of time to process any kind of
information. It takes place on the cognitive level and has different types.

Attention is the key to achieve optimum functionality in our lives. The way to do this is
to parse the factors or stimuli we encounter as relevant or irrelevant. Actually, this is
when we make the most basic choices regarding the topics we are interested in or not.

Visual Attention
Generally speaking, visual attention is thought to operate as a two-stage process. In
the first stage, attention is distributed uniformly over the external visual scene and the
processing of information. In the second stage, attention is concentrated to a specific
area of the visual scene; it is focused on a specific stimulus. There are two major
models for understanding how visual attention operates, both of which are loose
metaphors for the actual neural processes occurring.

Spotlight Model
The term “spotlight” was inspired by the work of William James, who described
attention as having a focus, a margin, and a fringe. The focus is the central area that
extracts “high-resolution” information from the visual scene where attention is directed.
Surrounding the focus is the fringe of attention, which extracts information in a much
more crude fashion. This fringe extends out to a specified area, and the cutoff is called
the margin.

Zoom-Lens Model
First introduced in 1986, this model inherits all the properties of the spotlight model, but
it has the added property of changing in size. This size-change mechanism was
inspired by the zoom lens one might find on a camera, and any change in size can be
described by a trade-off in the efficiency of processing. The zoom-lens of attention can
be described in terms of an inverse trade-off between the size of focus and the
efficiency of processing.

Because attentional resources are assumed to be fixed, the larger the focus is, the
slower processing will be of that region of the visual scene, since this fixed resource
will be distributed over a larger area.

Cognitive Load

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Think of a computer with limited memory storage: you can only give it so many tasks
before it is unable to process more. Brains work on a similar principle, called the
cognitive load theory. “Cognitive load” refers to the total amount of mental effort being
used in working memory. Attention requires working memory; therefore devoting
attention to something increases cognitive load.

Determining Factors That Influence the Functioning of Attention

As we mentioned before, attention is not a one-way process. There are a number of
factors for a stimulus to attract our attention. Only a stimulus based on these factors
triggers our cognitive functions and can initiate cognitive processing.
It is possible to examine these factors that attract our attention and maintain focus in
two main groups:

1- Internal Factors
These determinants are personal because they depend on the individual's own
cognitive resources and brain functions. Some of them can be listed as follows:
 Mental condition
 Needs
 Emotions
 Mindset
 Interests
 Motivation
 Physical state

2- External Factors
These determinants are usually based on the characteristics of the stimuli or come
from our surroundings. Some of them can be listed as follows:
 Intensity
 Uniqueness
 Size
 Color
 Emotional Burden
 Contrast

The Four Types of Attention

There are several types of attention and they are shown in the chart below:

Selective Attention
When we focus our attention on anything, we actually choose to ignore many things.
For example, imagine going to a bookstore. There is a specific book you want to buy
and you are walking between the bookshelves to find that book.

Perhaps you are passing through hundreds of books without actually noticing any of
them. On the other hand, your eyes actually see all of them and possibly record them

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deep into your mind, but you don't even realise it. This here is a great selective
attention example.

Now that you have an understanding of the concept, let’s go over the selective
attention definition.

If we need to define selective attention we can call it the process of focusing on a

particular object in the environment for a certain period of time. Our attention is limited.
So to use this limited resource, we need selective attention, which allows us to ignore
details that are not important.

How Does Selective Attention Work?

The term “cocktail party effect” is also used to describe selective attention psychology,
especially in the Memory Selection Model. Because while we're at a party, there are
many things that can distract us like music, light, and many other people talking.
However, we can still focus on one conversation with a close friend. On the other hand,
when our name is called among all the intense stimuli in this background, this will grab
our attention.
So which of the following is the reason for human attention being selective?

It is proven that the capacity of our brains to take care of everything around us is very
limited, so it is impossible for us to pay attention to each of these sensory experiences.
Therefore, while our brain focuses our attention on some important elements of our
environment, it puts all other stimuli in the background.

Theories of Selective Attention

In cognitive psychology, there is more than one selective attention theory, which is
focused on when our brains react and interact with stimulating information from
outside.

This model was defined by Donald Broadbent in 1958. He used a filtering metaphor
of information processing to describe attention. Broadbent suggested that our filtering
of information occurs early on in the perceptual process. Physical characteristics like
colours, loudness or direction of the stimulants processed before were used to select
or reject a stimulus in later operations.

Resource Theories of Selective Attention

More recent theories suggest that human attention can interact with limited stimuli and
tends to explain how these resources are divided among competing stimuli. Hence,
source theories appear to be a much more effective metaphor to explain the
phenomenon of attention divided into complex stimuli and tasks.

Visual Selective Attention

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Perhaps we are exposed to millions of ads every day on the way to work or on the
road. We don't even realize that we've seen many of these. But some, on the other
hand, manage to attract our attention, especially if they address our current needs or
taste. This shows that these advertisements have contacted with us as a stimulus by
going through our selective perception.

Examples of Selective Attention

Cocktail Party Effect
As we’ve mentioned before, although there are many stimuli around in crowded and
noisy environments such as parties, our brain selects certain stimuli and focuses on
them.

Divided Attention
We use divided attention while simultaneously paying attention to two or more tasks.
This ability is also called Multitasking. Divided attention uses mental focus on a very
large scale. Nonetheless, this does not allow the brain to fully focus on any task.
Therefore, this type of attention does not last for long.

Alternating Attention
Alternating attention is the ability to change the focus of your attention and switch
between different tasks. In this type of attention, mental flexibility is required so that
one task does not limit the performance of others.

Sustained Attention
We often use sustained attention for tasks that take a long time or require intense
focus. This type of attention allows one to consistently perform a certain mental activity.
For example, when children study for an exam, they need to read and acquire the
information in a textbook for several hours.

Differences Among the Types of Attention

Selective Divided Alternating Sustained
Attention Attention Attention Attention
Focusing Unconsciousl Placing mental Rapidly shifting Consciously creating
on y creating a focus on mental focus a mental focus on a
Tasks mental focus multiple from one task single task or idea at
on a single tasks or ideas or idea to once while
task or idea at once by another completely
at once while giving some disregarding others
ignoring attention to
others each
Amount of Increases Minimizes the Decreases the Maximizes the
Attention the amount amount of amount of amount of attention
of attention attention being attention being being placed on a

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being placed on any placed on any task or idea because

directed to a task or idea if task or idea if there is a single
task or idea there are there are focus occurring at
because of a multiple shifted focuses once
single focus focuses going going on
taking place on at once
Condition Successful Unsuccessful Good at Excellent at tuning
on tuning out of tuning out of shifting out distractions, and
Distraction distractions distractions andbetween does not switch
s & and switching tasks distractions between tasks
Switching switching and switching
tasks tasks. tasks
Cognitive Strengthens Weakens Weakens Strengthens
Ability cognitive cognitive ability cognitive ability cognitive ability the
ability the most
most
Amount of Reduces the Drives to make Increase the Prevents from
Possible rate of mistakes rate of making making mistakes
Mistakes making mistakes
mistakes
Receiving Allows to Prevents Prevents Allows to miss
Side miss missing missing important side
Informatio important important side important side information
n side information information
information

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What is Perception: Approaches to the Study of Perception: Gestalt and

physiological approaches Perceptual Organization: Gestalt, Figure and Ground,
Law of Organization Perceptual Constancy: Size, Shape, and Color; Illusions
Perception of Form, Depth and Movement Role of motivation and learning in
perception?

Perception: Approaches to the Study of Perception: Gestalt and physiological

approaches Perceptual Organization: Gestalt, Figure and Ground, Law of
Organization Perceptual Constancy: Size, Shape, and Color; Illusions Perception
of Form, Depth and Movement Role of motivation and learning in perception

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Perception: Approaches to the Study of Perception: Gestalt and physiological

approaches
While our sensory receptors are constantly collecting information from the
environment, it is ultimately how we interpret that information that affects how we
interact with the world. Perception refers to the way sensory information is organized,
interpreted, and consciously experienced. Perception involves both bottom-up and top-
down processing. Bottom-up processing refers to the fact that perceptions are built
from sensory input. On the other hand, how we interpret those sensations is influenced
by our available knowledge, our experiences, and our thoughts. This is called top-
down

processing.
One way to think of this concept is that sensation is a physical process, whereas
perception is psychological. For example, upon walking into a kitchen and smelling the
scent of baking cinnamon rolls, the sensation is the scent receptors detecting the odor
of cinnamon, but the perception may be “Mmm, this smells like the bread Grandma
used to bake when the family gathered for holidays.”

Although our perceptions are built from sensations, not all sensations result in
perception. In fact, we often don’t perceive stimuli that remain relatively constant over
prolonged periods of time. This is known as sensory adaptation. Imagine entering a
classroom with an old analog clock. Upon first entering the room, you can hear the
ticking of the clock; as you begin to engage in conversation with classmates or listen to
your professor greet the class, you are no longer aware of the ticking. The clock is still
ticking, and that information is still affecting sensory receptors of the auditory system.

The fact that you no longer perceive the sound demonstrates sensory adaptation and
shows that while closely associated, sensation and perception are different.

In the beginning of the nineteenth century, two vastly developed areas in psychology,
viz. perception and ' personality came nearer to each other. Numerous researches
were carried out to study the relation between perception and personality. Perceptual
characteristics have some sort of relation with individual's personality organization.
Various journals have published findings of perception personality relationship. While
going through this literature, one can find that the relation between perception and
personality was studied from different angles. In other words, there are various
approaches for studying the relation between-these two important fields which have
systematically, scientifically and experimentally developed . in the last fifty years.

Topological Approach :
As early as 1944, Thurstone described an extensive ' factorial exploration of various
perceptual tasks in order to isolate underlying variables which could be used to
account for individual differences. Since that time,tll©£§ have been many attempts to
relate various personality variables to differences in performance on perceptual tasks.

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The Work of Erenkel-Brunswik

E.F. Brunswik's approach to perception is still another example of perceptual research
which is almost entirely personality oriented and which throws light on personality
factors as well as social and emotional variables. Brunswik became interested in
perceptual variables in connection with the well-known research at the Institute of Child
Welfare of the^ University of California which dealt with prejudiced and nonprejudiced
attitudes and their motivational and cognitive correlates. Generally speaking,
ethnocentric attitudes were found to be related to authoritarian personality structure.

Brunswik soon discovered that many of'her Ss were less able to tolerate 'emotional
ambiguities' than others. She became interested, in whether or not this intolerance
extended also to the more traditional field of perception. As a result of some of her
explanations, she was able to offer rich evidence on the basis of interviews, clinical
evaluations etc.

Directive State Approach :

In the late 1940's, a 'new look' in perceptual theory emerged. The approach of the
workers doing the early studies within this framework can be regarded as the single
most , important influence in the swing towards the belief that perception is essentially
a personality oriehted phenomenon. There were innumerable reports of research,
some’opposing, some defending the conclusions of the original classic and studies;
bitterness, criticalness, and deep conviction pervaded the literature.

The'new look'-is a phrase borrowed from’ the publicity releases from liaison Dior in
Paris, which described some startling changes in fashion. The great discovery of the
'new look* Was that the perceiver also counts. In somejways, the introduction of the
perceiver into the process of perception can be linked to the introduction of the
observer into the measurement of velocity in the theory of relativity.

Einstein's great contribution emerges when-he introduced the velocity of the observer
or his frame of reference into the measurement of the velocity of an object. In the same
way, the new look hoped to revolutionize » perception by introducing the
characteristics of the perceiver, that ,is, his personality (drives, needs etc.).
Unfortunately, the revolution in psychology did not go off as successfully as the
revolution in physics, but fizzled more like the revolution in fashion.

Directive State Theory (Approach) - The Controversy, Re-evaluation Approach :

McCinnies’ study (^2) which reported inereasedthresbolds for recognition of
emotionally toned, taboo words, was regarded as strongly supportive of perceptual
defence, as a special mechanism. This specific study stimulated much controversy.
Howes and Soloman (74,75) advanced the notion that McG-innies' results could be
explained in other ways.

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They noted that M&Ginnies’ taboo words were much less familiaf than the neutral
words. They demonstrated that the more familiar a word was, the brifer was its
recognition thresholds; (perceptual defence) for S f \ the taboo words, although
McGinnies defended his original interpretation. In general, the concept of perceptual
defence began the to lose status, even among directive state workers themselves.
McGinnigs' v defence consisted of noting that increased recognition thresholds for
neutral words were found when they followed immediately after taboo words -
constituting evidence for ’generalization' of the-avoidance (defensive) reaction.
furthermore, the analysis of pre-recognition responses suggested that for neutral words
there was a greater resemblance to the stimulus words than there' was for the (122)
taboo words.

Postman, Bronson and Gropper strongly the contested these explanations, suggesting
that uncontrolled variations in familiarity of words could account for most of the
perceptual defence effect. Solomon and Postman^155^ had already reported a study
which showed that recognition thresholds varied inversely with frequency of past y;
usage.

Following are the additional points to he noted.

(1) Although many correlations between needs and perception have been
demonstrated, there is a general failure to explain how and why these take place, that
is, the mediation factors are not clear.
(2) In many studies which have purporated to show the relationship of need perception,
cognitive and judgmental elements are used as measures of perceptual response.
These studies have failed to distinguish between perception and judgment. If
motivational states influence perception per se, this should probably be demonstrated
in experimental designs which control for factors such as attitude, set, memory,
attention and familiarity.
(3) Most of the effects have been demonstrated with P maginalj ambiguous stimulus .
Are needs and motivations as powerful and influential in ’everyday' veridical perception
as they are under marginal stimulus conditions ?
(4) Perceptual modifications as a result of motivational states should be demonstrated
through immediate perception, rather than in more complex, cognitive, and social
situations.
(5) Effects demonstrating the relation between perception and need should probably
be studied not only with other means, but with other experimental procedures and
other perceptual events and situations.

Hypothesis or Expectancy Theory (Approach) ;

The directive state approach face some methodological problems and from that a
theory of hypothesis or expectancy was developed. This approach suggests that
perceiving is always based on an expectancy or hypothesis on the part of the
organism, /V' that is, he is turmed to some aspects of his surroundings.(This view of

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perceiving is of course related to the approach of various set theories. )Bruner and
Postman ^ Krere the original founders of the hypothesis or expectancy theory.

Perception involves the input of information from the environment. Input is not specified
in terms of stimulus energy, hut rather in terms of its signal value, as cue or clue. The
next process involves the checking or confirmation of the is organism's hypothesis. Iff
thereA confirmation, the hypothesis is strengthened and its arousal will he 'easier' in
future when similar 'information' from the environment is received. If the hypothesis is
not confirmed, the organism will introduce a new hypothesis, until one of them is
confirmed.

Individual Differences jka revealed in Perceptual Behaviour !

The presence of individual differences in perceptual behaviour was recognised in
psychology. Psychologists interested in the field of perception and sensory processes
have characteristically taken considerable pains to devise experimental situations that
are sufficiently simple and controlled to minimize these individual differences, in the
interest of studying more accurately the phenomena with which they are'primarily
concerned. Any way, little attempt was made to study individual differences in
perception systematically in relation to other aspects of behaviour or personality.

Thurstone’s ex-t;ensiVe factor analysis of perceptual task was predominantly oriented

towards isolating or detecting general factors of perception, but was not particularly
concerned with personality correlates of these perceptual factors, There were no
personality’tests included in the battery that would have made such relationships
detectable.

Early investigators used Rorchach ink-blot to relate systematically personality t traits

and perception. Early in the modern revival of interest in experimentation (84,82) on
need in perception,
Klein- has drawn attention to the presence of perceptual styles and perceptual modes
of handling (82) threatening or emotional material. Klein and his associates have gone
on to show the presence of a personality dimension labeled ’leveling1 (versus
sharpening) which is revealed not only in perceptual recognition behaviour, but in
perceptual judgmental tasks as well.

Gestalt psychology
school of psychology founded in the 20th century that provided the foundation for the
modern study of perception. Gestalt theory emphasizes that the whole of anything is
greater than its parts. That is, the attributes of the whole are not deducible from
analysis of the parts in isolation.
The word Gestalt is used in modern German to mean the way a thing has been
“placed,” or “put together.” There is no exact equivalent in English. “Form” and “shape”
are the usual translations; in psychology the word is often interpreted as “pattern” or
“configuration.”

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Gestalt theory originated in Austria and Germany as a reaction against the

associationist and structural schools’ atomistic orientation (an approach which
fragmented experience into distinct and unrelated elements). Gestalt studies made use
instead of phenomenology. This method, with a tradition going back to Johann
Wolfgang von Goethe, involves nothing more than the description of direct
psychological experience, with no restrictions on what is permissible in the description.
Gestalt psychology was in part an attempt to add a humanistic dimension to what was
considered a sterile approach to the scientific study of mental life. Gestalt psychology
further sought to encompass the qualities of form, meaning, and value that prevailing
psychologists had either ignored or presumed to fall outside the boundaries of science.

The publication of Czech-born psychologist Max Wertheimer’s “Experimentelle Studien

über das Sehen von Bewegung” (“Experimental Studies of the Perception of
Movement”) in 1912 marks the founding of the Gestalt school. In it Wertheimer
reported the result of a study on apparent movement conducted in Frankfurt am Main,
Germany, with psychologists Wolfgang Köhler and Kurt Koffka. Together, these three
formed the core of the Gestalt school for the next few decades. (By the mid-1930s all
had become professors in the United States.)

Perceptual Organization: Gestalt, Figure and Ground, Law of Organization

Have you noticed how a series of flashing lights often appears to be moving, such as
neon signs or strands of lights? According to Gestalt psychology, this apparent
movement happens because our minds fill in missing information. This belief that
the whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts led to the discovery of several
different phenomena that occur during perception.1

The law of closure is one example of a Gestalt law of perceptual organization.

According to this principle, things in the environment often tend to be seen as part of a
whole. In many cases, our minds will even fill in the missing information to create
cohesive shapes.

A Brief History of the Gestalt Laws

Gestalt psychology was founded by German thinkers Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang
Kohler, and Kurt Koffka and focused on how people interpret the world. 2 The Gestalt
perspective formed partially as a response to the structuralism of Wilhelm Wundt, who
focused on breaking down mental events and experiences to the smallest elements.

Max Wertheimer noted that rapid sequences of perceptual events, such as rows of
flashing lights, create the illusion of motion even when there is none. This is known as
the phi phenomenon. Motion pictures are based on this principle, with a series of still
images appearing in rapid succession to form a seamless visual experience.

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According to Gestalt psychology, the whole is different from the sum of its parts. Based
upon this belief, Gestalt psychologists developed a set of principles to explain
perceptual organization, or how smaller objects are grouped to form larger ones.
These principles are often referred to as the "laws of perceptual organization."
However, it is important to note that while Gestalt psychologists call these phenomena
"laws," a more accurate term would be "principles of perceptual organization." These
principles are much like heuristics, which are mental shortcuts for solving problems.

Follow the links below to find more information and examples of the different Gestalt
laws of perceptual organization.

Gestalt theory [1] has provided perceptual science with a conceptual framework
relating to brain mechanisms that determine the way we see the visual world. This is
referred to as "Perceptual Organization" and has inspired researchers in Psychology,
Neuroscience and Computational Design ever since.

The major Gestalt principles, such as the principle of Prägnanz, and more importantly
the Gestalt laws of perceptual organization, have been critically important to our
understanding of visual information processing, how the brain detects order in what we
see, and derives likely perceptual representations from statistically significant structural
regularities. The perceptual integration of contrast information across co-linear space
for the organization of objects in the 2D image plane into figure and ground convey the
most elementary basis to our understanding of the visual world. Gestalt theory
continues to generate powerful concepts and insights for perceptual science even
today, where it is to be placed in the context of image-base decision making by human
minds and machines.

However, in complex images, some visible stimulus fragments appear clearly aligned,
others do not. Specific phenomenal conditions need to be satisfied to enable collinear
interpolation in static 2D scenes, and the process of interpolation constrains the
spreading of surfaces across unspecified regions in the image [45,46].

Perceptual neuroscience has provided us with a diversified account for the many ways
in which visual sensitivity to ordered structure and regularities expresses itself in
behavior on the basis of cortical mechanisms. Multiple stages of neural processing
transform fragmented signals into visual key representations of 3D scenes that can be
used to control effective behavior.

Since our survival depends on our ability to pick up order in the physical world, and
since we conceive the physical world as an ordered one, our brain must be sensitive
to structural regularities in the physical world. Neural interactions “beyond the classic
receptive field” drive the visual processing of texture dissimilarities, boundary
completion, surface filling-in, and figure-ground segregation in the brain genesis of
“perceptual order”.

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Figure-Ground Perception in Psychology

Figure-ground perception refers to the tendency of the visual system to simplify a
scene into the main object that we are looking at (the figure) and everything else that
forms the background (or ground). The concept of figure-ground perception is often
illustrated with the classic "faces or vases" illusion, also known as the Rubin vase.
Depending on whether you see the black or the white as the figure, you may see either
two faces in profile (meaning you perceive the dark color as the figure) or a vase in the
center (meaning you see the white color as the figure).
A History of Figure-Ground Perception

The concept of figure-ground perception emerged out of the field of Gestalt

psychology. According to the Gestalt approach, the whole is more (or different) than
the sum of its parts.1 The term Gestalt itself comes from the German word meaning
"form" or "shape."

During the 1920s, a number of German psychologists including Max Wertheimer and
Wolfgang Kohler began studying different principles of perception that govern how
people make sense of an often disorderly world. Their work led to what is known as
the Gestalt laws of perceptual organization.

The Gestalt theory of perception proposes that people make sense of the world around
them by talking separate and distinct elements and combining them into a unified
whole.2

For example, if you look at shapes drawn on a piece of paper, your mind will likely
group the shapes in terms of things such as similarity or proximity. Objects that are
similar to one another tend to be grouped together. Objects that are near each other
also tend to be grouped together.

While the concept of figure-ground perception is an important principle in Gestalt

psychology, it is usually not identified as one of the laws of perceptual organization.

People Distinguish Between Figure and Ground?

When looking at a visual scene, people tend to look for ways to differentiate between
the figure and the ground. Some ways that people accomplish this include:1
 Blurriness: Objects in the foreground tend to be crisp and distinct while those in
the background are blurry or hazy.
 Contrast: The high contrast between objects can lead to the perception of figure
and ground. The Rubin vase is one example.
 Size: Images that appear to be larger will be perceived as closer and part of the
figure while those that are smaller will seem further away and part of the
background.

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 Separation: An object isolated from everything else in a visual scene is more

likely to be seen as a figure versus background.

Examples
The "faces or vases" illustration is one of the most frequent demonstrations of figure-
ground. What you see when you look at the faces or vases illusion depends on
whether you see the white as the figure or the black as the figure.

If you see the white as the figure, then you perceive a vase. If you see the black as the
figure, then you see two faces in profile.
Perceptual Constancy: Size, Shape, and Color; Illusions

Perceptual constancy is perceiving objects as having constant shape, size, and color
regardless of changes in perspective, distance, and lighting.
KEY POINTS
 Perceptual constancy refers to perceiving familiar objects as having
standard shape, size, color, and location regardless of changes in the
angle of perspective, distance, and lighting.
 Size constancy is when people's perception of a particular object's size
does not change regardless of changes in distance from the object, even
though distance affects the size of the object as it is projected onto
the retina.
 Shape constancy is when people's perception of the shape of an object
does not change regardless of changes to the object's orientation.
 Distance constancy refers to the relationship between apparent distance
and physical distance: it can cause us to perceive things as closer or
farther away than they actually are.
 Color constancy is a feature of the human color perception system that
ensures that the color of an object is perceived as similar even under
varying conditions.
 Auditory constancy is a phenomenon in music, allowing us to perceive the
same instrument over differing pitches, volumes, and timbres, as well as in
speech perception, when we perceive the same words regardless of who is
speaking them.

Visual Perceptual Constancies

There are many common visual and perceptual constancies that we experience during
the perception process.
Size Constancy

Within a certain range, people's perception of a particular object's size will not change,
regardless of changes in distance or size change on the retina. The perception of the
image is still based upon the actual size of the perceptual characteristics. The visual
perception of size constancy has given rise to many optical illusions.

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The Ponzo illusion

This famous optical illusion uses size constancy to trick us into thinking the top yellow
line is longer than the bottom; they are actually the exact same length.

Shape Constancy
Regardless of changes to an object's orientation, the shape of the object as it is
perceived is constant. Or, perhaps more accurately, the actual shape of the object is
sensed by the eye as changing but then perceived by the brain as the same. This
happens when we watch a door open: the actual image on our retinas is different each
time the door swings in either direction, but we perceive it as being the same door
made of the same shapes.

Shape constancy
This form of perceptual constancy allows us to perceive that the door is made of the
same shapes despite different images being delivered to our retinae.

Distance Constancy
This refers to the relationship between apparent distance and physical distance. An
example of this illusion in daily life is the moon. When it is near the horizon, it is
perceived as closer to Earth than when it is directly overhead.

Color Constancy
This is a feature of the human color perception system that ensures that the color of an
object remains similar under varying conditions. Consider the shade illusion: our
perception of how colors are affected by bright light versus shade causes us to
perceive the two squares as different colors. In fact, they are the same exact shade of
gray.

Auditory Perceptual Constancies

Our eyes aren't the only sensory organs that "trick" us into perceptual constancy. Our
ears do the job as well. In music, we can identify a guitar as a guitar throughout a
song, even when its timbre, pitch, loudness, or environment change. In speech
perception, vowels and consonants are perceived as constant even if they sound very
different due to the speaker's age, sex, or dialect. For example, the word "apple"
sounds very different when a two year-old boy and a 30 year-old woman say it,
because their voices are at different frequencies and their mouths form the word
differently... but we perceive the sounds to be the same. This is thanks to auditory
perceptual constancy!

Perceptual illusion
While the problem of perceptual illusion has not aroused quite the same degree of
empirical or theoretical interest among neurophysiologists as among experimental

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psychologists there has nevertheless been a continuing concern with the neural
correlates of illusory phenomena.

Visual size constancy and illusion

As the observer recedes from an object (or vice versa) the retinal image of the latter
diminishes but its apparent size is relatively constant. Therefore information for
distance must be involved in the maintenance of constant apparent size.

That this is so was made clear in the classic experiments of Holway and Borings in
which distance stimuli were progressively reduced. Since then data from three
separate experiments9 " have shown that when distance stimuli are entirely eliminated
an object's apparent size decreases as a linear function of observer-object-distance,
i.e., apparent size follows the "law of the visual angle." "Cues" or stimuli for distance
fall into five classes:
(1) retinal disparity (or binocular parallax;
(2) muscular stimuli (convergence and accommodation);
(3) monocular parallax;
(4) atmospheric stimuli (aerial perspective and the Tyndall effect); and
(5) projected stimuli (perspective, texture, overlay, elevation in field, element and
interspace size, and element and interspace frequency. Normally all or most of these
stimuli for distance are present and visual size constancy is perfect. However, although
size constancy falls off as distance stimuli are systematically reduced (e.g., when
binocular parallax is eliminated by using one eye and monocular parallax by holding
the head stationary8 ) some degree of constancy obtains, i.e., apparent size does not
follow the law of the visual angle, as observer-object distance increases.

Geometric size illusions

The projected stimuli for distance, stimuli which derive essentially from the projection of
a three-dimensional space on to the two-dimensional retinal surface, are more frequent
and subtle than is usually realized. In addition to the well-known stimuli such as
perspective, texture, overlay, and elevation, the size and frequency of elements other
than the focal object and the size and frequency of interspaces between them vary with
distance and provide information for distance.

The trees on the near side of a lake are bigger and fewer per unit visual angle than the
smaller and more frequent trees on the far side, as indeed are the interspaces between
them. Many geometric optical illusions involve such distance stimuli.

Of two objects one is usually located in the context of larger and less frequent
elements or spaces consonant with nearness and the other in the context of smaller
and more frequent elements corresponding to greater distance. The former object is
judged smaller than the latter.

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The Oppel-Kundt, Delboeuf, and Miiller-Lyer illusions are examples of size illusions in
which the retinal image of an object, usually a line or simple figure, is invariant but
projected stimuli for distance are varied. It should be noted, however, that as had been
pointed out elsewhere15 the Miiller-Lyer illusion as it is classically sbown represents
two separate effects.

The "short" version with "inboard" elements is probably a different illusion than the
"long" version with "outboard" elements. Evidence for this difference has been adduced
by Erlebacher and Sekuler.

Visual orientation constancy and illusion When the observer's head is tilted laterally as
posture is changed, the retinal orientation of the object's image relative to the normally
vertical meridian of the eye changes. When the observer is recumbent this change is
nearly 90 degrees. However, under conditions of normal illumination and when only the
object itself is visible in a dark room, its apparent tilt is relatively stable, a phenomena
called visual orientation constancy.17 In normal illumination the bar remains
perceptually invariant even for large lateral body tilts.

Perception of Form, Depth and Movement

Form Perception
The Gestalt Psychologists studied extensively form perception, or the perception of
objects, shapes and patterns. Gestalt principles may be broken down into two
categories: perceptual organization (grouping) and depth perception.
Gestalt Principles of Perceptual Organization
 How objects are grouped together (Links to an external site.)
o Continuity
 We tend to perceive figures or objects as belonging together if they
appear to form a continuous pattern
o Closure (Connectedness)
 We perceive figures with gaps in them to be complete
o Similarity
 We perceive figures which look alike as being grouped together
o Proximity
 We perceive things close together as being in sets
o Pragnanz
 We perceive reality in the simplest way rather than inferring
complexity
Take a minute to take some notes: How are Gestalt grouping principles used
in The Human Condition (above)
Monocular depth cues
 Depth cues that can be perceived by only one eye
o Interposition

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 When one object partly blocks your view of another, you perceive the
partially blocked object as farther away
o Linear perspective
 Parallel lines that are known to be the same distance apart appear to
grow closer together, or converge, as they recede into the distance
o Relative size
 Larger objects are perceived as being closer to the viewer, and
smaller objects as being farther away
o Texture gradient
 Near objects appear to have sharply defined textures, while similar
objects appear progressively smoother and fuzzier as they recede
into the distance
o Atmospheric perspective
 Objects in the distance have a bluish tint and appear more blurred
than objects closer to the viewer
Take a minute to take some notes: How are depth cues used in The Human
Condition (above)
Gestalt principles help explain how we perceive distance, depth, organization and
harmony on a 2 dimensional canvas.

Visual Perception in a nutshell – our visual perceptual system works to heighten

differences and impose constancies to help us survive in the big, scary world, often
causing disparities between what we see and the physical world.
Or, as Aristotle succinctly put it: “our senses can be trusted but they can be easily
fooled.”

For example, in the image below both of the orange (middle) circles are exactly the
same size. This one of many visual illusions, called the Ebbinghaus Illusion, which
explore the effect of context on perception. Our visual system compares the circles and
exaggerates the differences between them.

Higher cortical areas reassemble the visual puzzle

Although parallel visual processing seems to fragment what we see, at higher levels
the puzzle is reassembled. Further, the immediate visual scene is then interpreted in
light of what we know from past visual experiences and what the wiring of our brains
allows. While our visual experiences usually make sense to us, we are generally
unaware of the cues we are using to interpret scenes until we are challenged with
unconventional pictures such as illusions. For example, when we see a friend at some
distance, we recognize the person and know that this is a normal adult (or child) even
though the image on the retina is much smaller than that of a person standing right
next to us.

Perceiving depth depends on both monocular and binocular cues

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Along with information on motion, shape, and color, our brains receive input that
indicates both depth, the perception that different objects are different distances from
us, and the related concept of stereopsis, the solidity of objects. Studies show that
people have two ways of judging depth or distance: using monocular (one-eyed)
information, and using binocular (two-eyed) data. Monocular cues operate at distances
of around 100 feet or greater, where the retinal images seen by both eyes are almost
identical. These cues include:
1. Previous familiarity: If we know the range of sizes of people, cats, or trees, we
can judge how far away they are.
2. Occlusion: If one object partly hides another, we know that the object in front is
closer.
3. Perspective: Parallel lines such as the edges of a road, the intersections of walls
and ceilings, and railroad tracks, appear to converge at a distance. The relative
distances between objects in a scene with parallel lines are estimated by their
positions along the converging lines.
4. Motion parallax: As we move our heads or bodies, nearby objects appear to
move more quickly than distant objects; for example, telephone poles beside the
road appear to pass by much more quickly when viewed from a moving car than
do buildings or trees hundreds of feet back from the road.
5. Shadows and light: Patterns of light and dark can give an impression of depth,
and bright colors tend to seem closer than dull colors.
Even though these monocular cues provide some depth vision so that the world does
not look "flat" to us when we use just one eye, viewing a scene with two eyes-binocular
vision-gives most people a more vivid sense of depth and of stereopsis.

We first scan a scene, and then we attend to individual features

Finally, what we see depends on what we pay attention to. Sometimes the nature of
the visual scene is such that one object or feature "pops out" at us because of
distinctive boundaries. If the elements of a scene are not different enough from each
other, no one part gets our attention over another.

One illustration of how we can miss differences in scenes when we first rapidly scan
them is to make a copy of a photograph of a well-known person and to carefully alter
one or two aspects of the picture: make the eyebrows heavier, change the mouth, add
bags under the eyes. When the original and the altered copies are viewed side by side
and upside down, the changes can be very difficult to identify. If these two pictures are
viewed upright, the differences are immediately apparent. Another way to illustrate
visual attention is to make a pattern of identical marks or simple objects, such as a
sheet of paper with row upon row of X's, with one row containing one or two Z's. See
how long it takes to identify the odd letters or objects. Students can devise tests like
these in the experimental part of this unit.

Role of motivation and learning in perception

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In this research, we have examined the characteristics of university students’

motivation and its connection with perceptions of the learning environment. Higher
education teachers often find it challenging to decide how to organize their lectures
and what instructional strategy they should use to be most effective. Therefore, we
endeavoured to determine which characteristics of the learning environment best
predict the motivational orientation of students and their satisfaction with the course.

The survey included 120 postgraduate students of the Faculty of Arts at the University
of Ljubljana. In order to measure their motivation, we employed several scales of the
Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (Pintrich et al., 1991). For the purpose
of this research, we created a new questionnaire for their evaluation of the learning
environment. The results revealed a high correlation between the intrinsic goal
orientation, self-efficacy, and control beliefs.

The most important factors of the learning environment that are connected with the
formation of intrinsic goal-orientation and the enjoyment of education are the
perception of the usefulness of the studied topics, a feeling of autonomy, and teacher
support.
To an extent, these findings are supported by the findings of those authors who
recommend using those methods of teaching that are in compliance with the student-
centred understanding of teaching and learning.

In the previous two decades, the research conducted on achievement goals and
achievement goal orientations has become highly prominent in the field of education
(e.g. Ames, 1992; Dweck, 1986; Nicholls, 1984; Urdan, 2004). Moreover, certain meta-
analyses have shown that this field has become predominant in the research of
motivation (Austin & Vancouver, 1996). In psychology, goals are understood as the
subject, activity or phenomenon at which our action is directed and with which we
satisfy our need (Locke & Latham, 1990),

whilst achievement goal orientations are the individuals’ general approaches or

schemes with which they undertake tasks and evaluate their achievements (Kaplan &
Maehr, 2007; Pintrich & Schunk, 2002; Urdan, 2004).

Previous research has shown that, in order to understand the students’ approach to
studying, it is crucial to know the reasons for their dealing with a particular task and the
goals they set for themselves in the process. In this context, the authors predominantly
differentiate between mastery goals (i.e. intrinsic goals for which the emphasis is
placed on the development of competence) and performance goals (i.e. extrinsic goals
that place an emphasis on achievements and comparisons with others).

The learning environment

The term “learning environment” most frequently defines the social, psychological, or
psychosocial environment in which learning or, as the case may be, teaching takes

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place (Cleveland & Fisher, 2014). For the most part, research has focused on the
different elements of classroom context. Bronfenbrenner (1979) defines the classroom
context as a microsystem, “a pattern of activities, roles and interpersonal relations
experienced by the developing person in a given setting with particular physical and
material characteristics” (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, p. 22), i.e. it contains elements that
contribute to the understanding of the happenings in the classroom.

The belief that students and teachers should be researched as a whole prevailed, but
researchers have shown a tendency to isolate individual variables instead of
attempting to understand the complex integration of thinking, motivation, and feelings.
The authors found that teaching never directly affects learning; on the contrary, it
operates through intermediary factors that include perceptions of teaching, evaluation,
the climate in the classroom, the content of the school subject, structure and similar.

Research has shown that the student’s assessment of teaching characteristics or

classroom learning environment influences a number of cognitive and affective results
(Fraser, 1989; Fraser & Fisher, 1982; Walberg, 1969). In their meta-analysis, Wang et
al. (1990) established that the learning environment is one of the most important
factors of learning, which affects both motivation for learning and learning
achievements (Wang, Haertel, & Walberg, 1990).

Purpose of the present study

To date, research on the influence of learning context on the formation of goal
orientations and other factors of learning motivation has primarily focused on
classroom settings, specifically on the characteristics of teaching tasks, assessment,
and instructional strategies. We believe that goal orientation is among the most
important factors of motivation.

The first and most important reason is that goal orientation directly influences many
important aspects of student motivation. For example, it is more likely that students
with intrinsic goal orientation will have higher self-efficacy, use more complex cognitive
learning strategies, be meta-cognitively more active, and achieve better learning
outcomes. Previous research shows that goals direct, or at least mediate, the entire
process of self-regulation of learning, wherein the use of strategies is only one of the
aspects.

Method
Participants and procedure The survey was conducted between November and
December 2014, and included students who were enrolled in the first year of master
studies at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Ljubljana. The sample consisted of
120 students (102 female, 17 male, 1 did not reveal his or her gender) who study in
different programs, but are also participating in the common teaching module. This
means that than 80% of all the students in this module were included in the research.

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Measures
Characteristics of motivation
In order to establish the connection between motivation and perception of the learning
environment, we employed motivational scales from the Motivated Strategies for
Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) (Pintrich, Smith, Garcia, & McKeachie, 1991), which is
based on a social-cognitive approach to motivation and learning characterized by
stressing the interconnection of the cognitive and emotional components of learning.

In the first part of the questionnaire, 20 items was used from the MSLQ, specifically
from the “Intrinsic goal-orientation” and “Extrinsic goal-orientation”, “Self-efficacy” and
“Control beliefs” scales. The respondents replied to the five-point Likert scale
questionnaire with the following answer possibilities:
1 – Definitely not true of me,
2 – Mostly not true of me,
3 – Sometimes true and sometimes not true of me,
4 – Mostly true of me,
5 – Definitely true of me. A five-point scale instead of the original seven-point scale
was used to unify scales across the questionnaire.

Evaluation of the learning environment

In addition to the scales from Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, we also
used the Evaluation of the Learning Environment Questionnaire. The questionnaire,
developed especially for this survey, is based on Moos’ (1974) conceptualization of the
learning environment, similar to many other questionnaires that were developed mainly
for the use in primary or secondary education. However, the latter instruments are
inappropriate for assessing the learning environment in higher education.

In this part of the questionnaire, 42 items were formed, representing the main
dimensions of the learning environment: teacher support, student interaction, authentic
learning, autonomy, and personal relevance. The respondents assessed their
perceptions of learning environment on the course level by using the five-point Likert
scale, which represented the frequency of individual “events” in lectures. The following
answers were possible: 1 – Never, 2 – Seldom, 3 – Sometimes, 4 – Often, 5 – Always.
The number of components was first evaluated with the principal component analysis,
and the results of this analysis showed six appropriate dimensions.

Characteristics of the learning environment which predict students’ motivation

and course satisfaction
The theory and empirical findings show that perceptions of learning environment
positively influence motivation and course satisfaction. Since correlation only tests for
interdependence of the variables, we were also interested in describing the predictive
value of learning environment. Correlation analysis (presented in Table 3) showed
many moderate to high connections between motivation and evaluation of learning
environment. Since learning environment variables were mostly correlated to intrinsic

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goal-orientation, we were interested to determine which of these variables is the most

important in predicting intrinsic motivation.

Learning environment’s effect on motivation

The results have shown that students who set themselves intrinsic goals have a
greater sense of control of their learning and a feeling of self-efficacy. Furthermore, our
study revealed that students who perceive their learning environment as a place that
fosters autonomy and self-direction and find their education to be useful and relevant
are more intrinsically motivated.

The importance of collaborative learning and teacher support is also underscored. The
results of the regression analysis reflect the findings from the correlation analysis and
give even more significance to the real-life problems of the studied topics, and support
in developing autonomy.

The importance of the perceived authenticity of learning have also been proven in the
correlation analysis. In this study, the interconnectedness of theoretical knowledge and
practical application seems to be among the most important determinants of students’
motivation for studying in higher education.

Signal detection theory: Assumptions and applications

The Utility of Signal Detection Theory

Signal detection theory (SDT) is a technique that can be used to evaluate sensitivity in
decision-making. Initially developed by radar researchers in the early 1950s (Peterson
et al., 1954), the value of SDT was quickly recognized by cognitive scientists and
adapted for application in human decision-making (Tanner and Swets, 1954; Green
and Swets, 1966).

The general premise of SDT is that decisions are made against a background of
uncertainty, and the goal of the decision-maker is to tease out the decision signal from
background noise. SDT can be applied to any binary decision-making situation where
the response of the decision maker can be compared to the actual presence or
absence of the target. The advantage of SDT as a measure of decision-making is that
it provides a unitless measure of sensitivity, regardless of subject bias, that can be
compared to other sensitivities over widely different situations.

Introduction and Scope

Signal detection theory (SDT) sprouted from World War II research on radar into a
probability-based theory in the early 1950s. It specifies the optimal observation and
decision processes for detecting electronic signals against a background of random
interference or noise. The engineering theory, culminating in the work of Wesley W.
Peterson and Theodore G. Birdsall (Peterson et al. 1954), had foundations in

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mathematical developments for theories of statistical inference, beginning with those

advanced by Jerzy Neyman and E. S. Pearson (1933).

SDT is a model for a theory of how organisms make fine discriminations and it
specifies model-based methods of data collection and analysis. Notably, through its
analytical technique called the receiver operating characteristic (ROC), it separates
sensory and decision factors and provides independent measures of them. SDT's
approach is now used in many areas in which discrimination is studied in psychology,
including cognitive as well as sensory processes.

SDT has been applied within a broad range of topics, including memory research
(e.g., Banks, 1970), accuracy in radiology diagnostics (e.g., Obuchowski, 2003), and
sustained attention in individuals with ADHD (e.g., Huang-Pollock et al., 2012). Further
testament to the utility of SDT comes from the fact that SDT is often discussed in
introductory courses and textbooks (e.g., Wade et al., 2013; Lilienfeld et al., 2015).

The Mechanics of Signal Detection Theory: A Brief Overview

The basic premise behind SDT is that both signal and noise are represented
probabilistically within the decision-maker, and the extent to which those
representations overlap can be estimated based on the decision-maker's responses
and whether or not the signal is present The decision-maker bases their decision
relative to their criterion (β), where a signal will be reported present when the internal
signal is stronger than β and absent when the internal signal is weaker than β. A hit
represents the probability that the subject reports the signal present when it is and a
false alarm represents the probability that the subject reports the signal present when it
is absent.

Alternatively, a miss represents the probability that the subject reports the signal
absent when it is present and a correct rejection represents the probability that the
subject reports the signal absent when it is absent. All response probabilities are
reflected as a part of the area underneath a normal curve. If the probability of each
response type is therefore known, both the signal and the noise distributions can be
estimated based on simple statistical principles.

Signal detection theory (SDT) is a framework for interpreting data from experiments in
which accuracy is measured. In such experiments, two or more stimulus classes
(signal and noise in a detection experiment, old and new items in a memory task) are
sampled repeatedly, and an observer must select a response corresponding to the
class actually presented. According to SDT, performance in such tasks is limited by
observer sensitivity, which depends on the degree of overlap between the distributions
of a decision variable produced by the stimulus classes.

Subliminal perception and related factors, information processing approach

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The meaning of the term subliminal perception has changed over the years, and some
prefer to use perception without awareness as an alternative that avoids the
sometimes contentious issue of limen (threshold). Generally speaking, “Subliminal
perception occurs whenever stimuli presented below the threshold or limen for
awareness are found to influence thoughts, feelings, or actions” (Merikle, 2000).

Because an influence on thoughts, feelings, or actions is relatively easy to measure

experimentally, the difficult part about the field is evaluating awareness of a stimulus
below the subject's threshold. Central to the issue is knowing when a subject is
consciously aware of a stimulus, and how this can be reliably ascertained in
experiments.

Traditionally, the subjects themselves report awareness. While other areas of

psychology may disapprove of introspection as a source of data, in the field of
subliminal perception this self-report of “awareness” seems to be unavoidable. The
inevitable use of the self-report has also lead to much debate over how these self-
reports should be interpreted. The dissociation paradigm is the predominant
experimental approach used in research on subliminal perception.

The term subliminal is derived from the terms sub (below) and limen (threshold), and it
refers to perception so subtle it cannot reach conscious awareness. Most of the
research on subliminal perception is done on visual subliminal perception. For
instance, one can flash words or pictures so quickly on a computer screen (generally
faster than 10-15 milliseconds) that perceivers have the feeling they do not see
anything at all.

Debate over terms and methodology

The field of subliminal perception, or perception without awareness, has been marked
by continual controversy. In recent years, experts within the field have been debating
what qualifies as perception without awareness, and which forms of measurement are
valid for experiments. Specifically, researchers question self reports from a subject in
an experiment.

While Cheesman and Merikle (1984) have addressed the issue by classifying types of
self reports, this controversy is far from resolved. Reingold and Toth (1996) describe
one of the fundamental issues: . . . factors unrelated to awareness, such as demand
characteristics and preconceived biases, may lead subjects to adopt a conservative
response criterion and report null perceptual awareness even under conditions in
which conscious perceptual information is available.

Response bias represents a threat not only to the validity of the subjective report
measure of awareness, but also to its reliability. In particular, variability in response
criteria makes it difficult to compare reports of null subjective confidence across-
subjects, or within-subjects across conditions.

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Just-Noticeable Differences (Pierce and Jastrow, 1884)

The first documented experiments by Pierce and Jastrow are not only interesting from
a historical viewpoint, but also because the experiment alludes to subjective/objective
thresholds discussed a century later (Kihlstrom et al., 1992). Pierce set out to research
just-noticeable differences when the difference between stimuli was below a
physiological threshold.

In the second phase, subjects had to make comparisons between two octagons under
normal viewing conditions. One octagons had been subliminally presented to the
subject during the exposure phase, and the other octagon was novel. Subjects were
asked to both indicate which octagon they had seen before (recognition), and which
octagon they liked better.

Exclusion Paradigm (Debner and Jacoby, 1994)

Recently, Debner and Jacoby (1994) have offered an “exclusion paradigm” which may
be able to avoid the disputed aspects of the dissociation paradigm. The word
completion experiment illustrates how the exclusion paradigm puts conscious and
unconscious processes in conflict with each other. Subjects were first briefly flashed
priming words for durations that ranged from subliminal to clearly perceptible. Subjects
were then given word stems of partially completed words, and asked to complete the
words.

However, subjects were instructed to not use the priming word in order to complete
the partial word. If subjects were aware of the priming word, then they should avoid
using it in the word completion task. However,

if the subjects were not aware of the priming word but had nevertheless perceived it
(subliminal perception), then the priming word might influence their word completion
task.

Debner and Jacoby (1994) found that indeed, priming words presented for very brief
durations – the subliminal stimuli – were much more likely to be used in completing
words than the priming words shown for longer durations. This provides an interesting
new experimental format in contrast to the usual dissociation, since the exclusion
paradigm shows distinct results for consciously versus unconsciously perceived stimuli.

Information Processing
Basic Assumptions
The information processing approach is based on a number of assumptions, including:
(1) information made available by the environment is processed by a series of
processing systems (e.g. attention, perception, short-term memory);
(2) these processing systems transform or alter the information in systematic ways;

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(3) the aim of research is to specify the processes and structures that underlie
cognitive performance;
(4) information processing in humans resembles that in computers.
The development of the computer in the 1950s and 1960s had an important influence
on psychology and was, in part, responsible for the cognitive approach becoming the
dominant approach in modern psychology (taking over from Behaviorism).

The computer gave cognitive psychologists a metaphor, or analogy, to which they

could compare human mental processing. The use of the computer as a tool for
thinking how the human mind handles information is known as the computer analogy.

Essentially, a computer codes (i.e., changes) information, stores information, uses

information, and produces an output (retrieves info). The idea of information
processing was adopted by cognitive psychologists as a model of how human thought
works.
For example, the eye receives visual information and codes information into electric
neural activity which is fed back to the brain where it is “stored” and “coded”. This
information is can be used by other parts of the brain relating to mental activities such
as memory, perception and attention. The output (i.e. behavior) might be, for example,
to read what you can see on a printed page.

Hence the information processing approach characterizes thinking as the environment

providing input of data, which is then transformed by our senses. The information can
be stored, retrieved and transformed using “mental programs”, with the results being
behavioral responses.
Cognitive psychology has influenced and integrated with many other approaches and
areas of study to produce, for example, social learning theory, cognitive
neuropsychology and artificial intelligence (AI).

Information Processing and Selective Attention

When we are selectively attending to one activity, we tend to ignore other stimulation,
although our attention can be distracted by something else, like the telephone ringing
or someone using our name.
Psychologists are interested in what makes us attend to one thing rather than another
(selective attention); why we sometimes switch our attention to something that was
previously unattended (e.g. Cocktail Party Syndrome), and how many things we can
attend to at the same time (attentional capacity).
One way of conceptualizing attention is to think of humans as information processors
who can only process a limited amount of information at a time without becoming
overloaded.
Broadbent and others in the 1950s adopted a model of the brain as a limited capacity
information processing system, through which external input is transmitted.

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Information processing models consist of a series of stages, or boxes, which represent

stages of processing. Arrows indicate the flow of information from one stage to the
next.
 Input processes are concerned with the analysis of the stimuli.
 Storage processes cover everything that happens to stimuli internally in the brain
and can include coding and manipulation of the stimuli.
 Output processes are responsible for preparing an appropriate response to a
stimulus.

Critical Evaluation
A number of models of attention within the Information Processing framework have
been proposed including:
Broadbent'sFilter Model (1958), Treisman's Attenuation Model (1964) and Deutsch and
Deutsch's Late Selection Model (1963).
However, there are a number of evaluative points to bear in mind when studying these
models, and the information processing approach in general. These include:

1. The information processing models assume serial processing of stimulus inputs.

 Serial processing effectively means one process has to be completed before
the next starts.
 Parallel processing assumes some or all processes involved in a cognitive
task(s) occur at the same time.
There is evidence from dual-task experiments that parallel processing is possible. It is
difficult to determine whether a particular task is processed in a serial or parallel
fashion as it probably depends (a) on the processes required to solve a task, and (b)
the amount of practice on a task.
Parallel processing is probably more frequent when someone is highly skilled; for
example a skilled typist thinks several letters ahead, a novice focuses on just 1 letter at
a time.

2. The analogy between human cognition and computer functioning adopted by the
information processing approach is limited.
Computers can be regarded as information processing systems insofar as they:
(i) combine information presented with stored information to provide solutions to a
variety of problems, and
(ii) most computers have a central processor of limited capacity and it is usually
assumed that capacity limitations affect the human attentional system.

Culture and perception

How much alike, then, are two persons’ sensations? Individuals raised in diverse
cultures can actually sense the world differently. For example, Marshall Segall and his
associates (Segall, Campbell, & Herskovits, 1966) found that people who live in forests
or in rural areas can sense crooked and slanted lines more accurately than can people
who live in urban areas.

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This demonstrates that the rural and urban groups sense the same event differently as
a result of their diverse cultural learnings. The term field dependence refers to the
degree to which perception of an object is influenced by the background or
environment in which it appears.

Some people are less likely than others to separate an object from its surrounding
environment. When adults in Japan and the United States are shown an animated
underwater scene in which one large fish swims among small fish and other marine
life, the Japanese describe the scene and comment more about the relationships
among the objects in the scene.

PERCEIVING
Culture also has a great effect on the perception process (Tajfel, 1969; Triandis,
1964). Human perception is usually thought of as a three-step process of selection,
organization, and interpretation. Each of these steps is affected by culture.

Selection
The first step in the perception process is selection. Within your physiological
limitations, you are exposed to more stimuli than you could possibly manage. To use
sight as an example, you may feel that you are aware of all stimuli on your retinas, but
most of the data from the retinas are handled on a subconscious level by a variety of
specialized systems. Parts of our brains produce output from the retinas that we
cannot “see.” No amount of introspection can make us aware of those processes.

In an interesting study by Simons and Chabris (1999), participants viewed videotape

of a basketball game. They were told to count the number of passes one team made.
In the video, a woman dressed as a gorilla walks into the game, turns to face the
camera, and beats her fists on her chest. Fifty percent of all people who watch the
video don’t see the gorilla. Mack and Rock (1998) argue that we don’t consciously see
any object unless we are paying direct, focused attention on that object.

Perceptual Styles

Perceptual Style is the way you take in information through your five senses and make
that information meaningful to you.
Your Perceptual Style acts as a filter between sensation and understanding. It is at the
core of who you are, and it impacts your values, your beliefs, your feelings, and your
psychology.

Each of us has one of six unique Perceptual Styles that is innate. Our
individual Perceptual Style is literally hard wired and has grown with us as we’ve aged
and developed. The decisions you make, the actions you take, and the directions you

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choose, are all influenced by your Perceptual Style. This is because our Perceptual
Style defines our reality.

We often assume perceive and respond to the same objective reality and that there is
one absolute “right.” Research implies that not only is that untrue, but perception is
actually a filter applied to objective reality, resulting in natural differences between
people.

It is because of our varying Perceptual Styles that we all experience a different

reality.
Here is a brief look at the six Perceptual Styles (presented in alphabetical order):

• Activity: People with the Activity Perceptual Style jump into life with both feet. They
fully engage with the confidence that the details will sort themselves out. Direction,
ideas, and pursuits emerge as the result of constant action and involvement with
others and their surroundings. They engage until some new possibility or interest
emerges to capture their attention. They cultivate extensive networks of friends and
associates.

• Adjustments: People with the Adjustments Perceptual Style see the world as an
objective reality that can be known if they take the time to gather complete information
about its intricacies and complexities. They pursue the acquisition and application of
knowledge as the basis for their life experience. They enjoy sharing their knowledge
with others and gathering new information from research or conversation. They have a
strong sense of diplomacy and project a calm certainty.

• Flow: People with the Flow Perceptual Style are instinctive advocates for the natural
rhythms of life. They see the complex connectivity among seemingly unrelated people,
environments, and situations. They intuitively integrate and harmonize their actions
within a broadly defined community that provides them and others with a sense of
belonging. They honor the continuity between past, present, and future.

• Goals: People with the Goals Perceptual Style stride through life focused on the
accomplishment of specific results and well-defined objectives. They experience a
sense of urgency and clarity of purpose. They believe achievement is primary and
method or process secondary – the end justifies the means. They evaluate all activities
based on possible contribution towards the achievement of the results they expect.
They thrive on competition and believe that life is a constant competition with winners
and losers.

• Methods: People with the Methods Perceptual Style approach life in a practical,
matter-of-fact manner. They focus on how things need to be done. They believe that
ordered processes, properly followed, will produce the desired results. They will
discern the best process or technique to apply to any specific situation in order to

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produce reliable, repeatable outcomes. They impose order and they believe that
everyone prefers to use well known and proven methods.

• Vision: People with the Vision Perceptual Style approach life as a singular
experience, a journey toward the future. They face the realities of a situation with
serious intent, an optimistic perspective that a solution will be found, and confidence
that if one is not, there are always other alternatives to explore. They intuitively see
new directions, and actions are taken or dropped opportunistically based on a sense of
future possibilities and potential.

Now let’s take an in-depth look at each Perceptual Style.

Activity
Activity people develop an intense fascination with things that captivate their
imagination, and they seek to share the excitement of their experience within their
personal network. They are uninterested in things they find tedious or no longer hold
their curiosity.

They move rapidly from one experience to the next.

Activity people draw on knowledge and previous experience from seemingly unrelated
sources to create original and distinctive approaches and results. They find more
enjoyment in activities that include members of their personal network. Positive
response from their personal network is what drives them, and to that end they pay
attention to cultivating and sustaining that network.
Activity people bring energy and vitality to their activities and are often instrumental in
getting things started. They believe that life should be fun as well as productive.

Activity people resist details and analysis. They get easily bored with repetitive and
routine tasks. They are always ready to jump into something new, and they lose
interest in activities that do not deliver attention-grabbing results. They quickly abandon
anything they find boring and will wander off in search of other groups or activities that
need energizing

Activity people function best in settings that require interaction and allow them to get
involved, share insight, tell stories, provide help, and communicate their perspective to
others.

Adjustments
The actions of Adjustments people reflect their skills in collating, analyzing, and
sharing what they know in useful ways. They create intricate systems for the storage
and retrieval of their knowledge.

The greatest satisfaction for Adjustments people comes from being an information
resource for others rather than only applying the information themselves. As such, they
are good at explaining and describing complex, detailed, or technical information. Their

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thoroughness, patience with repetitive tasks, and desire for perfection allow them to
spot where information is missing or fuzzy. They edit the written work of others
effectively. They actively polish and hone their knowledge, their systems, and their
processes to increase elegance and accuracy. They are at their best when given the
time to do things carefully and systematically.

Flow
They create and sustain powerful but subtle relationships that form the glue of a
community (family, friends, workgroup, social group, etc). They move smoothly and
easily between daily events as their awareness emerges and recedes. They attend, in
proper proportion, to events and people that require their attention, trusting that what
needs to be done will be done.
Flow people facilitate the development of an environment that is comfortable, one that
fosters and encourages people. When their environment shifts away from people
centered community, they quietly influence its realignment, putting their personal
needs aside if necessary to bring it back into harmony.

Flow people welcome new events that support their traditions and values. They use
relational communities to gather and transmit informal information, after they have
decided what to pass on and what to withhold. Their information sharing is so subtle
that others experience the contribution Flow people make to create connection within
the community but are often unaware of its source

Flow people provide aid and assistance to the members of a community by serving as
a listening post, encouraging development and growth, and empathizing with those
who are struggling

Goals
Goals people distrust complexity, subtlety, and solutions that evolve slowly over time.
They believe that if a problem needs a solution, there is no time like the present to
solve it.

Goals people approach the world with intense energy and have a high level of
endurance that allows them to push themselves well after others have given up. They
take action with personal intensity and urgency, and they are always anxious to get on
to the next task even before the current one is complete. What needs to be done next
is obvious to them, so they do not understand why others around them do not see and
act on it.

Goals people are very outcome oriented and as such prefer to focus on the
accomplishment of goals on which they can see immediate progress. They have no
loyalty to current processes or methods and will abandon them quickly if progress
towards a solution is slowing down and stagnating. They make high achievement
demands on others but never more than they demand from themselves.

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Methods
Methods people follow an ordered set of steps that when performed in a repeatable,
logical sequence, inevitably end with the achievement of their objectives. They believe
there is a correct method by which each problem, undertaking, or objective can be best
handled. Discovering and applying this method is what drives them.

Once the desired result has been determined Methods people do not question it.
Instead, they seek to find the steps that will produce the desired outcome with the most
efficient use of time, money, and energy. They believe that failure of a solution to work
is due to human error in the application of a correctly designed course of action

Methods people analyze, manipulate, and apply facts. They use a rational application
of facts to make decisions and solve problems, and they are confident that through this
method they will arrive at the correct conclusion.

Vision
Vision people face the realities of a situation with serious intent, an optimistic
perspective that a solution will be found, and confidence that if one is not, there are
always other alternatives to explore.
Vision people intuitively see new directions that others do not and make the most of
this advantage by moving decisively. This ability to intuit new, useful directions and to
take swift advantage of opportunities as they arise, gives them a strategic edge over
others.

Vision people are unafraid of taking risks and accept that the possibility of high rewards
carries with it an equal possibility of failure. However, they view failure as only a
temporary setback. They love to play with, explore, and develop new ideas, and they
examine all aspects, possible outcomes, and consequences without preconception or
judgment

Pattern Recognition
Pattern recognition is the process of recognizing patterns by using machine learning
algorithm. Pattern recognition can be defined as the classification of data based on
knowledge already gained or on statistical information extracted from patterns and/or
their representation. One of the important aspects of the pattern recognition is its
application potential.

Examples: Speech recognition, speaker identification, multimedia document

recognition (MDR), automatic medical diagnosis.
In a typical pattern recognition application, the raw data is processed and converted
into a form that is amenable for a machine to use. Pattern recognition involves
classification and cluster of patterns.

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 In classification, an appropriate class label is assigned to a pattern based on an

abstraction that is generated using a set of training patterns or domain
knowledge. Classification is used in supervised learning.
 Clustering generated a partition of the data which helps decision making, the
specific decision making activity of interest to us. Clustering is used in an
unsupervised learning.
Features may be represented as continuous, discrete or discrete binary variables. A
feature is a function of one or more measurements, computed so that it quantifies
some significant characteristics of the object.

Example: consider our face then eyes, ears, nose etc are features of the face.
A set of features that are taken together, forms the features vector.

Example: In the above example of face, if all the features (eyes, ears, nose etc) taken
together then the sequence is feature vector([eyes, ears, nose]). Feature vector is the
sequence of a features represented as a d-dimensional column vector. In case of
speech, MFCC (Melfrequency Cepstral Coefficent) is the spectral features of the
speech. Sequence of first 13 features forms a feature vector.

Pattern is everything around in this digital world. A pattern can either be seen
physically or it can be observed mathematically by applying algorithms.

Example: The colours on the clothes, speech pattern etc. In computer science, a
pattern is represented using vector features values.
Pattern recognition possesses the following features:

Pattern recognition system should recognise familiar pattern quickly and accurate
 Recognize and classify unfamiliar objects
 Accurately recognize shapes and objects from different angles
 Identify patterns and objects even when partly hidden
 Recognise patterns quickly with ease, and with automaticity.

Training and Learning in Pattern Recognition

Learning
is a phenomena through which a system gets trained and becomes adaptable to give
result in an accurate manner. Learning is the most important phase as how well the
system performs on the data provided to the system depends on which algorithms
used on the data. Entire dataset is divided into two categories, one which is used in
training the model i.e. Training set and the other that is used in testing the model after
training, i.e. Testing set.

Training
Training set is used to build a model. It consists of the set of images which are used to
train the system. Training rules and algorithms used give relevant information on how

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to associate input data with output decision. The system is trained by applying these
algorithms on the dataset, all the relevant information is extracted from the data and
results are obtained. Generally, 80% of the data of the dataset is taken for training
data.

Testing
Testing data is used to test the system. It is the set of data which is used to verify
whether the system is producing the correct output after being trained or not.
Generally, 20% of the data of the dataset is used for testing. Testing data is used to
measure the accuracy of the system. Example: a system which identifies which
category a particular flower belongs to, is able to identify seven category of flowers
correctly out of ten and rest others wrong, then the accuracy is 70 %

Real-time Examples and Explanations:

A pattern is a physical object or an abstract notion. While talking about the classes of
animals, a description of an animal would be a pattern. While talking about various
types of balls, then a description of a ball is a pattern. In the case balls considered as
pattern, the classes could be football, cricket ball, table tennis ball etc. Given a new
pattern, the class of the pattern is to be determined. The choice of attributes and
representation of patterns is a very important step in pattern classification. A good
representation is one which makes use of discriminating attributes and also reduces
the computational burden in pattern classification.
An obvious representation of a pattern will be a vector. Each element of the vector can
represent one attribute of the pattern. The first element of the vector will contain the
value of the first attribute for the pattern being considered.

Example: While representing spherical objects, (25, 1) may be represented as an

spherical object with 25 units of weight and 1 unit diameter. The class label can form a
part of the vector. If spherical objects belong to class 1, the vector would be (25, 1, 1),
where the first element represents the weight of the object, the second element, the
diameter of the object and the third element represents the class of the object.

Advantages:
 Pattern recognition solves classification problems
 Pattern recognition solves the problem of fake bio metric detection.
 It is useful for cloth pattern recognition for visually impaired blind people.
 It helps in speaker diarization.
 We can recognise particular object from different angle.

Disadvantages:
 Syntactic Pattern recognition approach is complex to implement and it is very
slow process.
 Sometime to get better accuracy, larger dataset is required.

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 It cannot explain why a particular object is recognized.

Example: my face vs my friend’s face.

Applications:
 Image processing, segmentation and analysis
Pattern recognition is used to give human recognition intelligence to machine
which is required in image processing.
 Computer vision

Pattern recognition is used to extract meaningful features from given image/video

samples and is used in computer vision for various applications like biological
and biomedical imaging.
 Seismic analysis

Pattern recognition approach is used for the discovery, imaging and

interpretation of temporal patterns in seismic array recordings. Statistical pattern
recognition is implemented and used in different types of seismic analysis
models.
 Radar signal classification/analysis

Pattern recognition and Signal processing methods are used in various

applications of radar signal classifications like AP mine detection and
identification.
 Speech recognition

The greatest success in speech recognition has been obtained using pattern
recognition paradigms. It is used in various algorithms of speech recognition
which tries to avoid the problems of using a phoneme level of description and
treats larger units such as words as pattern
 Finger print identification

The fingerprint recognition technique is a dominant technology in the biometric

market. A number of recognition methods have been used to perform fingerprint
matching out of which pattern recognition approaches is widely used.

Ecological Theory of Perception

During World War II, difficulties had been encountered in the flying of aircraft,
particularly landing, and in the training of pilots (Gibson, 1979/1986). Tests had been
given for depth perception using the static, frozen-in-time, stimulus presentations in two
dimensions that are intended to assess perception of monocular and binocular depth
cues. Tests might be for linear perspective or apparent size, or other monocular or
binocular cues of depth.

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None of these tests, as it turned out, were able to predict how well a student pilot
would perform. The traditional theory of depth perception was not working; it failed to
apply where it should have. Gibson puzzled over this and came to realize that the
traditional theory of depth perception was wrong.

Helmholtz (1866, in F. H. Allport, 1955) had struggled with the fact that visual
perception of three dimensions was based upon a two-dimensional structure—the
retina (the retina was flat and visual sensations without depth; Gibson, 1966). It was
not possible, given that barrier, to perceive the three dimensions immediately.
Helmholtz proposed that cues, which were signs of distance, provided the basis for
making unconscious inferences regarding size and distance (Hilgard, 1987).

Based upon his research Gibson (1979/1986) began to suspect that the traditional list
of depth cues was simply not sufficient. Pondering the situation, he theorized that light
provided information and that the changes taking place

Gibson’s Ecological Theory In his ecological theory,

Gibson (1966, 1979/1986) emphasizes the inseparable relation between perceptual
systems and the physical world in which they evolved. The words animal and
environment, from this perspective, imply each other; they cannot be disconnected.
Reciprocity exists between animal and environment and, while they are
distinguishable, they are mutually supportive (Lombardo, 1987). The ecological
approach takes as its unit of study the animal in its environment, considered as an
interactive system.

The relations within this system are reciprocal, with the reciprocity including a species
evolving in an environment to which it becomes adapted, and an individual acting in its
own niche, developing and learning. (Gibson and Pick, 2000, p. 14) In this reciprocal
interaction the environment makes available resources, opportunities and information
for action.

Actions themselves result in feedback (more information) that can lead to alterations in
action. When chasing down prey, for instance, if it begins to pull away from one, speed
can either be increased to compensate and overtake, or the chase broken off if that is
not possible. In progressing toward some end, whatever that may be, one can
continuously monitor one’s progress and make adjustments as required.

Perception can be conceived of as an evolved adaptation to lawful relations between

the environment and the energy arrays, e.g., optic, acoustic, chemical, that surround
individuals and act upon their sensory receptors. It is through the ecological reciprocity
that Gibson transcends the barrier of the senses and discovers the basis for direct
realism.

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This was not a position, however, that Gibson arrived at easily or without a great deal
of thought and experimentation. In order to get to that point Gibson, who had originally
been aligned with the constructionists, had to realize that problems existed for that
perspective.

Gibson’s discontent was not simply with the stimulus materials and experimental
methods of the constructionists. With Helmholtz the place of commencement for the
study of vision was at the retina, with sense impressions and receptor reactions. Up to
1950 this had been Gibson’s focus, i.e., the retinal image as the stimulus for the eye
(Gibson, 1966). With a change in perspective, he proposed that Newton had misled us
when he suggested that light rays painted a picture of the visible object on the back of
the eye.

The retinal image, contrary to this, is not a picture. That is misleading since it suggests
something looked at. The retinal image is a scintillation—a flash or a trace—because
the retina jerks about (saccadic movement) and it has a gap called the blind spot
where the optic nerve leaves the eye. It was a further misconception,
argued Gibson, to think that a retinal sensory pattern can be impressed on the brain
neural tissue since the neural pattern never existed in the retinal mosaic. A further
reason for discounting the retina as the basis for visual perception was what was found
through cross-species comparisons.

The visual organs of octopi, rabbits, bees, spiders, flies, and humans differ widely but
all suggest visual perception of those conditions in the environment that are essential
to surviving.

What is Learning Process: Fundamental theories: Thorndike, Guthrie, Hull

Classical Conditioning: Procedure, phenomena and related issues Instrumental
learning: Phenomena, Paradigms and theoretical issues; Reinforcement: Basic
variables and schedules; Behaviour modification and its applications Cognitive
approaches in learning: Latent learning, observational learning. Verbal learning
and Discrimination learning Recent trends in learning: Neurophysiology of
learning?

Learning Process: Fundamental theories: Thorndike, Guthrie, Hull Classical

Conditioning: Procedure, phenomena and related issues Instrumental learning:
Phenomena, Paradigms and theoretical issues; Reinforcement: Basic variables
and schedules; Behaviour modification and its applications Cognitive
approaches in learning: Latent learning, observational learning. Verbal learning
and Discrimination learning Recent trends in learning: Neurophysiology of
learning

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Learning Process: Fundamental theories: Thorndike, Guthrie, Hull Classical

The underlying ability a teacher must have to orchestrate differentiated instruction day
after day, hour after hour, by assessing his/her students and adjusting strategies and
tactics moment by moment, requires sophisticated knowledge and skills.

To successfully use differentiated instruction, a teacher must first have a firm

understanding of each of the cognitive components of the learning process, what they
look like when they are working, and what the specific subcomponents of each look
like when they are breaking down. Next, a teacher must develop a rich repertoire of
strategies and tactics from which to pull the exact strategy or tactic that will address a
specific breakdown for a specific task, at the right moment. Using a great strategy at
the wrong time, or mismatching a strategy with breakdown for which the strategy will
yield no gains, will frustrate students and teachers alike when the strategy fails to
produce the desired result.

Attention
Paying attention is the first step in learning anything. It is easy for most of us to pay
attention to things that are interesting or exciting to us. It is difficult for most of us to
pay attention to things that are not. When something is not interesting to us, it is easier
to become distracted, to move to a more stimulating topic or activity, or to tune out.

The teacher’s job is to construct lessons that connect to the learner. Relating what is to
be taught to the students’ lives can accomplish this. Relate Romeo and Juliet, for
example, to the realities in our communities of prejudice, unfounded hatred and gang
wars. Or relate today’s discrimination to The Diary of Anne Frank, and hold class
discussions of discrimination that students have personally experienced or witnessed.

Physical movement can help to “wake up” a mind. When a student shows signs of
inattentiveness and/or restlessness, teachers can provide the student with
opportunities to move around. Many students with attention challenges actually need to
move in order to remain alert. It is wise to find acceptable, non-destructive ways for
these students to be active. Responsibilities such as erasing the board, taking a
message to the office, and collecting papers can offer appropriate outlets for activity.

Memory
Memory is the complex process that uses three systems to help a person receive, use,
store, and retrieve information. The three memory systems are (1) short-term memory
(e.g., remembering a phone number you got from information just long enough to dial
it), (2) working memory (e.g., keeping the necessary information “files” out on the
mind’s “desktop” while performing a task such as writing a paragraph or working a long
division problem), and (3) long-term memory (a mind’s ever expanding file cabinet for
important information we want to retrieve over time).

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Students who have difficulty with both short-term and working memory may need
directions repeated to them. Giving directions both orally and in written form, and giving
examples of what is expected will help all students. All students will benefit from self-
testing. Students should be asked to identify the important information, formulate test
questions and then answer them. This tactic is also effective in cooperative learning
groups and has been shown by evidence-based research to increase reading
comprehension (NICHD, 2000).

Language
Language is the primary means by which we give and receive information in school.
The two language processing systems are expressive and receptive. We use
expressive language when we speak and write, and we use receptive language when
we read and listen. Students with good language processing skills usually do well in
school. Problems with language, on the other hand, can affect a student’s ability to
communicate effectively, understand and store verbal and written information,
understand what others say, and maintain relationships with others.

All students will benefit from systematic, cumulative, and explicit teaching of reading
and writing.
Students who have receptive language challenges such as a slower processing speed
must use a lot of mental energy to listen, and, therefore, may tire easily. Consequently,
short, highly structured lectures or group discussion times should be balanced with
frequent breaks or quiet periods. Oral instructions may also need to be repeated and/or
provided in written form.

Broadening the way we communicate information in the classroom can connect all
students more to the topic at hand, and especially students with language challenges.
Using visual communication such as pictures and videos to reinforce verbal
communication is helpful to all students, and especially to students with receptive
language challenges. Challenge students to invent ways to communicate with pictures
and other visuals, drama, sculpture, dance and music, and watch memory of key
concepts increase and classrooms come alive.

Organization
We process and organize information in two main ways: simultaneous (spatial)
and successive (sequential). Simultaneous processing is the process we use to order
or organize information in space. Having a good sense of direction and being able to
“see” how puzzle pieces fit together are two examples of simultaneous processing.

Successive processing is what we use to order or organize information in time and

sequence. Concepts of time, dates, and order – yesterday, today, and tomorrow,
months of the year, mathematical procedures such as division and multiplication, word
order in sentences, and sentence order in paragraphs are examples of sequential
processing. Students who are good at successive organization usually have little or no

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trouble with time management and usually find it easy to organize an essay in a
sequence that is logical.

Graphomotor
The writing process requires neural, visual, and muscular coordination to produce
written work. It is not an act of will but rather an act of coordination among those
functions. Often the student who seems unmotivated to complete written work is the
student whose writing coordination is klutzy. We have long accepted that students may
fall on a continuum from very athletic to clumsy when it comes to sports, but we have
not known until recently that some students are writing “athletes” while others writing
klutzes. Just as practice, practice, practice will not make a football all-star out of an
absolute klutz, practice and acts of will not make a writing all-star out of someone
whose neurological wiring does not allow her to be a high performing graphomotor
athlete.

Students with handwriting difficulties may benefit from the opportunity to provide oral
answers to exercises, quizzes, and tests. Having computers in place for all children
helps level the playing field for the graphomotor klutz. Parents and teachers should be
aware, however, that many children with graphomotor challenges may also have
difficulty with the quick muscular coordination required by the keyboard.

Higher Order Thinking

Higher order thinking (HOT) is more than memorizing facts or relating information in
exactly the same words as the teacher or book expresses it. Higher order thinking
requires that we do something with the facts. We must understand and manipulate the
information.
HOT includes concept formation; concept connection; problem solving; grasping the
“big picture”; visualizing; creativity; questioning; inferring; creative, analytical and
practical thinking; and metacognition. Metacognition is thinking about thinking, knowing
about knowing, and knowing how you think, process information, and learn.

A person with metacognition also monitors and regulates how he learns. He can take a
task and decide how best to accomplish it by using his strategies and skills effectively.
He knows how he would best learn a new math procedure and which strategies he
would use to understand and remember a science concept. He understands the best
way for him to organize an essay – whether he would be more successful by using an
outline, a graphic organizer or a mind map. He has mental self-management.
Psychologist Robert Sternberg lists six components of mental self-management:

1. Know your strengths and weaknesses.

2. Capitalize on your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses.
3. Defy negative expectations.
4. Believe in yourself (self-efficacy).

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5. Seek out role models.

6. Seek out an environment where you can make a difference.
Ultimately, this is where we hope students who attend our schools will be upon
graduation. As adults, we should model our own metacognition, talk about
metacognition, and give meaningful examples of metacognition often and well.

Teaching students about the six components of the learning process – attention,
memory, language, processing and organizing, graphomotor (writing) and higher order
thinking, then, demystifies learning and provides an opportunity to increase their
metacognition. It also enhances their sense of self-worth. A student who understands
that she may need to use a particular strategy to help her working memory function
better or that taking frequent breaks will help her stay more focused on her homework
assignments is much better off than thinking that she is stupid or lazy.

Emotions
Emotions control the on-off switch to learning. When we are relaxed and calm, our
learning processes have a green light. When we are uptight, anxious, or afraid, our
learning processes have a red light. In the classroom, tension slams the steel door of
the mind shut. Creating a non-threatening classroom environment or climate where
mistakes are welcomed as learning opportunities reduces tension, opens the mind and
increases the opportunity for learning.

The more teachers know about how learning takes place – how information is
processed, manipulated and created, the more we will know about what it looks like
when it’s working and what it looks like when it starts to break down. Then, rather than
thinking a student isn’t motivated, teachers will look to see if it is attention, memory,
language, organizing, graphomotor or higher order thinking that needs an intervention.

Motivation
It is every teacher’s job to motivate every student. Learning more about the brain and
the development of the mind, studying new information on learning, making learning
meaningful and learning about learning, watching the learning process, monitoring
closely for breakdowns, and celebrating the successes of every student – these are
our challenges as we create schools that honor diversity – the schools all children
deserve.

Fundamental theories: Thorndike

Edward Thorndike (1898) is famous in psychology for his work on learning theory that
lead to the development of operant conditioning within Behaviorism.

Whereas classical conditioning depends on developing associations between events,

operant conditioning involves learning from the consequences of our behavior.

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Edward Thorndike put forward a “Law of effect” which stated that any behavior that is
followed by pleasant consequences is likely to be repeated, and any behavior followed
by unpleasant consequences is likely to be stopped.

Critical Evaluation
Thorndike (1905) introduced the concept of reinforcement and was the first to apply
psychological principles to the area of learning.
His research led to many theories and laws of learning, such as operant conditioning.
Skinner (1938), like Thorndike, put animals in boxes and observed them to see what
they were able to learn.
The learning theories of Thorndike and Pavlov were later synthesized by Hull (1935).
Thorndike's research drove comparative psychology for fifty years, and influenced
countless psychologists over that period of time, and even still today.

The theory suggests that transfer of learning depends upon the presence of identical
elements in the original and new learning situations; i.e., transfer is always specific,
never general. In later versions of the theory, the concept of “belongingness” was
introduced; connections are more readily established if the person perceives that
stimuli or responses go together (c.f. Gestalt principles). Another concept introduced
was “polarity” which specifies that connections occur more easily in the direction in
which they were originally formed than the opposite. Thorndike also introduced the
“spread of effect” idea, i.e., rewards affect not only the connection that produced them
but temporally adjacent connections as well.

Application
Connectionism was meant to be a general theory of learning for animals and humans.
Thorndike was especially interested in the application of his theory to education
including mathematics (Thorndike, 1922), spelling and reading (Thorndike, 1921),
measurement of intelligence (Thorndike et al., 1927) and adult learning (Thorndike at
al., 1928).

Example
The classic example of Thorndike’s S-R theory was a cat learning to escape from a
“puzzle box” by pressing a lever inside the box. After much trial and error behavior, the
cat learns to associate pressing the lever (S) with opening the door (R). This S-R
connection is established because it results in a satisfying state of affairs (escape from
the box). The law of exercise specifies that the connection was established because
the S-R pairing occurred many times (the law of effect) and was rewarded (law of
effect) as well as forming a single sequence (law of readiness).

Fundamental theories: Guthrie

Guthrie attempted to explain learning through association of stimuli with responses.
Learning, in terms of behavior is a function of the environment. According to Guthrie,
learning is associating a particular stimulus with a particular response. This

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association, however, will only occur if stimuli and responses occur soon
enough one after another (the contiguity law). The association is established on
the first experienced instance of the stimulus (one trial learning). Repetitions
or reinforcements in terms of reward or punishment do not influence the strength of
this connection. Still, every stimulus is a bit different, which results in many trials in
order to form a general response. This was according to Guthrie the only type of
learning identifying him not as reinforcement theorist, but contiguity theorist.

More complex behaviors are composed of a series of movements (habits where each
movement is a small stimulus-response combination. This movements or are actually
what is being learned in each one trial learning rather than behaviors. Learning a
number of moves forms an act (incremental learning). Unsuccessful acts remain not
learned because they are replaced by later successfully learned acts.

Other researchers like John Watson studied whole acts just because it was easier, but
movements are, according to Guthrie what should actually be studied.
Forgetting occurs not due to time passage, but due to interference. As time passes,
stimulus can become associated with new responses. Three different methods can
help in forgetting an undesirable old habit and help replacing it
 Fatigue method - using numerous repetitions, an animal becomes so fatigued
that it is unable to reproduce the old response, and introduces a new response
(or simply doesn't react).
 Threshold method - first, a very mild version of the stimulus below the threshold
level is introduced. Its intensity is then slowly increased until the full stimulus can
be tolerated without causing the undesirable response
 Incompatible stimuli method - the response is “unlearned” by placing the
animal in a situation where it cannot exhibit the undesirable response.
Although it was intended to be a general theory of learning, Guthrie's theory was tested
mostly on animals.

What is the practical meaning of contiguity theory and one trial learning?
In Guthrie's own words, “we learn only what we ourselves do”.
Learning must be active, but as such must involve both teacher's and students'
activity in order to relate stimulus with a response within a time limit. Guthrie also
applied his ideas to treatment of personality disorders.

Criticisms
Guthrie's theory was first preferred, due to its simplicity, but later criticized for the
same reason. Its simplicity was later turned into incompleteness. It was also based on
too little experimental data and criticized for being unable to explain why people often
behave differently in same situations

Guthrie’s contiguity theory specifies that “a combination of stimuli which has

accompanied a movement will on its recurrence tend to be followed by that

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movement”. According to Guthrie, all learning was a consequence of association

between a particular stimulus and response. Furthermore, Guthrie argued that stimuli
and responses affect specific sensory-motor patterns; what is learned are movements,
not behaviors.

Application
Contiguity theory is intended to be a general theory of learning, although most of the
research supporting the theory was done with animals. Guthrie did apply his framework
to personality disorders (e.g. Guthrie, 1938).

Example
The classic experimental paradigm for Contiguity theory is cats learning to escape from
a puzzle box (Guthrie & Horton, 1946). Guthrie used a glass paneled box that allowed
him to photograph the exact movements of cats. These photographs showed that cats
learned to repeat the same sequence of movements associated with the preceding
escape from the box. Improvement comes about because irrelevant movements are
unlearned or not included in successive associations.

Principles
1. In order for conditioning to occur, the organism must actively respond (i.e., do
things).
2. Since learning involves the conditioning of specific movements, instruction must
present very specific tasks.
3. Exposure to many variations in stimulus patterns is desirable in order to produce
a generalized response.
4. The last response in a learning situation should be correct since it is the one that
will be associated.

Hull - learning theory

INTRODUCTION
Learning is one of the most important topics in present-day psychology, yet it is an
extremely difficult concept to define. Learning occupies a very important place in our
life. Most of what we do or do not do is influenced by what we learnt it. Learning
therefore provides a key to the structure of our personality and behavior. An individual
starts to learning immediately after his birth or in a strict sense even in womb of the
mother. Experience direct or indirect is found to play a dominant role in molding and
shaping our behavior of the individual from the very beginning. The change in behavior
brought about by experience is commonly known as learning. In this way, the term
learning broadly speaking, stands for all those changes and modifications in the
behavior of the individual which he undergoes during his life time.

DEFINITION
Gardner Murphy (1968)

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The term learning covers every modification in behavior to meet environmental

requirements.
Henry P. Smith (1962)

Learning is the acquisition of new behavior or the strengthening or weakening of old

behavior as the result of experience.
Crow and Crow (1973)
Learning is the acquisition of habits, knowledge and attitudes. It involves new ways of
doing things, and it operates in an individual’s attempts to overcome obstacles or to
adjust to new situation. It represents progressive changes in behavior. It enables him
to satisfy interests to attain goals.
Kimble (1961)
Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavioral potentiality that occurs as a
result of reinforced practice.
The above definition reveals the following facts:
1. Learning is a process and not a product.
2. It involves all those experience and training of an individual (right from birth)
which help him to produce changes in his behavior
3. Learning leads to changes in behavior but this does not necessarily mean that
these changes always bring about improvement or positive development. One has an
equal chance to drift to the negative side of human personality.
4. Learning prepares an individual for any adjustment and adaptation that may be
necessary
Clark Hull grew up handicapped and contracted polio at the age of 24, yet he became
one of the great contributors to psychology. His family was not well off so his education
had to be stopped at times. Clark earned extra money through teaching. Originally
Clark aspired to be a great engineer, but that was before he fell in love with the field of
Psychology.
By the age of 29 he graduated from Michigan University.

HULL LEARNING THEORY

1. DERIVE REDUCTION THEORY
Drive Reduction Theory - the notion that behavior occurs in response to "drives" such
as hunger, thirst, sexual interest, feeling cold, etc. When the goal of the drive is
attained (food, water, mating, warmth) the drive is reduced, and this constitutes
reinforcement of the behaviors that lead to the drive reduction, and ultimately learning.

Hull viewed the drive as a stimulus, arising from a tissue need, which in turn stimulates
behavior. The strength of the drive is determined upon the length of the deprivation, or
the intensity / strength of the resulting behavior. He believed the drive to be non-
specific, which means that the drive does not direct behavior rather it functions to
energize it. In addition this drive reduction is the reinforcement.

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Hull's learning theory focuses mainly on the principle of reinforcement; when an S-R
relationship is followed by a reduction of the need, the probability increases that in
future similar situations the same stimulus will create the same prior response.
Reinforcement can be defined in terms of reduction of a primary need. Just as Hull
believed that there were secondary drives, he also felt that there were secondary
reinforcements - “If the intensity of the stimulus is reduced as the result of a secondary
or learned drive, it will act as a secondary reinforcement" (Schultz & Schultz, 1987, p
241). The way to strengthen the S-R response is to increase the number of
reinforcements, habit strength.

1. Change in the traditional S-R notion

Hull introduced concept of intervening variables between S and R. Accordingly, when a
stimulus(S) impinges on the organism, it results in a sensory neural impulse(s) a kind
of stimulus trace. This stimulus trace ultimately causes a motor neural reaction(r) those
results in an overt response (R). Thus we may have the formula S-s-r-R instead of the
traditional S-R. However, there are so many other things within the inner mechanism
of the organism like his interest, needs and drives also the reinforcing mechanism that
may influence his response or behavior.

The concept of Drive Stimuli Reduction

Originally, Hull had a drive reduction theory of learning, but later he revised it to a Drive
Stimuli Reduction theory of learning. One reason for the change was the realization
that if a thirsty animal is given water as a reinforce for performing some act, it takes a
considerable amount of time for the thirst drive to be satisfied by the water. The water
goes into the mouth, the throat, the stomach, and eventually the blood. The effects of
ingestion of water must ultimately reach the brain, and finally the thirst drive will be
reduced. Hull concluded that the drive reduction was too far removed from the
presentation of the reinforce to explain how learning could take place. What was
needed to explain learning was something that occurred soon after the presentation of
a reinforce, and that something was the reduction of drive stimuli (SD).

REASONS
1. Drive stimuli for thirst include dryness in the mouth and parched lips. Water
almost immediately reduces such stimulation thus hull had the mechanism he needed
for explaining learning.
2. It was provided by Sheffield and Roby (1950), who found that hungry rats were
reinforced by non- nutritive saccharine, which could not possibly have reduced the
hunger drive.

Incentive motivation (K)

Results found by Crepsi and Zeaman led hull to reach the conclusion that organism
learn as rapidly for a small incentive as they do for large one, but they perform
differently as size of the incentive (K) varies. The rapid change in performance

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following a change in reinforcement size is referred to as the Crepsi effect, after the
man who first observed it.

Stimulus-Intensity Dynamism
According to hull, Stimulus-Intensity Dynamism (V) is an intervening variable that
varies along with the intensity of the external stimulus(S). Stated simply, Stimulus-
Intensity Dynamism indicates that the greater the intensity of a stimulus, the greater
the probability that a learned response will be elicited. Thus we must revise hull’s
earlier formula as follows
sEr = (sHr x D x K x V) - (sIr + Ir) – sOr
It is interesting to note that because sHr , D, K and V are multiplied together, if any
one had a value of zero, reaction potential would be zero. For example there could
have been many pairings between S and R (sHr), but if drive is zero, reinforcement is
zero or the organism cannot detect the stimulus, a learned response will not occur.
Hull’s final system summarized
There are three kinds of variable in hull’s theory:
1. Independent variable –which are stimulus events systematically manipulated by
the experimenter.
2. Intervening variables – which are process thought to be taking place within the
organism but directly observable.
3. Dependent variables – which are some aspect of behavior that is measured
by the experimenter in order to determine whether the independent variables had any
effect.

EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATION
The development of curriculum
In this reference hull emphasized the importance of needs in learning process and
accordingly the needs of all categories of children should be incorporated in the
curriculum learning becomes meaningful only when it satisfies the needs of children.
The know actual needs of the students by teacher and parents
Hull is fells that teachers and parents of the student should also share their
responsibility in teaching the actual needs of the student through various means proper
guidance is must for their attitude and aptitudes.

Emphasized anxiety as a drive in human learning

From this line of reasoning, it follows that encouraging some anxiety in students that
could subsequently be reduced by success is a necessary condition for classroom
learning. Too little anxiety results in no learning (because there is no drive to be
reduced), and too much anxiety is disruptive. Therefore, students who are mildly
anxious are in the best position to learn and are therefore easiest to teach.
Hull’s system of learning advocated the following chain sequence for improved results
in the teaching-learning process:

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a. Drive – This is something which is needed by the learner in order to behave or

respond.
b. Cue – There must be something to which the learner must respond.
c. Response – The learner must be made to respond in order to learn some act.
d. Reward – The learner’s response must be reinforced or rewarded, thus enabling
him to learn what he wants to learn.
Hull developed a version of behaviorism in which the stimulus (S) affects the organism
(O) and the resulting response (R) depends upon characteristics of both O and S. In
other words, Hull was interested in studying intervening variables that affected
behavior such as initial drive, incentives, inhibitors, and prior training (habit strength).
Like other forms of behavior theory, reinforcement is the primary factor that determines
learning. However, in Hull’s theory, drive reduction or need satisfaction plays a much
more important role in behavior than in other frameworks (i.e., connectionism, operant
conditioning).

Hull’s theoretical framework consisted of many postulates stated in mathematical form;

They include:
(1) organisms possess a hierarchy of needs which are aroused under conditions of
stimulation and drive,
(2) habit strength increases with activities that are associated with primary or
secondary reinforcement,
(3) habit strength aroused by a stimulus other than the one originally conditioned
depends upon the closeness of the second stimulus in terms of discrimination
thresholds,
(4) stimuli associated with the cessation of a response become conditioned inhibitors,
(5) the more the effective reaction potential exceeds the reaction theshold, the shorter
the latency of response. As these postulates indicate, Hull proposed many types of
variables that accounted for generalization, motivation, and variability (oscillation) in
learning.
One of the most important concepts in Hull’s theory was the habit strength hierarchy:
for a given stimulus, an organism can respond in a number of ways. The likelihood of a
specific response has a probability which can be changed by reward and is affected by
various other variables (e.g. inhibition). In some respects, habit strength hierarchies
resemble components of cognitive theories such as schema and production systems .

Application
Hull’s theory is meant to be a general theory of learning. Most of the research
underlying the theory was done with animals, except for Hull et al. (1940) which
focused on verbal learning. Miller & Dollard (1941) represents an attempt to apply the
theory to a broader range of learning phenomena. As an interesting aside, Hull began
his career researching hypnosis – an area that landed him in some controversy at Yale
(Hull, 1933).

Example

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Here is an example described by Miller & Dollard (1941): A six year old girl who is
hungry and wants candy is told that there is candy hidden under one of the books in a
bookcase. The girl begins to pull out books in a random manner until she finally finds
the correct book (210 seconds). She is sent out of the room and a new piece of candy
is hidden under the same book. In her next search, she is much more directed and
finds the candy in 86 seconds. By the ninth repetition of this experiment, the girl finds
the candy immediately (2 seconds). The girl exhibited a drive for the candy and looking
under books represented her responses to reduce this drive. When she eventually
found the correct book, this particular response was rewarded, forming a habit. On
subsequent trials, the strength of this habit was increased until it became a single
stimulus-response connection in this setting.
Principles
1. Drive is essential in order for responses to occur (i.e., the student must want to
learn).
2. Stimuli and responses must be detected by the organism in order for conditioning
to occur ( i.e., the student must be attentive).
3. Response must be made in order for conditioning to occur (i.e., the student must
be active).
4. Conditioning only occurs if the reinforcement satisfied a need (i.e, the learning
must satisfy the learner’s wants).
.

Classical Conditioning: Procedure, phenomena and related issues

Classical conditioning (also known as Pavlovian conditioning) is learning through

association and was discovered by Pavlov, a Russian physiologist. In simple terms,
two stimuli are linked together to produce a new learned response in a person or
animal.
John Watson proposed that the process of classical conditioning (based on Pavlov’s
observations) was able to explain all aspects of human psychology.
Everything from speech to emotional responses was simply patterns of stimulus and
response. Watson denied completely the existence of the mind or consciousness.
Watson believed that all individual differences in behavior were due to different
experiences of learning.

Stage 1: Before Conditioning:

In this stage, the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) produces an unconditioned response
(UCR) in an organism.
In basic terms, this means that a stimulus in the environment has produced a behavior
/ response which is unlearned (i.e., unconditioned) and therefore is a natural response
which has not been taught. In this respect, no new behavior has been learned yet.

This stage also involves another stimulus which has no effect on a person and is called
the neutral stimulus (NS). The NS could be a person, object, place, etc.

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The neutral stimulus in classical conditioning does not produce a response until it is
paired with the unconditioned stimulus.

During Conditioning:
During this stage, a stimulus which produces no response (i.e., neutral) is associated
with the unconditioned stimulus at which point it now becomes known as the
conditioned stimulus (CS).
For example, a stomach virus (UCS) might be associated with eating a certain food
such as chocolate (CS). Also, perfume (UCS) might be associated with a specific
person (CS).
For classical conditioning to be effective, the conditioned stimulus should occur before
the unconditioned stimulus, rather than after it, or during the same time. Thus, the
conditioned stimulus acts as a type of signal or cue for the unconditioned stimulus.

After Conditioning:
Now the conditioned stimulus (CS) has been associated with the unconditioned
stimulus (UCS) to create a new conditioned response (CR).
For example, a person (CS) who has been associated with nice perfume (UCS) is now
found attractive (CR). Also, chocolate (CS) which was eaten before a person was sick
with a virus (UCS) now produces a response of nausea (CR).

Classical Conditioning in the Classroom

The implications of classical conditioning in the classroom are less important than
those of operant conditioning, but there is a still need for teachers to try to make sure
that students associate positive emotional experiences with learning.
If a student associates negative emotional experiences with school, then this can
obviously have bad results, such as creating a school phobia.

For example, if a student is bullied at school they may learn to associate the school
with fear. It could also explain why some students show a particular dislike of certain
subjects that continue throughout their academic career. This could happen if a student
is humiliated or punished in class by a teacher.
Critical Evaluation

Basic Principles of Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning is a form of learning whereby a conditioned stimulus
(CS) becomes associated with an unrelated unconditioned stimulus (US) in order to
produce a behavioral response known as a conditioned response (CR). The
conditioned response is the learned response to the previously neutral stimulus.

Pavlov’s Famous Study

The best-known of Pavlov’s experiments involves the study of the salivation of dogs.
Pavlov was originally studying the saliva of dogs as it related to digestion, but as he
conducted his research, he noticed that the dogs would begin to salivate every time he

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entered the room—even if he had no food. The dogs were associating his entrance
into the room with being fed. This led Pavlov to design a series of experiments in which
he used various sound objects, such as a buzzer, to condition the salivation response
in dogs.

He started by sounding a buzzer each time food was given to the dogs and found that
the dogs would start salivating immediately after hearing the buzzer—
even before seeing the food. After a period of time, Pavlov began sounding the buzzer
without giving any food at all and found that the dogs continued to salivate at the sound
of the buzzer even in the absence of food. They had learned to associate the sound of
the buzzer with being fed.
If we look at Pavlov’s experiment, we can identify the four factors of classical
conditioning at work:
 The unconditioned response was the dogs’ natural salivation in response to
seeing or smelling their food.
 The unconditioned stimulus was the sight or smell of the food itself.
 The conditioned stimulus was the ringing of the bell, which previously had no
association with food.
 The conditioned response, therefore, was the salivation of the dogs in response
to the ringing of the bell, even when no food was present.
Pavlov had successfully associated an unconditioned response (natural salivation in
response to food) with a conditioned stimulus (a buzzer), eventually creating
a conditioned response (salivation in response to a buzzer). With these results, Pavlov
established his theory of classical conditioning.

Neurological Response to Conditioning

Consider how the conditioned response occurs in the brain. When a dog sees food, the
visual and olfactory stimuli send information to the brain through their respective neural
pathways, ultimately activating the salivation glands to secrete saliva. This reaction is a
natural biological process as saliva aids in the digestion of food. When a dog hears a
buzzer and at the same time sees food, the auditory stimulus activates the associated
neural pathways.

However, because these pathways are being activated at the same time as the other
neural pathways, there are weak synapse reactions that occur between the auditory
stimulus and the behavioral response. Over time, these synapses are strengthened so
that it only takes the sound of a buzzer (or a bell) to activate the pathway leading to
salivation.

Behaviorism and Other Research

Pavlov’s research contributed to other studies and theories in behaviorism, which is an
approach to psychology interested in observable behaviors rather than the inner
workings of the mind. The philosopher Bertrand Russell argued that Pavlov’s work was

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an important contribution to a philosophy of mind. Pavlov’s research also contributed to

Hans Eysench’s personality theory of introversion and extroversion.

Classical Conditioning in Humans

The influence of classical conditioning can be seen in responses such as phobias,
disgust, nausea, anger, and sexual arousal. A familiar example is conditioned nausea,
in which the sight or smell of a particular food causes nausea because it caused
stomach upset in the past. Similarly, when the sight of a dog has been associated with
a memory of being bitten, the result may be a conditioned fear of dogs.

As an adaptive mechanism, conditioning helps shield an individual from harm or

prepare them for important biological events, such as sexual activity. Thus, a stimulus
that has occurred before sexual interaction comes to cause sexual arousal, which
prepares the individual for sexual contact. For example, sexual arousal has been
conditioned in human subjects by pairing a stimulus like a picture of a jar of pennies
with views of an erotic film clip. Similar experiments involving blue gourami fish and
domesticated quail have shown that such conditioning can increase the number of
offspring. These results suggest that conditioning techniques might help to increase
fertility rates in infertile individuals and endangered species.

Issues
Classical conditioning is one of those introductory psychology terms that gets thrown
around. Many people have a general idea that it is one of the most basic forms of
associative learning, and people often know that Ivan Pavlov's 1927 experiment with
dogs has something to do with it, but that is often where it ends.

Classical Conditioning, Explained

The most important thing to remember is that classical conditioning involves automatic
or reflexive responses, and not voluntary behavior (that's operant conditioning, and that
is a different post). What does this mean? For one thing, that means that the only
responses that can be elicited out of a classical conditioning paradigm are ones that
rely on responses that are naturally made by the animal (or human) that is being
trained.

Also, it means that the response you hope to elicit must occur below the level of
conscious awareness - for example, salivation, nausea, increased or decreased
heartrate, pupil dilation or constriction, or even a reflexive motor response (such as
recoiling from a painful stimulus). In other words, these sorts of responses
are involuntary.
The basic classical conditioning procedure goes like this: a neutral stimulus is paired
with an unconditional stimulus (UCS). The neutral stimulus can be anything, as long as
it does not provoke any sort of response in the organism. On the other hand, the
unconditional stimulus is something that reliably results in a natural response. For
example, if you shine a light into a human eye, the pupil will automatically constrict

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(you can actually see this happen if you watch your eyes in a mirror as you turn on and
off a light). Pavlov called this the "unconditional response." (UCR)

As soon as the neutral stimulus is presented with the UCS, it becomes

a conditional stimulus (CS). If the CS and UCS always occur together, then the two
stimuli would become associated over time. The response that was initially produced in
response to the UCS would also be produced in response to the CS, even if it was
presented alone. Pavlov called this the "conditional response." (CR)

To make this a bit more concrete, we'll use Pavlov's dogs as an example. Before
learning took place, the dogs would reliably salivate (UCR) when given meat powder
(UCS), but they gave no response to the ringing of a bell (neutral). Then Pavlov would
always ring a bell just before he would present the dogs with some meat powder.
Pretty soon, the dogs began to associate the sound of the bell with the impending
presence of meat powder. As a result, they would begin to salivate (CR) as soon as
they heard the bell (CS), even if it was not immediately followed by the meat powder
(UCS). In other words, they learned that the bell was a reliable predictor of meat
powder. In this way, Pavlov was able to elicit an involuntary, automatic, reflexive
response to a previously neutral stimulus.

Classical conditioning can help us understand how some forms of addiction, or drug
dependence, work. For example, the repeated use of a drug could cause the body to
compensate for it, in an effort to counterbalance the effects of the drug. This causes
the user to require more of the substance in order to get the equivalent effect (this is
called tolerance).

However, the development of tolerance also takes into account other environmental
variables (the conditional variables) - this is called the situational specificity of
tolerance. For example, alcohol tends to taste a certain way, and when alcohol is
consumed in the usual way, the body responds in an effort to counteract the effect.
But, if the alcohol is delivered in a novel way (such as in Four Loko), the individual
could overdose. This effect has also been observed among those who have become
tolerant to otherwise lethal amounts of opiates: they may experience an overdose if
they take their typical dose in an atypical setting. These results have been found in
species ranging from rats and mice to humans.

In these examples, it's the environmental context (conditional stimuli) that prompts the
body to prepare for the drug (the conditional response). But if the conditional stimuli
are absent, the body is not able to adequately prepare itself for the drug, and bad
things could happen.

Another example of classical conditioning is known as the appetizer effect. If there are
otherwise neutral stimuli that consistently predict a meal, they could cause people to

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become hungry, because those stimuli induce involuntary changes in the body, as a
preparation for digestion. There's a reason it's called the "dinner bell," after all.
Classical conditioning is also being used in wildlife conservation efforts! At
Extinction Countdown, John Platt pointed out last month that taste aversion, which is a
form of classical conditioning, is being used to keep lions from preying on cattle. This
should, in turn, prevent farmers from killing the lions.

Instrumental learning: Phenomena, Paradigms and theoretical issues;

Introduction To Instrumental Conditioning
We now shift from the topic of classical conditioning to that of instrumental (or
as Skinner terms it, operant) conditioning. This topic will prove a bit more complex in
its findings. As you will see, however, many of the ideas that were important in
classical conditioning will prove relevant here. Indeed, there has long been a debate
over whether classical and operant conditioning ought to be regarded as truly different
forms of learning.

They appear to differ in the sense that classical conditioning generally involves the
presence of reflex actions, whereas instrumental conditioning generally involves
modifications of voluntary behavior contingent on presence
of reinforcers or punishers. Whether that is a sufficient reason to distinguish them is
arguable, as we will see later. My sense of the field today is that most theorists would
like to see similar theories explain the results in both. Thus, it will not surprise you, for
example, that a modified version of the Rescorla-Wagner model has also been
proposed for instrumental conditioning.

Two Early Views Of Instrumental Conditioning

We will look at two quite different claims about the nature of instrumental
conditioning. One comes from Watson, the author of the 1913 behaviorist
manifesto, Psychology as the behaviorist views it, and the second comes
from Thorndike, who can probably safely be credited with conducting the first truly
sophisticated and careful observations of complex animal learning. Their accounts
differ in ways that prefigured an important debate about what was needed for learning
to occur.

First, however, let us distinguish instrumental conditioning from classical conditioning.

In instrumental conditioning, an animal makes one of a number of possible responses
in the presence of some stimulus complex or context. That response may lead to some
outcome. We typically define learning in this circumstance as an alteration in some
observed characteristic of the response such as its frequency, latency, or amplitude.
We will revisit this definition in more detail later, once we have examined several
theories of what gets acquired, and why.

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For now, we can talk about instrumental conditioning as the type of learning involved in
navigating a maze, choosing the correct one of several doors to run to, or even
performing some response that will be successful in avoiding a future shock. In
instrumental conditioning, new responses may be taught that differ from any reflexive
response already in the animal's behavioral repertoire.

Basic Paradigms
We have already introduced two general paradigms
involving acquisition and extinction. In acquisition, an outcome is typically paired with
making a response in the presence of a stimulus; in extinction, that pairing typically
ceases. Within this broad framework (particularly with respect to acquisition), we may
distinguish several additional paradigms.
In appetitive or approach learning, the animal makes a response that results in
a desired reward. This is the type of learning involving reinforcement that we have
implicitly and explicitly discussed so far. But it is not the only paradigm based on
reinforcement. Another that deserves particular note is omission training, in which an
animal has to suppress or withhold a response in order to get its reward. Sheffield, for
example, trained dogs to salivate in the presence of a tone associated with food, and
then shifted them to omission training. In this latter phase, the dogs had to avoid
salivating to the tone for several seconds to get the food. Omission training is initially
typically difficult, and displays a relatively slow learning curve. However, there are
several studies suggesting that in the long run, it will be as effective as extinction in
decreasing the frequency of a response. Omission training is sometimes referred to
as negative punishment to indicate that making the response is associated with
removal of a reinforcer (which thus acts as a punishment).

Another paradigm based on reinforcement is escape learning. In escape learning, the

animal learns a response that gets it away from punishment, either by turning off the
punisher, or by allowing the animal to leave the area where the punishment was
administered. Escape learning is closely associated with another paradigm, avoidance
learning. In avoidance learning, the punishment is intermittent rather than continuous.
If the animal makes the proper response before the punishment comes on, it will
succeed in canceling that punishment. In avoidance learning, animals typically start out
by escaping the aversive stimulation (making a response during the punishment that
stops it), and then come to make the response early enough that they subsequently
successfully avoid the aversive stimulation.

Punishment training (or aversive learning), of course, involves the administration of

an unpleasant, aversive outcome following a response. Thus, punishment training,
omission training, and extinction all have in common reducing the level of a given
response, whereas appetitive learning, escape learning, and avoidance
learning attempt to increase response level. There are some obvious interplays in
paradigms here, depending on which response you focus on. Often, aspects of several

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different paradigms combine: One response may be punished while another is

reinforced.

We may also distinguish between signaled and unsignaled learning. A discrete,

distinct stimulus is present in signaled learning, but not in unsignaled learning. Thus,
for example, in unsignaled avoidance, shocks can occur at regular intervals
that could be avoided if the animal responds shortly before the shock's onset. There is
no physical stimulus signaling the shock; the animal in this case needs to rely on an
internal sense of time. In unsignaled conditions, features such as time or the contextual
cues presumably act as stimuli.

Another paradigm, transfer training will prove important, especially when we

focus on discrimination in a later chapter. In transfer training, we look at the effects of
learning one task on another. Transfer might be nonexistent
(zero), positive (facilitation: the learning is faster), or negative (inhibition: there is
interference). In addition, transfer effects might be proactive (in which we look at the
effect of an earlier task on the learning or performance of a later task),
or retroactive (in which we saw how the later task influences performance on the
earlier one).

A final paradigm involves shaping. Normally, approach learning applies to

responses that are not especially frequent to start with, since we want to track
an increase in frequency as one of our measures of learning. Thus, we find ourselves
in the following situation: We sit in the lab, watching our animal subject, waiting for it to
make the desired response so that we can administer the reinforcer.

Such a procedure will obviously be inefficient. In some cases (such as a pig rolling a
coin), the wait may be very long indeed! Hence, a technology has developed that
involves increasing the probability of having the animal emit that response so that we
can then train it further through reinforcement. This technology, called shaping,
requires reinforcing successive approximations to the desired response.

Shaping works as follows. We start out by identifying a high-frequency component

of the response we want, and we reinforce that. So, if we want our rat to press a bar on
the left side of an experimental chamber, then a high-frequency component would
involve having the rat be in the left half of the chamber. While it is exploring its
environment, we reinforce for crossing over to the left. Then, as it increases its time on
the left, we drop the reinforcer. That will cause the behavior to become more variable.

We await some response yet closer to what we want to train (such as being near the
bar), and when that occurs we reintroduce the reinforcer. And then, of course, we cycle
the process through again in order to obtain yet a closer approximation (such as
touching the bar). Shaping is a very powerful technique, not only because of its ability
to 'coax' low frequency responses out of an animal, but also -- and especially --

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because of its ability to mold a response that is not normally part of the animal's
repertoire! Thus, by combining shaping and chaining, instrumental conditioning allows
us to train totally new responses, rather than just transfer stimulus control of an old
response to a new stimulus.

Operant behavior involves adaptation to the consequences of responding; it is the

prototype of adaptive behavior during the life of the individual – the ontogenetic
equivalent of Darwinian natural selection in phylogeny. Techniques for exploring
operant behavior exploded with the invention of the Skinner box and the discovery of
the orderly and powerful effects of schedules of reinforcement. In the 1950s and
1960s, much research addressed the limits of operant conditioning and in particular the
intimate relationship between the processes underlying operant and classical
conditioning. In recent decades, two research areas, interval timing and choice, have
dominated the field. We have reviewed these topics and, in addition, discussed post-
Skinner developments in the economics of operant behavior. We hope, with this
chapter, to have aroused the interest of the reader for this fascinating and lively field of
behavioral science.

Instrumental Conditioning of Avoidance. Another important model of learning and

stress reactivity derived from research with animals was pioneered by B. F. Skinner
(1938; Ferster & Skinner, 1957) in landmark works on “contingencies of reinforcement”
affecting the behaviors of animals such as rats and pigeons. Skinner observed that
animals tend to increase the rate of behaviors that are followed by certain changes in
their environment.

He called this phenomenon “reinforcement” that occurs due to the animal’s learning
that there is a “contingent” relationship between doing that behavior (e.g., pecking or
pushing a lever in the cage) and receiving a desired outcome (the reinforce—for
example, a pellet of food). Behavior that might previously have been rare or sporadic
can become regular and frequent if the contingency of reinforcement is set up to teach
the animal that the behavior seems to produce the reinforcer.

The Major Phenomena of Instrumental Conditioning

As Skinner noted, classical and instrumental conditioning are different in impor-tant
ways: Classical conditioning builds on a response (UR) that’s automatically triggered
by a stimulus (US); instrumental conditioning involves behaviors that appear to be
voluntary. Classical conditioning involves learning about the relation between two
stimuli (US and CS); instrumental conditioning involves learning about the relation
between a response and a stimulus (the operant and a reward). Even with these
differences, modern theorists have argued that the two forms of conditioning have a lot
in common. This makes sense because both involve learning
about relationships among simple events (stimuli or responses).

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It’s perhaps inevitable, then, that many of the central phenomena of instrumental
learning parallel those of classical conditioning. For example, in classical conditioning,
learning trials typically involve the presentation of a CS followed by a US. In
instrumental conditioning, learning trials typically involve a response by the organ-ism
followed by a reward or reinforcer. The reinforcement often involves the presenta-tion
of something good, such as grain to a hungry pigeon. Alternatively, reinforcement may
involve the termination or prevention of something bad, such as the cessation of a loud
noise.

In both forms of conditioning, the more such pairings there are, the stronger the
learning. And if we discontinue these pairings so that the CS is no longer followed by
the US or the response by a reinforcer, the result is extinction.
GENERALIZATION AND DISCRIMINATION
An instrumental response is not directly triggered by an external stimulus, the way a
CR or UR is. But that doesn’t mean external stimuli have no role here. In instrumental
con-ditioning, external events serve as discriminative stimuli, signaling for an animal
what sorts of behaviors will be rewarded in a given situation. For example, suppose a
pigeon is trained to hop onto a platform to get some grain. When a green light is on,
hopping on the platform pays off. But when a red light is on, hopping gains no reward.
Under these circumstances, the green light becomes a positive discriminative stimulus
and the red light a negative one (usually labeled S+ and S–, respectively). The pigeon
swiftly learns this pattern and so will hop in the presence of the first and not in the
presence of the second.

Other examples are easy to find. A child learns that pinching her sister leads to pun-
ishment when her parents are on the scene but may have no consequences otherwise.
In this situation, the child may learn to behave well in the presence of the S + (i.e., when
her parents are there) but not in other circumstances. A hypochondriac may learn that
loud groans will garner sympathy and support from others but may bring no benefits
when others are not around. As a result, he may learn to groan in social settings but
not when alone.

BEHAVIOR MOTIVATION
Once we’ve identified a stimulus as a reinforcer, what determines how effective the
reinforcer will be? We know that some reinforcers are more powerful than others—and
so an animal will respond more strongly for a large reward than for a small one.
However, what counts as large or small depends on the context. If a rat is used to get-
ting 60 food pellets for a response, then 16 pellets will seem measly and the animal will
respond only weakly for this puny reward. But if a rat is used to getting only 4 pellets
for a response, then 16 pellets will seem like a feast and the rat’s response will be fast
and strong (for the classic demonstration of this point, see Crespi, 1942). Thus, the
effectiveness of a reinforcer depends largely on what other rewards are available (or
have recently been available); this effect is known as behavioral contrast.

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Contrast effects are important for their own sake, but they may also help explain
another (somewhat controversial) group of findings. In one study, for example, nursery-
school children were given an opportunity to draw pictures. The children seemed to
enjoy this activity and produced a steady stream of drawings. The experimenters then
changed the situation: They introduced an additional reward so that the children now
earned an attractive “Good Player” certificate for producing their pictures. Then, later
on, the chil-dren were again given the opportunity to draw pictures—but this time with
no provision for “Good Player” rewards. Remarkably, these children showed
considerably less interest in drawing than they had at the start and chose instead to
spend their time on other activ-ities (see, for example, Lepper, Greene, & Nisbett,
1973; also Kohn, 1993).

Some theorists say these data illustrate the power of behavioral contrast. At the start of
the study, the activity of drawing was presumably maintained by certain reinforce-
ments in the situation—perhaps encouragement from the teachers or comments by
other children. Whatever the reinforcements were, they were strong enough to
maintain the behavior; we know this because the children were producing drawings at
a steady pace. Later on, though, an additional reinforcement (the “Good Player” certifi-
cate) was added and then removed. At that point the children were back to the same
rewards they’d been getting at the start, but now these rewards seemed puny in com-
parison to the greater prize they’d been earning during the time when the “Good
Player” award was available. As a consequence, the initial set of rewards was no
longer enough to motivate continued drawing.
Other theorists interpret these findings differently. In their view, results like this one
suggest that there are actually two different types of reward. One type is merely tacked
onto a behavior and is under the experimenter’s control; it’s the sort of reward that’s in
play when we give a pigeon a bit of food for pecking a key, or hand a factory worker a
paycheck for completing a day’s work. The other type of reward is intrinsic to the
behav-ior and independent of the experimenter’s intentions; these rewards are in play
when someone is engaging in an activity just for the pleasure of the activity itself.

Reinforcement-Based Learning
Rewards and punishers, in contrast, played a pivotal role in the work of
Thorndike, who is often credited with founding the field of instrumental conditioning.
Thorndike published a monograph in 1898 on his studies with animals such as cats.
He set up an experimental apparatus termed a puzzle box: a cage in which the animal
was placed, and which could be escaped through the performance of a simple
response such as pulling on a rope attached to a door. These studies really involved
the first careful, detailed observations of what animals in general learned, as opposed
to anecdotal stories collected of amazing things animals did that obviously proved their
intelligence. (Television still plays into that sort of approach, needless to say!)

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Thorndike asked a very simple question: Would escape from a puzzle box exhibit
any signs of intelligence? Would it display evidence of insight, in which the animal
would be able to glance about its environment, understand that the rope was attached
to the door, and realize that it needed only to pull on the rope to get out? To answer
this question, Thorndike repeatedly placed animals in the same puzzle box, and
measured how long it took them to escape. And what he found was that the time to
escape decreased only gradually. By the end of the experiment, after 20 or so trials,
cats would easily leave the box by performing the appropriate response as soon as
they were placed in it. But, their history clearly demonstrated that this had to have been
a learned response. In particular, Thorndike pointed out that an animal making the
correct response on a given trial early in training would not necessarily choose that
same response as its first response on the next trial. So, rather than insight, he
concluded that learning involved trial-and-error.

Trial-and-error refers to the gradual accumulation of correct responses through a

slow process of trying out all sorts of possibilities, and slowly weeding out the ones that
do not work. As did Watson, Thorndike thought animals were acquiring associations
between stimulus configurations (such as the puzzle box) and certain responses. But
unlike Watson, he claimed that an additional factor was important in the acquisition of
these associations: They would depend on the outcome of the animal's actions. This
involved a principle Thorndike termed the Law of Effect.

Put briefly, this law claimed that an association between a stimulus and a response
would strengthen if the response were followed by a satisfactory state of affairs, and
would weaken if the response were followed by an unsatisfactory state of affairs.
Thus, Thorndike deliberately included Bentham's notion of hedonistic value as a
principle governing the formation of an association, in contrast to Watson. Rather than
being a simple contiguity theory, this was a reinforcement theory: In modern terms,
learning of an association will occur when there is a reinforcer following a response.

There are, of course, a number of interpretations available to account for how a

reinforcer might operate according to the law of effect. One of the first to come to most
people's minds is a teleological or purposive explanation: The animal performs a
response because it desires the outcome. But of course, desiring an outcome is a
mental state that involves an object not present at the time the animal is performing the
response. That type of an explanation would violate the positivist program Watson
insisted everyone follow. Thus, as an alternative, we might propose that a positive
outcome has an automatic effect of strengthening the association: The animal does not
perform the response because it wants the outcome, but rather because the response
is strongly associated to the stimulus that is present.

Here is what Thorndike actually said regarding satisfying and unsatisfying states
(1913, p. 2):

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By a satisfying state of affairs is meant one which the animal does nothing to avoid,
often doing things which maintain or renew it. By an annoying state of affairs is meant
one which the animal does nothing to preserve, often doing things which put an end to
it.
Although he was accused of using hopelessly mentalistic terms in describing learning
as depending on satisfactory or unsatisfactory states, his actual definition provided a
clear behavioral test for determining when one or the other state was present. In that
sense, it ought to have troubled people no more than Watson's use of the term
"emotional."
Note too that Thorndike did not include the outcome in the association. As we will
see, other theorists have claimed that associations to the outcome may also form, so
that we can have S-R associations, R-O associations, and even S-O associations. To
anticipate how such a model might differ from Thorndike's, a strong S-R association
may exist despite a highly unpleasant or unsatisfying outcome: The presence of an R-
O association in that event may serve to inhibit the R excited by presence of an
associated stimulus.

Thorndike also proposed another principle, the Law of Exercise (sometimes

called the Law of Use). This was essentially a principle of practice, somewhat similar
to Watson's notion of frequency: An association would strengthen if practiced. Both
laws were revised in his later work: the Law of Effect was essentially restricted to
satisfactory outcomes, and the Law of Use was modified to include outcomes rather
than simple exercise.

Thorndike also spoke of the value of different satisfactory states, so that strong
satisfiers would do a better job of strengthening an association than weak satisfiers.
And as an interesting historical footnote, he actually contradicted one of the major
principles of strict contiguity by proposing an early version of belongingness by which
some things would be more likely to associate together than others.

In some sense, Skinner may be regarded as Thorndike's intellectual successor.

Skinner proposed similar ideas involving the law of reinforcement and the law of
punishment. According to Skinner, a reinforcer was any event that, following a
response, made that response more likely, whereas a punisher was any event that had
the opposite effect. To try to identify reinforcers and punishers in a way that wasn't
completely circular (and also wasn't mentalistic), Skinner imposed a condition
of transituationality: A reinforcer or punisher, once identified in terms of its effects
on one response, also has to be shown capable of having a similar effect in other
situations, on other responses. Otherwise, we find ourselves defining a response as
that which, when followed by a reinforcer, increases in frequency. And that type of
definition, of course, reciprocally defines responses and reinforcers in terms of one
another in an uninteresting, circular fashion.

Reinforcement: Basic variables

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One of the most critical challenges in applied empirical research is to draw causal
inference from observational data. Empirical marketing research, which often involves
causal analysis of the impact of marketing strategy, is no exception. A central difficulty
is endogeneity of variables entering the causal relationship, arising from either omitted
variable bias, simultaneity bias, sample selection bias, or measurement errors.
According to recent research, mentions of endogeneity and procedures to address it
have risen 5x across the field’s top four journals (Rutz and Watson (2019)).

Instrumental Variable (IV) methods are among the most frequently used techniques to
address such endogeneity issues. Instruments that are correlated with the endogenous
variable but are otherwise not associated with the outcome variable can be used to
partition the variance of the endogenous variable into endogenous and exogenous
components.

The method of instrumental variables is based on using the variation in the exogenous
component of the endogenous variable induced by the the variation in the instrumental
variable to make inference of causal effects In recent years, use of the IV method has
come under criticism in Marketing (e.g. Rossi (2014)) and multiple other disciplines
(e.g. Bound et al. (1995) and Young (2017) in Economics; Yogo (2004), Stock and
Yogo (2002), and Hausman et al. (2005) in Finance).

Such models have been widely used in marketing literature and remain the workhorse
models for studying many marketing problems (see Goldfarb et al. (2009), Chintagunta
and Nair (2011) and many others) Constructing strong and valid instruments is,
therefore, an important endeavor for causal inference from observational data. In this
paper, we approach the problem of constructing strong instrumental variables from
exogenous information in causal models as a (supervised) machine learning problem.

We first formulate the choice of construction of instruments in a causal model as a

decision problem that is amenable to the learning approach. The key empirical problem
which arises for the econometrician that is distinct from the machine learner is that, in
the typical applied context, the econometrician does not have the luxury of treating the
sample in-hand as the training sample for the decision problem. Instead, the sample in-
hand is typically the only information from which instruments must be constructed and
causal inference must simultaneously be derived. We extend the standard learning
framework to develop an algorithm we term “MLIV Algorithm”, which allows training of
instruments and causal inference to be simultaneously performed from sample data.

Related Literature
As discussed above, the standard existing approach to weak IV concerns is
approached through approximation of optimal instruments. Most work on optimal
instrument variables in linear models casts the problem as a selection problem among
the available exogenous variables (and their transformations e.g., b-splines). Early

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work on instrument selection goes back to ((Kloek and Mennes 1960) and Amemiya
(1966)) where they studied using

“selected” principal components of the many available instruments to counter inference

issues due to many instruments. Further work by (Kapetanios and Marcellino (2010))
proposed using factor analysis for decomposing the high-dimensional instruments onto
a lowdimensional space.

Both principal component analysis and factor analysis are not targeted at
approximating the optimal instruments, but rather at coming up with a low dimensional
vector that summarizes the high-dimensional instruments, which could potentially yield
(Amemiya (1966)) better performance in terms of bias and mean squared error. Recent
work on instrument selection assumes strong sparsity of the optimal instruments
structure (i.e. a small set of the available IVs are valid and sufficient for first stage).
Work by (Bai and Ng (2009)) demonstrate how boosting can be used for recovering the
sparse structure but do not provide any formal proof. (Belloni et al. (2012)) explicitly
shows how Lasso can be used for instrument selection among a large set of candidate
instruments under the strong sparsity assumption. Further they are also able to prove
theoretical consistency and other inference results for their IV estimator.

Their proposed approach does not work as well when sparsity is violated, i.e. most
instruments are weak, as it selects all of the weak IVs or drops them all. Unlike the
extant literature, our learning approach to instrumental variables still exhibits
asymptotic guarantees and does not rely on any sparsity assumption on the optimal
instrument structure. Further, our approach allows the researcher to apply a broad
arsenal of machine learning methods in constructing the instrumental variables.

Reinforcement Schedules
Remember, the best way to teach a person or animal a behavior is to use positive
reinforcement. For example, Skinner used positive reinforcement to teach rats to press
a lever in a Skinner box. At first, the rat might randomly hit the lever while exploring the
box, and out would come a pellet of food. After eating the pellet, what do you think the
hungry rat did next? It hit the lever again, and received another pellet of food. Each
time the rat hit the lever, a pellet of food came out. When an organism receives a
reinforcer each time it displays a behavior, it is called continuous reinforcement.

This reinforcement schedule is the quickest way to teach someone a behavior, and it is
especially effective in training a new behavior. Let’s look back at the dog that was
learning to sit earlier in the module. Now, each time he sits, you give him a treat.
Timing is important here: you will be most successful if you present the reinforcer
immediately after he sits, so that he can make an association between the target
behavior (sitting) and the consequence (getting a treat).

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Once a behavior is trained, researchers and trainers often turn to another type of
reinforcement schedule—partial reinforcement. In partial reinforcement, also referred
to as intermittent reinforcement, the person or animal does not get reinforced every
time they perform the desired behavior. There are several different types of partial
reinforcement schedules (Table 1). These schedules are described as either fixed or
variable, and as either interval or ratio. Fixed refers to the number of responses
between reinforcements, or the amount of time between reinforcements, which is set
and unchanging. Variable refers to the number of responses or amount of time
between reinforcements, which varies or changes. Interval means the schedule is
based on the time between reinforcements, and ratio means the schedule is based on
the number of responses between reinforcements.
Reinforcem Description Result Example
ent
Schedule
Fixed interval Reinforcement is Moderate response Hospital patient
delivered at predictable rate with significant uses patient-
time intervals (e.g., after pauses after controlled, doctor-
5, 10, 15, and 20 reinforcement timed pain relief
minutes).
Variable Reinforcement is Moderate yet Checking Facebook
interval delivered at unpredictable steady response
time intervals (e.g., after rate
5, 7, 10, and 20 minutes).

Fixed ratio Reinforcement is delivered High response Piecework—factory worker

after a predictable number rate with getting paid for every x
of responses (e.g., after 2, pauses after number of items
4, 6, and 8 responses). reinforcement manufactured
Variable Reinforcement is delivered High and Gambling
ratio after an unpredictable steady
number of responses (e.g., response rate
after 1, 4, 5, and 9
responses).
Table 1. Reinforcement Schedules
Now let’s combine these four terms. A fixed interval reinforcement schedule is when
behavior is rewarded after a set amount of time. For example, June undergoes major
surgery in a hospital. During recovery, she is expected to experience pain and will
require prescription medications for pain relief. June is given an IV drip with a patient-
controlled painkiller. Her doctor sets a limit: one dose per hour. June pushes a button
when pain becomes difficult, and she receives a dose of medication. Since the reward
(pain relief) only occurs on a fixed interval, there is no point in exhibiting the behavior
when it will not be rewarded.

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With a variable interval reinforcement schedule, the person or animal gets the
reinforcement based on varying amounts of time, which are unpredictable. Say that
Manuel is the manager at a fast-food restaurant. Every once in a while someone from
the quality control division comes to Manuel’s restaurant. If the restaurant is clean and
the service is fast, everyone on that shift earns a $20 bonus. Manuel never knows
when the quality control person will show up, so he always tries to keep the restaurant
clean and ensures that his employees provide prompt and courteous service. His
productivity regarding prompt service and keeping a clean restaurant are steady
because he wants his crew to earn the bonus.

With a fixed ratio reinforcement schedule, there are a set number of responses that
must occur before the behavior is rewarded. Carla sells glasses at an eyeglass store,
and she earns a commission every time she sells a pair of glasses. She always tries to
sell people more pairs of glasses, including prescription sunglasses or a backup pair,
so she can increase her commission. She does not care if the person really needs the
prescription sunglasses, Carla just wants her bonus. The quality of what Carla sells
does not matter because her commission is not based on quality; it’s only based on the
number of pairs sold. This distinction in the quality of performance can help determine
which reinforcement method is most appropriate for a particular situation. Fixed ratios
are better suited to optimize the quantity of output, whereas a fixed interval, in which
the reward is not quantity based, can lead to a higher quality of output.

In a variable ratio reinforcement schedule, the number of responses needed for a

reward varies. This is the most powerful partial reinforcement schedule. An example of
the variable ratio reinforcement schedule is gambling. Imagine that Sarah—generally a
smart, thrifty woman—visits Las Vegas for the first time. She is not a gambler, but out
of curiosity she puts a quarter into the slot machine, and then another, and another.
Nothing happens. Two dollars in quarters later, her curiosity is fading, and she is just
about to quit. But then, the machine lights up, bells go off, and Sarah gets 50 quarters
back. That’s more like it! Sarah gets back to inserting quarters with renewed interest,
and a few minutes later she has used up all her gains and is $10 in the hole. Now
might be a sensible time to quit. And yet, she keeps putting money into the slot
machine because she never knows when the next reinforcement is coming. She keeps
thinking that with the next quarter she could win $50, or $100, or even more. Because
the reinforcement schedule in most types of gambling has a variable ratio schedule,
people keep trying and hoping that the next time they will win big. This is one of the
reasons that gambling is so addictive—and so resistant to extinction.

Types of Reinforcement Schedules

The two foundational forms of reinforcement schedules are referred to as continuous
reinforcement and partial reinforcement.

Continuous Reinforcement

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In continuous reinforcement, the desired behavior is reinforced every single time it

occurs. 1 This schedule is best used during the initial stages of learning to create a
strong association between the behavior and response.

Imagine, for example, that you are trying to teach a dog to shake your hand. During the
initial stages of learning, you would stick to a continuous reinforcement schedule to
teach and establish the behavior. This might involve grabbing the dog's paw, shaking
it, saying "shake," and then offering a reward each and every time you perform these
steps. Eventually, the dog will start to perform the action on its own.
Continuous reinforcement schedules are most effective when trying to teach a new
behavior. It denotes a pattern to which every narrowly-defined response is followed by
a narrowly-defined consequence.

Partial Reinforcement
Once the response is firmly established, a continuous reinforcement schedule is
usually switched to a partial reinforcement schedule.1 In partial (or intermittent)
reinforcement, the response is reinforced only part of the time. Learned behaviors are
acquired more slowly with partial reinforcement, but the response is more resistant
to extinction.

Think of the earlier example in which you were training a dog to shake and. While you
initially used continuous reinforcement, reinforcing the behavior every time is simply
unrealistic. In time, you would switch to a partial schedule to provide additional
reinforcement once the behavior has been established or after considerable time has
passed.

There are four schedules of partial reinforcement:

Fixed-Ratio Schedules
Fixed-ratio schedules are those in which a response is reinforced only after a specified
number of responses. This schedule produces a high, steady rate of responding with
only a brief pause after the delivery of the reinforcer. An example of a fixed-ratio
schedule would be delivering a food pellet to a rat after it presses a bar five times.

Variable-Ratio Schedules
Variable-ratio schedules occur when a response is reinforced after an unpredictable
number of responses. This schedule creates a high steady rate of responding.
Gambling and lottery games are good examples of a reward based on a variable ratio
schedule. In a lab setting, this might involve delivering food pellets to a rat after one
bar press, again after four bar presses, and then again after two bar presses.

Fixed-Interval Schedules
Fixed-interval schedules are those where the first response is rewarded only after a
specified amount of time has elapsed. This schedule causes high amounts of
responding near the end of the interval but slower responding immediately after the

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delivery of the reinforcer. An example of this in a lab setting would be reinforcing a rat
with a lab pellet for the first bar press after a 30-second interval has elapsed.

Variable-Interval Schedules
Variable-interval schedules occur when a response is rewarded after an unpredictable
amount of time has passed. This schedule produces a slow, steady rate of response.
An example of this would be delivering a food pellet to a rat after the first bar press
following a one-minute interval; a second pellet for the first response following a five-
minute interval; and a third pellet for the first response following a three-minute interval.

Using the Appropriate Schedule

Deciding when to reinforce a behavior can depend on a number of factors. In cases
where you are specifically trying to teach a new behavior, a continuous schedule is
often a good choice. Once the behavior has been learned, switching to a partial
schedule is often preferable.

In daily life, partial schedules of reinforcement occur much more frequently than do
continuous ones. For example, imagine if you received a reward every time you
showed up to work on time. Over time, instead of the reward being a positive
reinforcement, the denial of the reward could be regarded as negative reinforcement.

Instead, rewards like these are usually doled out on a much less predictable partial
reinforcement schedule. Not only are these much more realistic, but they also tend to
produce higher response rates while being less susceptible to extinction.1
Partial schedules reduce the risk of satiation once a behavior has been established. If
a reward is given without end, the subject may stop performing the behavior if the
reward is no longer wanted or needed.

For example, imagine that you are trying to teach a dog to sit. If you use food as a
reward every time, the dog might stop performing once it is full. In such instances,
something like praise or attention may be more effective in reinforcing an already-
established behavior.

Behaviours by reinforcement
Highlights
•
Developmental differences in acquiring and adapting behaviours by reinforcement
were examined.
•
Children and adults acquired simple new behaviours by feedback comparably.
•
Children's performance was more disrupted than adults’ when adapting behaviours.
•
P3 ERP changes indicated children consolidated adapted behaviours less than adults.

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•
FRN ERP changes showed children relied more on feedback than adults in adaptation.

Reinforcement learning in development

The ability to learn and modify behaviours based on the positive and negative
outcomes of our actions is an important skill used throughout the lifespan. This skill,
known as reinforcement learning (Holroyd and Coles, 2002, Thorndike and Bruce,
1911), may be particularly valuable in the first two decades of life, affording the naïve
developing child an effective method of identifying advantageous behaviours and
discerning when and how learned actions should be adapted for changing contexts.
Indeed, impaired reinforcement learning has been implicated in the pathology of
several neurodevelopmental disorders,

including Tourette syndrome and ADHD (Marsh et al., 2004, Sagvolden et al., 2005),
although the precise deficits in these conditions are unclear. A thorough understanding
of the typical development of reinforcement learning may help clarify these deficits, but
few studies have examined this aspect of cognitive development.

1.2. Differences in reinforcement learning across typical development

Previous studies have consistently reported performance differences between children
and adults in reinforcement learning. Younger children are less accurate when learning
associations between stimuli and responses (S–R associations) by positive and
negative feedback than older children and adults (Baldwin et al., 2012, Crone et al.,
2004). Children learn at a slower rate than adults (Crone et al., 2004) and show
particular difficulties when reinforcements are inconsistent. Specifically, performance
differences between children and adults increase when feedback is probabilistic and
does not correctly reinforce performance 100% of the time (Eppinger et al.,
2009, Hämmerer et al., 2010).
Neural processes underlying these developmental differences have been examined
using EEG, particularly the feedback-related negativity (FRN) event-related
potential (ERP).

The FRN is a negative deflection in the waveform at ∼250 ms following feedback

(Miltner et al., 1997). FRN amplitude is larger following negative than positive
feedback, and in some studies positive feedback elicits a positive-going deflection in
the FRN time-range, the feedback-positivity (FP) (Holroyd et al., 2008). Evidence
suggests the FRN/FP is generated by prefrontal cortical regions associated with
performance monitoring, and reflects the processing of dopaminergic reinforcement
learning signals triggered by feedback indicating behaviour was better or worse than
expected (Bellebaum and Daum, 2008, Luque et al., 2012, Oliveira et al., 2007).
FRN/FP amplitudes decrease during a reinforcement learning episode, likely reflecting
decreased reliance on external feedback with increasing knowledge of the to-be-
learned behaviours (Eppinger et al., 2009, Holroyd and Coles, 2002).

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Children show less enhancement of the FRN for negative compared with positive
feedback, suggesting children are poorer at differentiating between types of feedback
than adults (Hämmerer et al., 2010). The authors suggest this may explain why
learning is more disrupted in children when feedback is probabilistic and difficult to
discriminate.

FP amplitude decreases less across learning in children than adults and ERP
correlates of monitoring errors in performance differentiate less between correct and
error responses in children than in adults (Eppinger et al., 2009). Based on these
differences between children and adults, Eppinger et al. (2009) suggested that children
have weaker internal representations of whether a response is correct or erroneous,
resulting in a greater reliance on feedback processing to achieve successful
performance. In a recent review of this literature, Hämmerer and Eppinger
(2012) proposed that increasing reinforcement learning ability reflects developing
efficiency in processing feedback, using reinforcements effectively to guide goal-
directed behaviour, and building internal representations of correct behaviours, as
prefrontal cortical regions mature.

However, due to the scarcity of research in this area further studies are needed
(Hämmerer and Eppinger, 2012). Furthermore, previous research has not addressed
an important aspect of reinforcement learning, that is, the ability to alter and re-learn
behaviours following changes in reinforcements. A robust finding in the executive
function literature is that children are poorer than adults in switching to new behaviours
when prompted by cues (Koolschijn et al., 2011).

This suggests that children will have particular difficulty with learning when
reinforcement contingencies change. Furthermore, the learning tasks used previously
have been complicated, with multiple feedback conditions presented for different S–R
associations within task blocks, creating considerable working memory demands
(Crone et al., 2004, Eppinger et al., 2009, Hämmerer et al., 2010). Crone et al.
(2004) and Eppinger et al. (2009) controlled for this problem by allocating children
extra response time, but nevertheless the difficulty of these tasks may have enhanced
developmental differences.

1.3. The current study

The study aims were firstly to further investigate neurocognitive differences in the
typical development of reinforcement learning using a simple task designed to reduce
the influence of age-related performance differences on ERP correlates of learning.

The intention was to ensure all participants could perform the task adequately
regardless of age so that any ERP differences are more likely to reflect differences in
the recruitment of neural networks underlying task performance, rather than floor or
ceiling effects in one age group. Secondly, to assess developmental differences in the
ability to change and re-learn acquired behaviour in response to altered reinforcement

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contingencies we compared children aged 9–11 years with adults aged 21 years and
over.

Our aim was to establish whether children differ from adults in behavioural and brain
correlates of learning before they undergo the significant maturational changes that
take place during adolescence. During EEG recording typically developing children and
adults performed a task in which they learned four S–R associations by positive and
negative feedback and then reversed the associations after an unexpected change in
reinforcement contingencies. Changes in performance and feedback processing,
indexed by the FRN, related to learning and reversal were examined across the task
and between age groups.

2. Method
2.1. Participants
Fourteen 9–11 year olds (12 male, mean age: 10.2 years) and 15 adults (5 male, mean
age: 25.5 years) were recruited from local primary schools and the University of
Nottingham, UK to take part in this study. Participants were typically developing with no
known neurological or psychiatric problems which may have affected brain function,
right-handed (determined by the dominant hand for writing) and had normal or
corrected-to-normal vision. Participants were tested in accordance with procedures
approved by the University of Nottingham Medical School Ethics Committee and/or the
East Midlands NHS Research Ethics Committee. Monetary reimbursement (£10) was
provided for taking part.

2.2. Reinforcement learning task and testing procedure

The reinforcement learning task required participants to learn by trial-and-error, using
deterministic (always valid) performance feedback, to associate a set of two visual
stimuli with a right hand button-press and another two stimuli with a left hand button-
press. Three blocks of trials were presented for participants to learn the stimulus–
response (S–R) associations.

The S–R mappings reversed unexpectedly in a fourth block, requiring participants to

re-learn the correct response for each stimulus. In a fifth block, the mappings remained
reversed. Every block contained 48 trials, with each stimulus presented 12 times in
random order in each block. Particular S–R associations were counterbalanced across
participants. Stimuli were four cartoon characters from a popular animated film,
presented in colour and surrounded by a rectangular 3 mm thick green frame. Stimuli
measured 60 mm × 57 mm including the frame. Circular yellow happy-face images and
blue sad-face images (both 60 mm in diameter) were used as positive and negative
feedback. The words ‘Too slow!’ (10 mm × 90 mm) were displayed in green for late
responses.

Acquisition of simple new behaviours by reinforcement

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Children and adults showed equivalent increases in accuracy and P3 amplitude and
decreases in FRN amplitude as they learned the S–R associations. Therefore, in
contrast to previous research children in this study acquired and consolidated new
behaviours and gradually decreased their use of external feedback at the same rate as
adults. Accuracy significantly correlated with FRN amplitude during the first task block
in children, indicating that feedback processing was related to the correct production of
S–R associations in children in this study. This extends previous research by indicating
that feedback processing and guidance of goal-directed behaviour by reinforcement
information is not deficient in children compared with adults, as has previously been
proposed .

Our findings indicate that when reinforcement learning is non-probabilistic the neural
mechanisms underlying this basic form of learning work as efficiently in children as in
adults. Problems with acquiring new behaviours may only appear in children when
reinforcement learning becomes more complicated, for instance when reinforcements
are unclear, for example probabilistic, and demands on other maturing cognitive
functions such as working memory or executive function are high. As such, our findings
highlight the importance of ensuring task difficulty is appropriate for children in
developmental investigations of reinforcement learning.

4.2. Developmental differences in altering learned behaviours by reinforcement

Performance was significantly more impaired in children than adults when
reinforcements changed and the reversal of S–R associations was required in block 4
of the task. Nevertheless, following the reversal children improved their performance at
the same rate as adults (task block 5). These findings suggest that children have
specific performance difficulties when unexpected changes in reinforcements occur,
but are eventually able to re-acquire simple behaviours in a similar manner to adults.
Analysis of the P3 and FRN revealed further developmental differences in
neurocognitive processes underlying performance.

The magnitude of P3 amplitude changes during learning can be considered to index

the strength of internal representation of correct S–R associations in working memory
(Barceló et al., 2000, Rose et al., 2001). P3 amplitude changes were significantly
greater in adults than children, decreasing more during reversal of associations and
increasing more with re-acquisition of reversed mappings, indicating that internal
representations of the S–R associations underwent less adaptation and re-
consolidation in children than adults. In contrast, FRN amplitude changes were
greatest in children, decreasing more with re-learning of the associations in block 5
than in adults. Indeed, FRN amplitude showed little variation after the first task block in
adults while a prominent increase with reversal and decrease with re-acquisition was
observed in children, indicating that feedback processing varied more with reversal and
re-learning in children than adults.

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Previous authors have emphasised that difficulties with feedback processing, resulting
from immature performance monitoring functions of the developing prefrontal cortex,
underlie children's poorer reinforcement learning performance (Hämmerer and
Eppinger, 2012, Hämmerer et al., 2010). It has been suggested that children are less
successful than adults in integrating feedback information with motor action plans, or
that children use feedback in a less goal-directed manner than adults (Hämmerer and
Eppinger, 2012, Hämmerer et al., 2010). In contrast to the latter proposal, our findings
suggest that children do use feedback to drive goal-directed learning behaviour.
Changes in FRN amplitude were associated with changes in performance accuracy in
children when most re-learning was occurring (block 4).

Furthermore, FRN changes were largest in children, indicating children were using
feedback more than adults to guide behaviour. However, as children performed more
poorly than adults, children may have had greater difficulty in integrating feedback
information to consolidate S–R associations and so produce the correct behaviours,
consistent with other work using a probabilistic learning task (Van Duijvenvoorde et al.,
2013).

Errors were not sufficiently numerous to allow analysis of the ERN in this study.
However, the profile of P3 and FRN effects here are similar to the ERN and FP findings
reported by Eppinger et al. (2009), and support the proposal put forward by those
authors that children build weaker internal representations of to-be-learned behaviours
and engage in greater processing of external feedback than adults when alterations in
reinforcement learning are required. This may be due to interference arising from the
extra cognitive processing demands of reversing the S–R associations, such as the
requirement to suppress the previously correct behaviours and produce new
responses that conflict with the original S–R associations. A wealth of evidence
demonstrates that such executive functions are poorer in children than adults
(Johnstone et al., 2005, Ladouceur et al., 2007, Rueda et al., 2004). Therefore, it may
be that these additional processing requirements reduce children's cognitive capacity
for learning, decreasing the efficiency of the processes of consolidating the reversed
S–R associations and integrating new feedback information with behaviour plans.
Children may exercise greater feedback processing to compensate for these
difficulties.

Alternatively, the enhanced FRN in children may reflect a greater affective or

motivational response to correct responses during the more challenging phases of the
task. Amplitude of the FRN to negative feedback has been related to individual
differences in punishment sensitivity in adolescence and adults (Santesso et al., 2011)
and may reflect evaluation of good versus bad outcomes based on motivational as well
as cognitive goals (Hajcak et al., 2006). It is possible therefore that the children in the
present study invoked this evaluative process more strongly than adults having
encountered greater difficulty during the reversal phase of the task. However, the

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present task was not designed with this question in mind and further research is
needed to investigate the role of the FRN in children in this age range.

Another possible explanation for our findings is that children learn in a different manner
from adults. Research in adults has shown that providing information about reward
likelihood enhances the reinforcement learning process. For example, Li et al.
(2011) and Walsh and Anderson (2011) compared adults’ performance on a
probabilistic S–R learning task when no information about reinforcement probabilities
was given and adults were required to learn the S–R associations solely by feedback,
with a separate condition in which participants were instructed as to the probability that
each S–R pair would be followed by valid feedback, for example that one S–R
association would be correctly reinforced on 30% of trials. Adults’ performance
increased gradually in the no-instruction learning condition, but began and remained at
asymptote in the instruction condition. The enhancing effect of instruction on learning is
suggested to reflect the top-down influence of rules for learning represented in
prefrontal regions on striatal reinforcement learning mechanisms (Li et al., 2011).

In the current study, a rule for how the S–R associations should be re-learned would
have been acquired easily after only a few trials in block 4 based on knowledge of what
the original S–R mappings were and identifying that the mappings simply had to be
reversed. If implemented, this rule would facilitate faster re-learning of the associations.
Adults verbally reported that they realised the S–R combinations in block 4 were simply
the opposite of those in blocks 1–3.

Adults’ rapid increase in consolidation of the new S–R associations, improvement in

performance and minimal variation of the FRN suggests that they used this inferred
rule to guide re-learning rather than relied on external feedback. Children's slower
consolidation of reversed S–R associations, more disrupted performance, and greater
feedback processing suggests that they were relying on external reinforcement
information rather than the internally derived rule for re-learning that adults appeared to
employ.

Therefore, a possible explanation for the developmental difference in performance and

neurocognitive processing in the reversal phase is that unlike adults, children do not
infer and use rules for learning, and instead rely on slower feedback-based learning. It
is unclear whether this reflects an inability of children to infer learning rules and use
them to drive performance due to under-developed prefrontal regions, or a strategic
preference for experience-based learning in children. Future studies comparing
instruction-based and experience-based learning in children and adults would be
useful in clarifying this issue.

One final observation to discuss is the prolonged negativity following the FRN
observed in the feedback-locked waveforms in all learning blocks in children but not in
adults . A detailed analysis of this component was beyond the scope of this article, but

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would be worthy of future research. It is likely that this second negative peak in the
children reflects a second oscillation of the same on-going physiological process
(feedback-processing), and may occur due to additional or more effortful processing of
the feedback information in children to compensate for their greater difficulty in learning
the S–R associations. Alternatively, this negativity might index different learning
strategies used in children compared with adults. A recent study comparing feedback-
locked potentials between groups of adults using different learning strategies to
acquire new behaviours reported strategy-related differences in the morphology of
positive feedback components.

Behaviour modification and its applications of Reinforcement:

 Agent: It is an assumed entity which performs actions in an environment to gain
some reward.
 Environment (e): A scenario that an agent has to face.
 Reward (R): An immediate return given to an agent when he or she performs
specific action or task.
 State (s): State refers to the current situation returned by the environment.
 Policy (π): It is a strategy which applies by the agent to decide the next action
based on the current state.
 Value (V): It is expected long-term return with discount, as compared to the
short-term reward.
 Value Function: It specifies the value of a state that is the total amount of
reward. It is an agent which should be expected beginning from that state.
 Model of the environment: This mimics the behavior of the environment. It
helps you to make inferences to be made and also determine how the
environment will behave.
 Model based methods: It is a method for solving reinforcement learning
problems which use model-based methods.
 Q value or action value (Q): Q value is quite similar to value. The only
difference between the two is that it takes an additional parameter as a current
action.

Reinforcement Learning works

Let's see some simple example which helps you to illustrate the reinforcement learning
mechanism.
Consider the scenario of teaching new tricks to your cat
 As cat doesn't understand English or any other human language, we can't tell her
directly what to do. Instead, we follow a different strategy.
 We emulate a situation, and the cat tries to respond in many different ways. If the
cat's response is the desired way, we will give her fish.
 Now whenever the cat is exposed to the same situation, the cat executes a
similar action with even more enthusiastically in expectation of getting more
reward(food).
 That's like learning that cat gets from "what to do" from positive experiences.

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 At the same time, the cat also learns what not do when faced with negative
experiences.

Model-Based:
In this Reinforcement Learning method, you need to create a virtual model for each
environment. The agent learns to perform in that specific environment.

Characteristics of Reinforcement Learning

Here are important characteristics of reinforcement learning
 There is no supervisor, only a real number or reward signal
 Sequential decision making
 Time plays a crucial role in Reinforcement problems
 Feedback is always delayed, not instantaneous
 Agent's actions determine the subsequent data it receives
Types of Reinforcement Learning
Two kinds of reinforcement learning methods are:
Positive:
It is defined as an event, that occurs because of specific behavior. It increases the
strength and the frequency of the behavior and impacts positively on the action taken
by the agent.
This type of Reinforcement helps you to maximize performance and sustain change for
a more extended period. However, too much Reinforcement may lead to over-
optimization of state, which can affect the results.

Negative:
Negative Reinforcement is defined as strengthening of behavior that occurs because of
a negative condition which should have stopped or avoided. It helps you to define the
minimum stand of performance. However, the drawback of this method is that it
provides enough to meet up the minimum behavior.

Learning Models of Reinforcement

There are two important learning models in reinforcement learning:
 Markov Decision Process
 Q learning

Markov Decision Process

The following parameters are used to get a solution:
 Set of actions- A
 Set of states -S
 Reward- R
 Policy- n
 Value- V
The mathematical approach for mapping a solution in reinforcement Learning is recon
as a Markov Decision Process or (MDP).

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Reinforcement Learning vs. Supervised Learning

Parameters Reinforcement Learning Supervised Learning
Decision style reinforcement learning helps you In this method, a decision is made
to take on the input given at the
your decisions sequentially. beginning.
Works on Works on interacting with the Works on examples or given
environment. sample data.
Dependency In RL method learning decision Supervised learning the decisions
on decision is dependent. which are independent of each
Therefore, you should give labels other, so labels are given for every
to all the dependent decision.
decisions.
Best suited Supports and work better in AI, It is mostly operated with an
where human interactive software system or
interaction is prevalent. applications.
Example Chess game Object recognition

Applications of Reinforcement Learning

Here are applications of Reinforcement Learning:
 Robotics for industrial automation.
 Business strategy planning
 Machine learning and data processing
 It helps you to create training systems that provide custom instruction and
materials according to the requirement of students.
 Aircraft control and robot motion control

Why use Reinforcement Learning?

Here are prime reasons for using Reinforcement Learning:
 It helps you to find which situation needs an action
 Helps you to discover which action yields the highest reward over the longer
period.
 Reinforcement Learning also provides the learning agent with a reward function.
 It also allows it to figure out the best method for obtaining large rewards.

When Not to Use Reinforcement Learning?

You can't apply reinforcement learning model is all the situation. Here are some
conditions when you should not use reinforcement learning model.
 When you have enough data to solve the problem with a supervised learning
method
 You need to remember that Reinforcement Learning is computing-heavy and
time-consuming. in particular when the action space is large.

Challenges of Reinforcement Learning

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Here are the major challenges you will face while doing Reinforcement earning:
 Feature/reward design which should be very involved
 Parameters may affect the speed of learning.
 Realistic environments can have partial observability.
 Too much Reinforcement may lead to an overload of states which can diminish
the results.
 Realistic environments can be non-stationary.

Summary:
 Reinforcement Learning is a Machine Learning method
 Helps you to discover which action yields the highest reward over the longer
period.
 Three methods for reinforcement learning are 1) Value-based 2) Policy-based
and Model based learning.
 Agent, State, Reward, Environment, Value function Model of the environment,
Model based methods, are some important terms using in RL learning method
 The example of reinforcement learning is your cat is an agent that is exposed to
the environment.
 The biggest characteristic of this method is that there is no supervisor, only a real
number or reward signal
 Two types of reinforcement learning are 1) Positive 2) Negative
 Two widely used learning model are 1) Markov Decision Process 2) Q learning
 Reinforcement Learning method works on interacting with the environment,
whereas the supervised learning method works on given sample data or
example.
 Application or reinforcement learning methods are: Robotics for industrial
automation and business strategy planning
 You should not use this method when you have enough data to solve the
problem
 The biggest challenge of this method is that parameters may affect the speed of
learning

Cognitive approaches in learning: Latent learning, observational learning

Cognitive approaches to learning are concerned with how information is processed
by learners.
Cognitive theories view students as active in “an internal learning process that involves
memory, thinking, reflection, abstraction, motivation, and meta-cognition” (Ally, 2008).
Students organize old knowledge, scripts, and schema, find relationships, and link new
information to old (Cognitive Theories of Learning, n.d.). Ertmer and Newby (1993)
note that “learning is a change in the state of knowledge, and is a mental activity where
an active learner internally codes and structures knowledge” (p. 58). They believe that
“the real focus of the cognitive approach is on changing the learner by encouraging
him/her to use appropriate learning strategies” (Ertmer & Newby, 1993, p. 59).

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Cognition refers to mental activity including thinking, remembering, learning and using
language. When we apply a cognitive approach to learning and teaching, we focus on
theunderstaning of information and concepts. If we are able to understand
theconnections between concepts, break down information and rebuild with
logicalconnections, then our rention of material and understanding will increase.

When we are aware of these mental actions, monitor them and control ourlearning
processes it is called metacognition

Classifying Cognitivist Theories

Behaviorist, cognitivist, and constructivist ideas and principles overlap in many areas
(Ally, 2008). Therefore, classifying theories is challenging; some theories fit in more
than one classification and different sources classify the theories in different ways. For
example, in some sources Jerome Bruner‘s Discovery Learning Theory is classified as
cognitive (Using the Web for Learning: Background, n.d.) and not developmental
(Cognitive Theories of Learning, n.d.). In other sources, Bruner is deemed
developmental (Driscoll, 2005/2007). In still other sources, Bruner is considered
constructivist (Learning Theories Knowledgebase, 2009). In addition, Albert Bandura is
often classified as a behaviorist; however, Bandura, himself, claimed that he was never
a behaviorist (From Behaviorism to Social Cognition??, n.d.).

Classifications
Course materials in ETEC 512 classified theorists as follows:
Cognitive
 Social Cognitive Theory (Social Learning Theory) by Bandura
 Bandura focused on observational learning and self-efficacy (Zeldin,
Britner, & Pajares, 2008).
 Information Processing Theories by various theorists
 The computer was seen as a metaphor for the mind (Schunk 2004/2007a).
 Information was input and the mind processed the information, creating
output (Information Processing, n.d.).
 Assimilation Theory (Meaningful Learning) by Ausubel
 Ausubel focused on reception learning; he noted that the learner was active
and thus he differentiated between rote and meaningful learning (Novak,
1998/2007).
 Ausubel stressed the importance of the advance organizer.

Developmental
 Genetic Epistemology by Piaget
 Piaget believed that experience with the environment affected knowledge
acquisition.
 His four stages of development detail how humans develop cognitively.
 Sociocultural Theory by Vygotsky

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 Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) details the difference

between what a learner can do independently and what the leaner can do
with help; independent learning may not take place, but scaffolded learning
can.
 Discovery Learning by Bruner
 Bruner describes representational stages, and emphasizes exploring the
environment.

Concept Map of Cognitive and Developmental Theories

Using the computer metaphor of input and output, this concept map of the theories
organizes the main principles. The component referring to an individual is shown on
the left hand side of each theory diagram, while the social contribution is shown on the
right hand side.
Components of Cognitive Learning Approaches
Ertmer and Newby (1993) describe the commonalities that exist between the many
different cognitive theories:

How Learning Occurs

 mental activity: internal coding and structuring by the learner
 change occurs in state of knowledge
Factors Influencing Learning
 environmental conditions
 practice with corrective feedback
 processes of mental planning, goal-setting, and organizational strategies
 way learners attend to, code, transform, rehearse, store and retrieve information
 learners’ thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, and values
Role of Memory
 information is stored in an organized, meaningful manner; need to relate new
information to prior knowledge
Transfer
 function of how information is stored in memory
 occurs when learner understands how to apply knowledge in different contexts
Types of Learning Best Explained
 complex forms of learning (reasoning, problem-solving, information-processing)
 communicate/transfer knowledge in an efficient effective manner: simplification,
standardization (knowledge analyzed, decomposed, simplified into basic building
blocks; irrelevant information eliminated)
Instructional Design
 feedback to help create accurate mental representations and connections
 learner and task analysis: determine learner’s predisposition to learning; look at
existing mental structures to design instruction so it can be readily assimilated
Major Tasks of Teacher/Designer
 understand that learners have different backgrounds/experiences which can
impact learning outcomes

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 determine the most effective manner in which to organize and structure new
information to work with these backgrounds/experiences
 arrange practice with feedback so that the new information is effectively and
efficiently assimilated and /or accommodated with the learner’s cognitive
structure

Relevance of Cognitivist Approaches

Cognitivist approaches to learning are relevant to today’s educators. Pratt (n.d.)
cautions “while I do not argue with the basic tenets of constructivism, I do resist the
rush to adopt any single, dominant view of learning or teaching” (p. 1). Hung (2001)
advises that “instead of regarding the different learning theories as discordant, we
rather adopt the instructional approaches derived from each of the learning theories
and situate them in the appropriate instructional context based on the learning
objectives” (Conclusion). Ertmer and Newby (1993) suggest that the best theoretical
approach depends on the learner’s experience with the knowledge, and the level of
cognitive processing required by the task; behaviourist approaches can allow the
learner to master content (know what), cognitivist approaches are better for problem-
solving with facts and rules applied in unfamiliar situations (know how), and
constructivist approaches are better for ill-defined problems (reflection-in-action).

Distributed Learning
In a Distributed Learning (DL) program, parents are very involved in helping their
children learn. The parents are not trained teachers, and have difficulty with using
pedagogy to inform their practices at home. The parents find value in the efficient
delivery method inherent in cognitivist approaches. DL students in programs that have
social/interactive components ( face-to-face classes or online discussions) can use the
knowledge and skills learned from a cognitivist approach, from content to critical
thinking and problem-solving strategies, to engage in knowledge construction. Pratt
(n.d.) states “that teachers are ‘pedagogical engineers’ with the responsibility to plan a
lesson(s) with the most relevant instructional approaches and technologies at his or
her disposal” (Conclusion).

In a DL program, it is the teacher’s responsibility to understand the needs of parents

and learners; this makes it even more important that teachers understand and choose
the most relevant approach.

Latent Learning
Strict behaviorists like Watson and Skinner focused exclusively on studying behavior
rather than cognition (such as thoughts and expectations). In fact, Skinner was such a
staunch believer that cognition didn’t matter that his ideas were considered radical
behaviorism. Skinner considered the mind a “black box”—something completely
unknowable—and, therefore, something not to be studied. However, another
behaviorist, Edward C. Tolman, had a different opinion. Tolman’s experiments with rats
demonstrated that organisms can learn even if they do not receive immediate

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reinforcement (Tolman & Honzik, 1930; Tolman, Ritchie, & Kalish, 1946). This finding
was in conflict with the prevailing idea at the time that reinforcement must be
immediate in order for learning to occur, thus suggesting a cognitive aspect to learning.

Latent learning is a form of learning that is not immediately expressed in an overt

response. It occurs without any obvious reinforcement of the behavior or associations
that are learned. Latent learning is not readily apparent to the researcher because it is
not shown behaviorally until there is sufficient motivation. This type of learning broke
the constraints of behaviorism, which stated that processes must be directly
observable and that learning was the direct consequence of conditioning to stimuli.
In the experiments, Tolman placed hungry rats in a maze with no reward for finding
their way through it. He also studied a comparison group that was rewarded with food
at the end of the maze. As the unreinforced rats explored the maze, they developed
a cognitive map: a mental picture of the layout of the maze (Figure 1).

After 10 sessions in the maze without reinforcement, food was placed in a goal box at
the end of the maze. As soon as the rats became aware of the food, they were able to
find their way through the maze quickly, just as quickly as the comparison group, which
had been rewarded with food all along. This is known as latent learning: learning that
occurs but is not observable in behavior until there is a reason to demonstrate it.
Latent learning also occurs in humans. Children may learn by watching the actions of
their parents but only demonstrate it at a later date, when the learned material is
needed.

For example, suppose that Ravi’s dad drives him to school every day. In this way, Ravi
learns the route from his house to his school, but he’s never driven there himself, so he
has not had a chance to demonstrate that he’s learned the way. One morning Ravi’s
dad has to leave early for a meeting, so he can’t drive Ravi to school. Instead, Ravi
follows the same route on his bike that his dad would have taken in the car. This
demonstrates latent learning. Ravi had learned the route to school, but had no need to
demonstrate this knowledge earlier.

EVERYDAY CONNECTION: THIS PLACE IS LIKE A MAZE

Have you ever gotten lost in a building and couldn’t find your way back out? While that
can be frustrating, you’re not alone. At one time or another we’ve all gotten lost in
places like a museum, hospital, or university library. Whenever we go someplace new,
we build a mental representation—or cognitive map—of the location, as Tolman’s rats
built a cognitive map of their maze. However, some buildings are confusing because
they include many areas that look alike or have short lines of sight. Because of this, it’s
often difficult to predict what’s around a corner or decide whether to turn left or right to
get out of a building.

Psychologist Laura Carlson (2010) suggests that what we place in our cognitive map
can impact our success in navigating through the environment. She suggests that

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paying attention to specific features upon entering a building, such as a picture on the
wall, a fountain, a statue, or an escalator, adds information to our cognitive map that
can be used later to help find our way out of the building.

Observational learning
Observational learning, method of learning that consists of observing and modeling
another individual’s behavior, attitudes, or emotional expressions. Although it is
commonly believed that the observer will copy the model, American psychologist Albert
Bandura stressed that individuals may simply learn from the behavior rather than
imitate it. Observational learning is a major component of Bandura’s social
learning theory. He also emphasized that four conditions were necessary in any form
of observing and modeling behavior: attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation.

Conditions For Observational Learning

Attention
If an organism is going to learn anything from a model, he or she must be paying
attention to it and the behavior it exhibits. Many conditions can affect the observer’s
attention. For instance, if the observer is sleepy, ill, or distracted, he or she will be less
likely to learn the modeled behavior and imitate it at a later date. In addition, the
characteristics of the model have an influence on the observer’s attention. Bandura
and others have shown that humans pay more attention to models that are attractive,
similar to them, or prestigious and are rewarded for their behaviors. This explains the
appeal that athletes have on the behavior of young children and that successful adults
have on college students.

Unfortunately, this aspect of modeling can also be used in detrimental ways. For
example, if young children witness gang members gaining status or money, they may
imitate those behaviors in an effort to gain similar rewards.

Retention
The second requirement of observational learning is being able to remember the
behavior that was witnessed. If the human or animal does not remember the behavior,
there is a less than probable chance that they will imitate it.

Reproduction
This requisite of behavior concerns the physical and mental ability of the individual to
copy the behavior he or she observed. For instance, a young child may observe a
college basketball player dunk a ball. Later, when the child has a basketball, he or she
may attempt to dunk a ball just like the college player. However, the young child is not
nearly as physically developed as the older college player and, no matter how many
times he or she tries, will not be able to reach the basket to dunk the ball.

An older child or an adult might be able to dunk the ball but likely only after quite a bit
of practice. Similarly, a young colt observes another horse in the herd jump over the

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creek while running in the pasture. After observing the model’s jumping behavior, the
colt attempts to do the same only to land in the middle of the creek. He simply was not
big enough or did not have long enough legs to clear the water. He could, however,
after physical growth and some practice, eventually be able to replicate the other
horse’s jump.

Motivation
Perhaps the most important aspect of observational learning involves motivation. If the
human or animal does not have a reason for imitating the behavior, then no amount of
attention, retention, or reproduction will overcome the lack of motivation. Bandura
identified several motivating factors for imitation. These include knowing that the model
was previously reinforced for the behavior, being offered an incentive to perform, or
observing the model receiving reinforcement for the behavior. These factors can also
be negative motivations. For instance, if the observer knew that the model was
punished for the behavior, was threatened for exhibiting the behavior, or observed the
model being punished for the behavior, then the probability of mimicking the behavior
is less.

Applications Of Observational Learning

Modeling has been used successfully in many therapeutic conditions. Many therapists
have used forms of modeling to assist their patients to overcome phobias. For
example, adults with claustrophobia may observe a model in a video as they move
closer and closer to an enclosed area before entering it. Once the model reaches the
enclosed area, for instance a closet, he or she will open the door, enter it, and then
close the door. The observer will be taught relaxation techniques and be told to
practice them anytime he or she becomes anxious while watching the film. The end
result is to continue observing the model until the person can enter the closet himself
or herself.

Bandura’s findings in the Bobo doll experiments have greatly influenced children’s
television programming. Bandura filmed his students physically attacking the Bobo doll,
an inflatable doll with a rounded bottom that pops back up when knocked down. A
student was placed in the room with the Bobo doll. The student punched the doll,
yelled “sockeroo” at it, kicked it, hit it with hammers, and sat on it. Bandura then
showed this film to young children. Their behavior was taped when in the room with the
doll. The children imitated the behaviors of the student and at times even became
more aggressive toward the doll than what they had observed. Another group of young
children observed a student being nice to the doll. Ironically, this group of children did
not imitate the positive interaction of the model. Bandura conducted a large number of
varied scenarios of this study and found similar events even when the doll was a live
clown. These findings have prompted many parents to monitor the television shows
their children watch and the friends or peers with which they associate. Unfortunately,
the parental saying “Do as I say, not as I do” does not hold true for children. Children
are more likely to imitate the behaviors versus the instructions of their parents.

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One of the most famous instances of observational learning in animals involves the
blue , a small European bird. During the 1920s and through the 1940s, many people
reported that the cream from the top of the milk being delivered to their homes was
being stolen. The cream-stealing incidents spread all over Great Britain. After much
speculation about the missing cream, it was discovered that the blue tit was the culprit.
Specifically, one bird had learned to peck through the foil top of the milk container and
suck the cream out of the bottle. It did not take long before other blue tit birds imitated
the behavior and spread it through the country.

Verbal Learning
Verbal learning is the process of acquiring, retaining and recalling of verbal material. At
its most elementary level, it can be defined as a process of building associations
between a stimulus and a response, with both of them being verbal. At a broader level,
verbal learning includes the processes of organizing the stimulus material by the
learner and the related changes in the learner's behavior.
At different stages of the development of the verbal learning studies, a variety of
aspects of this phenomenon were highlighted. For example, German psychologist
Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850-1909) in his book On Memory (1885), focused on the
processes of association building and recall, which shaped his experiments with verbal
material. Ebbinghaus's work, albeit not dealing explicitly with verbal learning, is
considered as the first seminal work in the field, due to the material and the methods
used.

Verbal learning can be based on different processes and can be classified in several
types. The first process is serial verbal learning. People engage in it when they learn a
list of verbal items (for example, words or syllables) while maintaining the order of the
items. Psychologists test this type of learning by asking subjects to read a list of verbal
stimuli and then reproduce this list while keeping the original order of the items. Such
experiments have been widely used in tests of short- and long-term memory.

A useful strategy that can be used while remembering such lists of words is to build
associations between them. Thus, the first word "anticipates" the second, and,
analogically, every word points to the one after it. Ebbinghaus called this learning
strategy the serial anticipation method. Studies of this type of learning have also
discovered the serial position effect, which says that different parts of the list are
learned with different difficulty. Usually, the first few items are the easiest to learn, then
come those at the end of the list. The hardest to learn are the items just after the
middle.

Another type of verbal learning is referred to paired associate learning. It happens

when people read pairs of words, or other verbal stimuli, then get to see just one item
of a pair and have to say what the other is. This type of learning is largely used in
education, especially in learning foreign languages. Pupils learn vocabularies as pairs

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of known English words and words from another language, building associations
between the items of a pair. Then, when presented with a foreign word (stimulus), the
pupil has to name the corresponding English word (response).
Free verbal learning is a type of learning, which people use when they learn lists of
items regardless of their order. A task used to test this type of learning is free recall.
The subject is asked to recall as many items from a list as possible, regardless of their
sequence. Such tests are often used to establish organizational patterns of learning
and memory. For example, the subject may use a clustering strategy - grouping items
according to their similarity or the number of letters in them.

Another kind of verbal learning is verbal discrimination (or recognition) learning. It is

studied by a task which requires of the subject, after reading a list of items, to read
another one and to say which items of the second list were present in the first. Verbal
learning theorists use different materials in their tests. Ebbinghaus used nonsense
syllables - syllables of the type consonant-vowel-consonant, such as GOC, TER, and
BIV. He argued that these stimuli were easily controlled and thus had an advantage for
being used in the studies of memory compared to meaningful words.

In 1932, British psychologist Frederic Bartlett (1886-1969) challenged Ebbinghaus's

view that nonsense syllables were easily controlled and that they eliminated meaning
as a factor in learning. Another influential perspective and perhaps the most important
contribution to this field was The Psychology of Human Learning: An
Introduction (1942) by John McGeoch (1897-1942), a book which summarized many of
the trends in verbal learning.
In the 1950s, the verbal learning studies focused on verbal behavior - the
characteristics of language and its use. In the 1960s through to the
1980s, psycholinguists developed models of word acquisition, verbal information
processing and lexicon building. Examples of such models are the logogen model of
John Morton (1969), which was considered to be an important theory, along with the
PDP (parallel distributed processing) model of Mark Seidenberg and James Lloyd
McClelland (1989).

Discrimination learning
Learning Set and Learning by Exclusion
Discrimination learning can be generalized. The point is illustrated by experiments with
monkeys on learning set. In the typical procedure, a monkey is presented with two
objects; under one is a piece of food. When it learns the discrimination, two new
objects are presented, and so on. Learning proceeds more rapidly after each problem
until it learns new discriminations in a single trial. Learning set has also been
demonstrated in other species and with other tasks.

Learning set is evident in a word-learning discrimination called learning by exclusion. In

typical experiments employing nonverbal humans with mental retardation, subjects are
first taught names for several foods. Then a new food is placed among foods with

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known names. Without any further training or prompts, subjects are asked to point to
the new food that is given a never before heard name. Experienced subjects correctly
select the novel food on the first test, and in subsequent tests with that food and new
foods they demonstrate retention of the new name. These experiments show that after
learning several names, individuals learn the contingency that exists between new
names and new objects.

Discrimination Learning
Discrimination learning can be used as a part of training for more difficult tasks,
including the judgement bias tasks and Iowa gambling task described earlier in the
chapter. It can, however, also be used as a task in and of itself, to determine the ability
of animals to discriminate between two stimuli and the capacity of animals to learn and
perform tasks based on discrimination in different modalities.

Visual discrimination is frequently used in discrimination learning in various species.

This can entail the use of lights, including discrimination between light color, intensity,
or frequency of flashing lights. Visual stimuli can also include the use of pictures or
patterns. Pigs have visual acuity which is inferior to humans, sheep, and cattle (Entsu
et al., 1992; Tanaka et al., 1995; Zonderland et al., 2008) but which should, in theory,
be quite sufficient for learning visual discriminations. In practice, however,
discrimination based on visual stimuli in pigs has proven quite difficult, requiring
lengthy training to show operant responses to distinct 2D shapes (Gieling et al., 2012a;
Graf, 1976; Haagensen et al., 2013). Discrimination of conspecifics based on
photographs, which has been demonstrated in domestic sheep (Ferreira et al., 2004)
and cows (Coulon et al., 2009) did not seem to be possible in pigs (Gieling
et al., 2012a).

Discrimination tasks based on auditory stimuli have been more successful, with pigs
showing distinct operant responses to auditory stimuli of different frequencies (Murphy
et al., 2013a). Other modalities, such as odor cues or tactile cues, have yet to be
tested in pigs. Given their strong olfactory and tactile abilities (the snout is particularly
sensitive), this may be an interesting avenue to explore to improve discrimination
learning.
Neural Basis

Damage to the orbitofrontal cortex is characterized by a marked increase in stage 1

errors, suggestive of perseverative behavior (Jones and Mishkin, 1972). Rhinal cortex
lesions produce similar perseverative behavior (Murray et al., 1998).

Hence, perseverative behavior on reversals may suggest damage to the prefrontal

cortex, rhinal cortex, or both. It is also worth noting that impairments in reversal
learning may be limited to the first time a particular type of reversal problem is
encountered (Dias et al., 1997); this may explain why a lack of impairment on reversal
learning is observed when the monkeys have previously performed reversals in a

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different stimulus domain (e.g., testing on spatial reversals after having performed
object reversals).

Recent trends in learning: Neurophysiology of learning

Each new year brings with it new learning and development trends, and a few key
themes are already shining through in 2019. Organisations are placing a strong
emphasis on learning, while employees want more control of what, where and when
they learn. They’re also adopting both conventional and unconventional approaches
to maximise their learning. This blog will uncover the latest trends in learning for 2019
including:
 Continuous learning culture
 Employee led learning
 People leaders as coaches
 Social learning
 Employee-curated content
 Mobile (aka on-demand)
 Microlearning
 Data and analytics
 Learning Experience Platform (LXP)
 Gamification, Augmented and Virtual Reality
 People data
The learning landscape is shifting. With continuous advances in technology,
employees are taking control of their own education and
development. Organisations are stepping up to help shape the future of learning.
They’re focusing on providing coaching, ongoing feedback and resources for learning
opportunities.
Technologies which focus on usability and experience are helping improve learner
engagement. Unsurprisingly, mobile and social learning are gaining traction and
feature heavily in a modern learning environment. Learners are demanding just-in-time
learning, where and when they want it.
Explore the shifts in learning with our updated learning trends for 2019.

1. Continuous learning culture

The shelf-life of skills is diminishing. The need for ongoing learning and development is
greater than at any previous point in history. 38% of CEOs believe a shortage of key
skills is the top people-related threat to growth. That’s up from 31% in 2017. With this
in mind, it’s no surprise that building a culture of continuous learning is currently a
priority for L&D leaders. This encompasses just-in-time learning designed to close a
specific knowledge gap in a current role, right through to development of competencies
and behaviours needed for future roles.

Today’s learner expects (and is expected to) continually learn and develop. This
culture of continual learning is simultaneously driving and being reinforced by the

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shifting attitude to performance management. As everyday performance and ongoing

feedback approaches gain momentum, the desire to upskill, develop and close skill
gaps reinforces the symbiotic relationship between performance and development.
2. Employee-led learning
Organisations are moving away from top-down driven development frameworks and
empowering employees to lead their own learning. Some examples of employee-led
learning include:
 moving away from a one-size-fits-all’ approach
 creating personalised learning paths to help develop employees in their current
role, next role and future roles;
 basing content on both development needs and interests.
68% of employees prefer to learn at work, according to recent research by LinkedIn,
but they don’t always have time to complete learning activities. In fact, the same
research found that the #1 challenge for talent development is getting employees to
make time for learning.

As the above diagram suggests, over half of employees (58%) want to learn at their
own pace depending on their requirements, development needs and interests. But
employees still want their manager’s input on how to improve, with 56% saying they
would spend more time learning if their manager suggested activities.
Instead of a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach, organisations are
creating personalised learning paths that develop employees in their current role, next
role and future career paths.”

3. People leaders as coaches

Finding the time for learning is the number one development challenge employees
face. The second-largest challenge is getting people leaders to take an active role in
employee development. It’s no longer only the responsibility of the L&D department to
ensure employees get the training they need. Learning professionals are now looking
to people managers to own and develop their teams. Empowering people leaders to
help employees on their continuous learning journey is becoming a priority. When it’s
done well, it’s highly successful. Nearly three-quarters (74%) of employees who felt
empowered to drive their own career say that their manager provides coaching and
supports their development.

4. Social learning
In addition to social collaborative tools, organisations are also experimenting with
cross-functional project-based learning, creating online learning marketplaces and
structured mentoring forums. At the very minimum, employees expect workplace
technologies that allow:
 social networking
 instant messaging,
 online collaboration;
 video conferencing.

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Humans are social by nature: 87% of employees say that sharing knowledge with their
team is critical for learning. 34% of organisations are already investing in social
learning tools and over the next few years we anticipate the uptake will accelerate. The
increasing complexity of work, rise of the contingent and freelance workforce, and the
desire to work ‘anywhere, anytime’ will drive the adoption of social collaboration and
knowledge-sharing tools.

5. Employee-curated content
Relevant content is what matters most to employees. Yet less than half (46%) of
employees are satisfied with the relevance of the content provided by
their organisation. How can we help employees cut through the clutter? Employees
want the ability to create their own online content and share learning resources. It’s no
surprise that peer-to-peer learning continues to gain traction – empowering people to
share relevant content with their colleagues.
Organisations are also supporting apps which curate, publish and share content to
keep peers, teammates and managers across the latest and most relevant content.
Crowdsourcing means content is constantly refreshed, removing the barrier of
irrelevant information which can deter time-poor learners.

6. Mobile (aka on-demand)

Employees expect to access content anytime, anywhere via a mobile device. Although
this trend isn’t new, corporate adoption levels have lagged behind employee
expectations. Over three-quarters of employees do at least some of their learning on a
mobile device and 99% of mobile learners believe the mobile format enhanced their
learning. Despite this, mobile access is ranked as the second-largest challenge to
learning from an employee’s perspective. Tellingly, access to mobile learning doesn’t
register within the top three perceived challenges L&D professionals face. Looking to
the future, 23% plan to purchase mobile learning solutions and this trend is expected
to accelerate. Organisations that want to improve the learning experience of their
employees need to ensure mobile is part of the solution.

7. Microlearning
Making time for learning isn’t easy. Our constantly-connected lifestyles also means
that attention spans are shrinking. A solution could lie in Microlearning: this is bite-
sized chunks of learning content, completed in three to five minutes, that makes
learning easily digestible. Some examples of successful microlearning can be found on
popular mediums including:
 podcasts
 blogs
 eLearning
 videos
As a medium, videos are still a popular way to learn. More organisations are turning to
mobile devices to create quick, inexpensive, easily uploadable content. According
to Training Journal (TJ) “In 2019, we can expect to see even more of this ‘guerilla’ film

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production with high-end features with interactivity that will be distributed on mobile
devices and applications for easy accessibility.”

Online content can be parceled into smaller components, so employees can learn
where and when it suits them.
This trend has been driven not only by a better understanding of how we learn, but
also by advances in technology. The uptake of mobile and cloud technologies means
content can be accessed as needed. This can have a positive impact on a company’s
bottom line. Organisations that empower their employees with microlearning
experience a 63% increase in revenue compared to their peers.

Neuro-physiology of Learning
Many seem to be the points of contact that relate the analysis of studies on the neuro-
phenomenological vision of knowledge (and the occurrence of states of consciousness
in relation to the act of knowing) and further studies phenomena related to bio physical
and neuro-logical that govern and influence the physiology of learning.

A study conducted by several parties on the subject show that individual neurons are
able to recognize people, landscapes, objects and even written and names. The
finding suggests the existence of a consistent and explicit code that could play a role in
the transformation of complex visual representations into long-term memories.
This conception of individual neurons as 'thinking cells' - says the neuro-surgeon Itzhak
Fried - represents an important step toward deciphering the code of the cognitive brain.
If we can understand this process, maybe one day we will be able to build cognitive
prostheses to replace functions lost due to brain injury or disease, and perhaps even to
improve memory

Angeles is based on a new conception of the mode of storage of memories, stating

that encode memories are small sets of neurons located in specific regions of the
brain. These small clusters of neural cells simultaneously represent many aspects of
the same thing.

This statement leads to the conclusion that each neuron has its own memory and that
groups of neurons fire selectively to images of faces, animals, objects or scenes. In
this perspective are here analyzed two different areas of research that are based on
two different approaches: one referring to the neuro-phenomenological studies (total
embodiment of Varela and Thompson), and the other in reference to the neuro-
physiological and bio-medical studies (neurophysiology of learning of Zhuo Joseph
Tsien).

For a long time research of the neural mechanisms by which memories are stored in
the brain has been studied by neuroscientists. Learning and memory are very
important in the structuring of knowledge: learning is the process by which one
acquires knowledge and memory is the process by which knowledge is preserved in

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time. For many years we have tried, therefore, to investigate the intricacies of cellular
memory and to understand the functional basis for action at the neural level.
Tsien and his team, in a biomedical field and through combined and complex
experiments, have developed an interesting theory on the basic mechanism by which
the brain would be able to transform experience into memory. Clans of neurons
involved in coding, they say, make a selection of experiences stored, giving a sense of
the experience and transforming it into knowledge. This extraordinary research could
allow, in the near future, to decipher the neural universal code allowing the reading of
the memories of a human being by monitoring brain activity.

Interesting observations are: a) the nature of the mechanisms of action and the
behavior of neural cells, b) the sophisticated mechanism of action research (covering
the area CA1 of the hippocampus).
In this theoretical model each event is represented by a group of neuronal clans that
encode different characteristics; a clan is represented by a set of neurons that
responds in a similar manner to each stimulus, working in harmony in the encoding of
events. It is believed, therefore, that it is the clan to generate neural memories, acting
in unison on the information conveyed phenomenal experience. Does this mean that
behavior is also the derivation of genetic relational nature of man and his
predisposition to the “lineage"? (Maturana Dàvila, 2006)

The brain is, in this perspective, the clan for neural discrimination of events encoded in
memory. In a threedimensional view, each experience is represented on a pyramid at
various levels; each pyramid is considered an integral part of a polyhedron which, in
turn, represents the category common to all the pyramids. This model represents a
consolidation of memories in a clear and inconceivable way and demonstrate the
dynamic nature of the human brain and its extraordinary ability.
organization and on the categorization as universal principles of the functioning of our
brain. In the case of memory these properties allow you to create an unlimited number
of patterns of neuronal activation (corresponding to the number of experiences that an
organism can live). In this perspective, Tsien and his research team in a recent article
say “The ability to learn and remember conspecifics is essential for the establishment
and maintenance of social groups.

Many animals, including humans, primates and rodents, depend on stable social
relationships for survival. Social learning and social recognition have become emerging
areas of interest for neuroscientists but are still not well understood. It has been
established that several hormones play a role in the modulation of social recognition
including estrogen, oxytocin and arginine vasopression.

Relatively few studies have investigated how social recognition might be improved or
enhanced. In this study, we investigate the role of the NMDA receptor in social
recognition memory, specifically the consequences of altering the ratio of the
NR2B:NR2A subunits in the forebrain regions in social behavior. We produced

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transgenic mice in which the NR2B subunit of the NMDA receptor was overexpressed
postnatally in the excitatory neurons of the forebrain areas including the cortex,
amygdala and hippocampus. We investigated the ability of both our transgenic animals
and their wild-type littermate to learn and remember juvenile conspecifics using both 1-
hr and 24-hr memory tests.

What is Memory and Forgetting Memory processes: Encoding, Storage, Retrieval

Stages of memory: Sensory memory, Short-term memory (Working memory), Long-
term Memory (Declarative – Episodic and Semantic; Procedural)
Theories of Forgetting: Interference, Retrieval Failure, Decay, Motivated
forgetting?

Memory and Forgetting Memory processes: Encoding, Storage

Human Memory
Human memory, like memory in a computer, allows us to store information for later
use. In order to do this, however, both the computer and we need to master three
processes involved in memory. The first is called encoding; the process we use to
transform information so that it can be stores. For a computer this means transferring
data into 1’s and 0’s. For us, it means transforming the data into a meaningful form
such as an association with an existing memory, an image, or a sound.

Next is the actual storage, which simply means holding onto the information. For this to
take place, the computer must physically write the 1’ and 0’s onto the hard drive. It is
very similar for us because it means that a physiological change must occur for the
memory to be stored. The final process is called retrieval, which is bringing the memory
out of storage and reversing the process of encoding. In other words, return the
information to a form similar to what we stored.

The major difference between humans and computers in terms of memory has to do
with how the information is stored. For the most part, computers have only two types;
permanent storage and permanent deletion. Humans, on the other hand are more
complex in that we have three distinct memory storage capabilities (not including
permanent deletion). The first is Sensory memory, referring to the information we
receive through the senses. This memory is very brief lasting only as much as a few
seconds.

Short Term Memory(STM) takes over when the information in our sensory memory is
transferred to our consciousness or our awareness (Engle, Cantor, & Carullo, 1993;
Laming, 1992). This is the information that is currently active such as reading this
page, talking to a friend, or writing a paper. Short term memory can definitely last
longer than sensory memory (up to 30 seconds or so), but it still has a very limited

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capacity. According to research, we can remember approximately 5 to 9 (7 +/- 2) bits of

information in our short term memory at any given time (Miller, 1956)

If STM lasts only up to 30 seconds, how do we ever get any work done? Wouldn’t we
start to lose focus or concentrate about twice every minute? This argument prompted
researchers to look at a second phase of STM that is now referred to as Working
Memory. Working Memory is the process that takes place when we continually focus
on material for longer than STM alone will allow (Baddeley, 1992).

What happens when our short term memory is full and another bit of information
enters? Displacement means that the new information will push out part of the old
information. Suddenly some one says the area code for that phone number and almost
instantly you forget the last two digits of the number. We can further sharpen our short
term memory skills, however, by mastering chunking and using rehearsal (which allows
us to visualize, hear, say, or even see the information repeatedly and through different
senses).
Finally, there is long term memory (LTM), which is most similar to the permanent
storage of a computer. Unlike the other two types, LTM is relatively permanent and
practically unlimited in terms of its storage capacity. Its been argued that we have
enough space in our LTM to memorize every phone number in the U.S. and still
function normally in terms of remembering what we do now.

Why We Remember What We Remember

Short Term Memory. There are typically six reasons why information is stored in our
short term memory.
Primacy effect – information that occurs first is typically remembered better than
information occurring later. When given a list of words or numbers, the first word or
number is usually remembered due to rehearsing this more than other information.
recency effect – often the last bit of information is remembered better because not as
much time has past; time which results in forgetting.

Distinctiveness – if something stands out from information around it, it is often

remembered better. Any distinctive information is easier to remember than that which
is similar, usual, or mundane.
frequency effect – rehearsal, as stated in the first example, results in better memory.
Remember trying to memorize a formula for your math class. The more you went over
it, the better you knew it.

Associations – when we associate or attach information to other information it

becomes easier to remember. Many of us use this strategy in our professions and
everyday life in the form of acronyms.

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Reconstruction – sometimes we actually fill in the blanks in our memory. In other

words, when trying to get a complete picture in our minds, we will make up the missing
parts, often without any realization that this is occurring.

Long Term Memory. Information that passes from our short term to our long term
memory is typically that which has some significance attached to it. Imagine how
difficult it would be to forget the day you graduated, or your first kiss. Now think about
how easy it is to forget information that has no significance; the color of the car you
parked next to at the store or what shirt you wore last Thursday. When we process
information, we attach significance to it and information deemed important is
transferred to our long term memory.

There are other reasons information is transferred. As we all know, sometimes our
brains seem full of insignificant facts. Repetition plays a role in this, as we tend to
remember things more the more they are rehearsed. Other times, information is
transferred because it is somehow attached to something significant. You may
remember that it was a warm day when you bought your first car. The temperature
really plays no important role, but is attached to the memory of buying your first car.

Forgetting
You can’t talk about remembering without mentioning its counterpart. It seems that as
much as we do remember, we forget even more. Forgetting isn’t really all that bad, and
is in actuality, a pretty natural phenomenon. Imagine if you remembered every minute
detail of every minute or every hour, of every day during your entire life, no matter how
good, bad, or insignificant. Now imagine trying to sift through it all for the important
stuff like where you left your keys.

There are many reasons we forget things and often these reasons overlap. Like in the
example above, some information never makes it to LTM. Other times, the information
gets there, but is lost before it can attach itself to our LTM. Other reasons include
decay, which means that information that is not used for an extended period of time
decays or fades away over time. It is possible that we are physiologically
preprogrammed to eventually erase data that no longer appears pertinent to us.

Failing to remember something doesn’t mean the information is gone forever though.
Sometimes the information is there but for various reasons we can’t access it. This
could be caused by distractions going on around us or possibly due to an error of
association (e.g., believing something about the data which is not correct causing you
to attempt to retrieve information that is not there). There is also the phenomenon of
repression, which means that we purposefully (albeit subconsciously) push a memory
out of reach because we do not want to remember the associated feelings. This is
often sited in cases where adults ‘forget’ incidences of sexual abuse when they were
children. And finally, amnesia, which can be psychological or physiological in origin.

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Forgetting is an all too common part of daily life. Sometimes these memory slips are
simple and fairly innocuous, such as forgetting to return a phone call. Other times,
forgetting can be much more dire and even have serious consequences, such as an
eyewitness forgetting important details about a crime.

Memory failures are an almost daily occurrence. Forgetting is so common that you
probably rely on numerous methods to help you remember important information, such
as jotting down notes in a daily planner or scheduling important events on your phone's
calendar.
As you are frantically searching for your missing car keys, it may seem that the
information about where you left them is permanently gone from your memory.
However, forgetting is generally not about actually losing or erasing this information
from your long-term memory.

Time Plays a Key Role in Forgetting

Psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus was one of the first to scientifically study forgetting.
In experiments where he used himself as the subject, Ebbinghaus tested his memory
using three-letter nonsense syllables. He relied on such nonsense words because
using previously known words would have involved drawing on his existing knowledge
and associations in his memory.2

In order to test for new information, Ebbinghaus tested his memory for periods of time
ranging from 20 minutes to 31 days. He then published his findings in 1885 in Memory:
A Contribution to Experimental Psychology.

His results, plotted in what is known as the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve, revealed a
relationship between forgetting and time. Initially, information is often lost very quickly
after it is learned. Factors such as how the information was learned and how frequently
it was rehearsed play a role in how quickly these memories are lost. Information stored
in long-term memory is surprisingly stable.

The forgetting curve also showed that forgetting does not continue to decline until all of
the information is lost.2 At a certain point, the amount of forgetting levels off.

How to Measure Forgetting

Sometimes it might seem that information has been forgotten, but even a subtle cue
can help trigger the memory. Imagine the last time you took an exam for school. While
you might have initially felt forgetful and unprepared, seeing the information presented
on the test probably helped cue the retrieval of information you might not have known
you even remembered.

So how do we know when something has been forgotten? There are a few different
ways to measure this:3

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 Recall: People who have been asked to memorize something, such as a list of
terms, might be asked to recall the list from memory. By seeing how many items
are remembered, researchers are able to identify how much information has
been forgotten. This method might involve the use of free recall (recalling items
without hints) or prompted recall (utilizing hints to trigger memories).
 Recognition: This method involves identifying information that was previously
learned. On a test, for example, students might have to recognize which terms
they learned about in a chapter of their assigned reading.

Theories About Why We Forget

Of course, many factors can contribute to forgetting. Sometimes you might be
distracted when you learn new information, which might mean that you never truly
retain the information long enough to remember it later. Well-known memory
researcher Elizabeth Loftus has proposed four key explanations for why forgetting
occurs. These have led to some major theories of forgetting.

Memory processes: Encoding, Storage, Retrieval

“Memory” is a single term that reflects a number of different abilities: holding
information briefly while working with it (working memory), remembering episodes of
one’s life (episodic memory), and our general knowledge of facts of the world
(semantic memory), among other types.

Remembering episodes involves three processes: encoding information (learning it, by

perceiving it and relating it to past knowledge), storing it (maintaining it over time), and
then retrieving it (accessing the information when needed). Failures can occur at any
stage, leading to forgetting or to having false memories. The key to improving one’s
memory is to improve processes of encoding and to use techniques that guarantee
effective retrieval.

Good encoding techniques include relating new information to what one already
knows, forming mental images, and creating associations among information that
needs to be remembered. The key to good retrieval is developing effective cues that
will lead the rememberer back to the encoded information. Classic mnemonic systems,
known since the time of the ancient Greeks and still used by some today, can greatly
improve one’s memory abilities.

Key Points
 The three main stages of memory are encoding, storage, and retrieval. Problems
can occur at any of these stages.
 The three main forms of memory storage are sensory memory, short-term
memory, and long-term memory.
 Sensory memory is not consciously controlled; it allows individuals to retain
impressions of sensory information after the original stimulus has ceased.

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 Short-term memory lasts for a very brief time and can only hold 7 +/- 2 pieces of
information at once.
 Long-term storage can hold an indefinitely large amount of information and can
last for a very long time.
 Implicit and explicit memories are two different types of long-term memory.
Implicit memories are of sensory and automatized behaviors, and explicit
memories are of information, episodes, or events.

Key Terms
 memory: The ability of an organism to record information about things or events
with the facility of recalling them later at will.
 rehearsal: Repetition of an item in short-term memory in order to store it in long-
term memory.
Memory is the ability to take in information, store it, and recall it at a later time. In
psychology, memory is broken into three stages: encoding, storage, and retrieval. The
Memory Process
1. Encoding (or registration): the process of receiving, processing, and combining
information. Encoding allows information from the outside world to reach our
senses in the forms of chemical and physical stimuli. In this first stage we must
change the information so that we may put the memory into the encoding
process.
2. Storage: the creation of a permanent record of the encoded information. Storage
is the second memory stage or process in which we maintain information over
periods of time.
3. Retrieval (or recall, or recognition): the calling back of stored information in
response to some cue for use in a process or activity. The third process is the
retrieval of information that we have stored. We must locate it and return it to our
consciousness. Some retrieval attempts may be effortless due to the type of
information.
Problems can occur at any stage of the process, leading to anything from forgetfulness
to amnesia. Distraction can prevent us from encoding information initially; information
might not be stored properly, or might not move from short-term to long-term storage;
and/or we might not be able to retrieve the information once it’s stored.

Memory Encoding
Our memory has three basic functions: encoding, storing, and retrieving information.
Encoding is the act of getting information into our memory system through automatic or
effortful processing. Storage is retention of the information, and retrieval is the act of
getting information out of storage and into conscious awareness through recall,
recognition, and relearning. There are various models that aim to explain how we
utilize our memory. In this section, you’ll learn about some of these models as well as
the importance of recall, recognition, and relearning.

Encoding

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We get information into our brains through a process called encoding, which is the
input of information into the memory system. Once we receive sensory information
from the environment, our brains label or code it. We organize the information with
other similar information and connect new concepts to existing concepts. Encoding
information occurs through automatic processing and effortful processing. If someone
asks you what you ate for lunch today, more than likely you could recall this
information quite easily.

This is known as automatic processing, or the encoding of details like time, space,
frequency, and the meaning of words. Automatic processing is usually done without
any conscious awareness. Recalling the last time you studied for a test is another
example of automatic processing. But what about the actual test material you studied?
It probably required a lot of work and attention on your part in order to encode that
information.

What are the most effective ways to ensure that important memories are well
encoded? Even a simple sentence is easier to recall when it is meaningful (Anderson,
1984). Read the following sentences (Bransford & McCarrell, 1974), then look away
and count backwards from 30 by threes to zero, and then try to write down the
sentences (no peeking back at this page!).
1. The notes were sour because the seams split.
2. The voyage wasn’t delayed because the bottle shattered.
3. The haystack was important because the cloth ripped.
How well did you do? By themselves, the statements that you wrote down were most
likely confusing and difficult for you to recall. Now, try writing them again, using the
following prompts: bagpipe, ship christening (shattering a bottle over the bow of the
ship is a symbol of good luck), and parachutist. Next count backwards from 40 by
fours, then check yourself to see how well you recalled the sentences this time. You
can see that the sentences are now much more memorable because each of the
sentences was placed in context. Material is far better encoded when you make it
meaningful.

There are three types of encoding. The encoding of words and their meaning is known
as semantic encoding. It was first demonstrated by William Bousfield (1935) in an
experiment in which he asked people to memorize words. The 60 words were actually
divided into 4 categories of meaning, although the participants did not know this
because the words were randomly presented. When they were asked to remember the
words, they tended to recall them in categories, showing that they paid attention to the
meanings of the words as they learned them.
Visual encoding is the encoding of images, and acoustic encoding is the encoding
of sounds, words in particular. To see how visual encoding works, read over this list of
words: car, level, dog, truth, book, value. If you were asked later to recall the words
from this list, which ones do you think you’d most likely remember? You would
probably have an easier time recalling the words car, dog, and book, and a more

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difficult time recalling the words level, truth, and value. Why is this? Because you can
recall images (mental pictures) more easily than words alone. When you read the
words car, dog, and book you created images of these things in your mind. These are
concrete, high-imagery words. On the other hand, abstract words like level,
truth, and value are low-imagery words. High-imagery words are encoded both visually
and semantically (Paivio, 1986), thus building a stronger memory.

Now let’s turn our attention to acoustic encoding. You are driving in your car and a
song comes on the radio that you haven’t heard in at least 10 years, but you sing
along, recalling every word. In the United States, children often learn the alphabet
through song, and they learn the number of days in each month through rhyme: “Thirty
days hath September, / April, June, and November; / All the rest have thirty-one, /
Save February, with twenty-eight days clear, / And twenty-nine each leap year.” These
lessons are easy to remember because of acoustic encoding. We encode the sounds
the words make. This is one of the reasons why much of what we teach young children
is done through song, rhyme, and rhythm.

Which of the three types of encoding do you think would give you the best memory of
verbal information? Some years ago, psychologists Fergus Craik and Endel Tulving
(1975) conducted a series of experiments to find out. Participants were given words
along with questions about them. The questions required the participants to process
the words at one of the three levels. The visual processing questions included such
things as asking the participants about the font of the letters. The acoustic processing
questions asked the participants about the sound or rhyming of the words, and the
semantic processing questions asked the participants about the meaning of the words.
After participants were presented with the words and questions, they were given an
unexpected recall or recognition task.

Words that had been encoded semantically were better remembered than those
encoded visually or acoustically. Semantic encoding involves a deeper level of
processing than the shallower visual or acoustic encoding. Craik and Tulving
concluded that we process verbal information best through semantic encoding,
especially if we apply what is called the self-reference effect. The self-reference effect
is the tendency for an individual to have better memory for information that relates to
oneself in comparison to material that has less personal relevance (Rogers, Kuiper &
Kirker, 1977).

Recoding
The process of encoding is selective, and in complex situations, relatively few of many
possible details are noticed and encoded. The process of encoding always
involves recoding—that is, taking the information from the form it is delivered to us
and then converting it in a way that we can make sense of it. For example, you might
try to remember the colors of a rainbow by using the acronym ROY G BIV (red, orange,
yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet). The process of recoding the colors into a name can

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help us to remember. However, recoding can also introduce errors—when we

accidentally add information during encoding, then remember that new material as if it
had been part of the actual experience (as discussed below).

Varieties of Memory

To be a good chess player you have to learn to increase working memory so you can
plan ahead for several offensive moves while simultaneously anticipating - through use
of memory - how the other player could counter each of your planned moves.

For most of us, remembering digits relies on short-term memory, or working memory—
the ability to hold information in our minds for a brief time and work with it (e.g.,
multiplying 24 x 17 without using paper would rely on working memory). Another type
of memory is

Episodic memory—the ability to remember the episodes of our lives. If you were
given the task of recalling everything you did 2 days ago, that would be a test of
episodic memory; you would be required to mentally travel through the day in your
mind and note the main events.

Semantic memory
is our storehouse of more-or-less permanent knowledge, such as the meanings of
words in a language (e.g., the meaning of “parasol”) and the huge collection of facts

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about the world (e.g., there are 196 countries in the world, and 206 bones in your
body). Collective memory refers to the kind of memory that people in a group share
(whether family, community, schoolmates, or citizens of a state or a country). For
example, residents of small towns often strongly identify with those towns,
remembering the local customs and historical events in a unique way. That is, the
community’s collective memory passes stories and recollections between neighbors
and to future generations, forming a memory system unto itself.

Psychologists continue to debate the classification of types of memory, as well as

which types rely on others (Tulving, 2007), but for this module we will focus on episodic
memory. Episodic memory is usually what people think of when they hear the word
“memory.” For example, when people say that an older relative is “losing her memory”
due to Alzheimer’s disease, the type of memory-loss they are referring to is the inability
to recall events, or episodic memory. (Semantic memory is actually preserved in early-
stage Alzheimer’s disease.) Although remembering specific events that have
happened over the course of one’s entire life (e.g., your experiences in sixth grade)
can be referred to as autobiographical memory, we will focus primarily on the
episodic memories of more recent events.

Storage Memory
Every experience we have changes our brains. That may seem like a bold, even
strange, claim at first, but it’s true. We encode each of our experiences within the
structures of the nervous system, making new impressions in the process—and each
of those impressions involves changes in the brain. Psychologists (and
neurobiologists) say that experiences leave memory traces, or engrams (the two
terms are synonyms).

Memories have to be stored somewhere in the brain, so in order to do so, the brain
biochemically alters itself and its neural tissue. Just like you might write yourself a note
to remind you of something, the brain “writes” a memory trace, changing its own
physical composition to do so. The basic idea is that events (occurrences in our
environment) create engrams through a process of consolidation: the neural changes
that occur after learning to create the memory trace of an experience. Although
neurobiologists are concerned with exactly what neural processes change when
memories are created, for psychologists, the term memory trace simply refers to the
physical change in the nervous system (whatever that may be, exactly) that represents
our experience.

Although the concept of engram or memory trace is extremely useful, we shouldn’t

take the term too literally. It is important to understand that memory traces are not
perfect little packets of information that lie dormant in the brain, waiting to be called
forward to give an accurate report of past experience. Memory traces are not like video
or audio recordings, capturing experience with great accuracy; as discussed earlier, we

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often have errors in our memory, which would not exist if memory traces were perfect
packets of information.

Thus, it is wrong to think that remembering involves simply “reading out” a faithful
record of past experience. Rather, when we remember past events, we reconstruct
them with the aid of our memory traces—but also with our current belief of what
happened. For example, if you were trying to recall for the police who started a fight at
a bar, you may not have a memory trace of who pushed whom first. However, let’s say
you remember that one of the guys held the door open for you. When thinking back to
the start of the fight, this knowledge (of how one guy was friendly to you) may
unconsciously influence your memory of what happened in favor of the nice guy. Thus,
memory is a construction of what you actually recall and what you believe happened.
In a phrase, remembering is reconstructive (we reconstruct our past with the aid of
memory traces) not reproductive (a perfect reproduction or recreation of the past).

Psychologists refer to the time between learning and testing as the retention interval.
Memories can consolidate during that time, aiding retention. However, experiences can
also occur that undermine the memory. For example, think of what you had for lunch
yesterday—a pretty easy task. However, if you had to recall what you had for lunch 17
days ago, you may well fail (assuming you don’t eat the same thing every day). The 16
lunches you’ve had since that one have created retroactive interference. Retroactive
interference refers to new activities (i.e., the subsequent lunches) during the retention
interval (i.e., the time between the lunch 17 days ago and now) that interfere with
retrieving the specific, older memory (i.e., the lunch details from 17 days ago). But just
as newer things can interfere with remembering older things, so can the opposite
happen. Proactive interference is when past memories interfere with the encoding of
new ones. For example, if you have ever studied a second language, often times the
grammar and vocabulary of your native language will pop into your head, impairing
your fluency in the foreign language.

In which she shows how memory for an event can be changed via misinformation
supplied during the retention interval. For example, if you witnessed a car crash but
subsequently heard people describing it from their own perspective, this new
information may interfere with or disrupt your own personal recollection of the crash. In
fact, you may even come to remember the event happening exactly as the others
described it! This misinformation effect in eyewitness memory represents a type of
retroactive interference that can occur during the retention interval (see Loftus [2005]
for a review). Of course, if correct information is given during the retention interval, the
witness’s memory will usually be improved.

Retrieval Memory
Endel Tulving argued that “the key process in memory is retrieval” (1991, p. 91). Why
should retrieval be given more prominence than encoding or storage? For one thing, if
information were encoded and stored but could not be retrieved, it would be useless.

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As discussed previously in this module, we encode and store thousands of events—

conversations, sights and sounds—every day, creating memory traces. However, we
later access only a tiny portion of what we’ve taken in. Most of our memories will never
be used—in the sense of being brought back to mind, consciously.
Psychologists distinguish information that is available in memory from that which is
accessible (Tulving & Pearlstone, 1966). Available information is the information that is
stored in memory—but precisely how much and what types are stored cannot be
known. That is, all we can know is what information we can retrieve—
accessible information. The assumption is that accessible information represents only
a tiny slice of the information available in our brains. Most of us have had the
experience of trying to remember some fact or event, giving up, and then—all of a
sudden!—it comes to us at a later time, even after we’ve stopped trying to remember it.
Similarly, we all know the experience of failing to recall a fact, but then, if we are given
several choices (as in a multiple-choice test), we are easily able to recognize it.

What factors determine what information can be retrieved from memory? One critical
factor is the type of hints, or cues, in the environment. You may hear a song on the
radio that suddenly evokes memories of an earlier time in your life, even if you were
not trying to remember it when the song came on. Nevertheless, the song is closely
associated with that time, so it brings the experience to mind.

The general principle that underlies the effectiveness of retrieval cues is the encoding
specificity principle (Tulving & Thomson, 1973): when people encode information,
they do so in specific ways. For example, take the song on the radio: perhaps you
heard it while you were at a terrific party, having a great, philosophical conversation
with a friend. Thus, the song became part of that whole complex experience. Years
later, even though you haven’t thought about that party in ages, when you hear the
song on the radio, the whole experience rushes back to you. In general, the encoding
specificity principle states that, to the extent a retrieval cue (the song) matches or
overlaps the memory trace of an experience (the party, the conversation), it will be
effective in evoking the memory. A classic experiment on the encoding specificity
principle had participants memorize a set of words in a unique setting. Later, the
participants were tested on the word sets, either in the same location they learned the
words or a different one. As a result of encoding specificity, the students who took the
test in the same place they learned the words were actually able to recall more words
(Godden & Baddeley, 1975) than the students who took the test in a new setting.

One caution with this principle, though, is that, for the cue to work, it can’t match too
many other experiences (Nairne, 2002; Watkins, 1975). Consider a lab experiment.
Suppose you study 100 items; 99 are words, and one is a picture—of a penguin, item
50 in the list. Afterwards, the cue “recall the picture” would evoke “penguin” perfectly.
No one would miss it. However, if the word “penguin” were placed in the same spot
among the other 99 words, its memorability would be exceptionally worse.

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This outcome shows the power of distinctiveness that we discussed in the section on
encoding: one picture is perfectly recalled from among 99 words because it stands out.
Now consider what would happen if the experiment were repeated, but there were 25
pictures distributed within the 100-item list. Although the picture of the penguin would
still be there, the probability that the cue “recall the picture” (at item 50) would be useful
for the penguin would drop correspondingly. Watkins (1975) referred to this outcome
as demonstrating the cue overload principle. That is, to be effective, a retrieval cue
cannot be overloaded with too many memories. For the cue “recall the picture” to be
effective, it should only match one item in the target set (as in the one-picture, 99-word
case).
To sum up how memory cues function: for a retrieval cue to be effective, a match must
exist between the cue and the desired target memory; furthermore, to produce the best
retrieval, the cue-target relationship should be distinctive. Next, we will see how the
encoding specificity principle can work in practice.
Psychologists measure memory performance by using production tests (involving
recall) or recognition tests (involving the selection of correct from incorrect information,
e.g., a multiple-choice test). For example, with our list of 100 words, one group of
people might be asked to recall the list in any order (a free recall test), while a different
group might be asked to circle the 100 studied words out of a mix with another 100,
unstudied words (a recognition test). In this situation, the recognition test would likely
produce better performance from participants than the recall test.
We usually think of recognition tests as being quite easy, because the cue for retrieval
is a copy of the actual event that was presented for study. After all, what could be a
better cue than the exact target (memory) the person is trying to access? In most
cases, this line of reasoning is true; nevertheless, recognition tests do not provide
perfect indexes of what is stored in memory. That is, you can fail to recognize a target
staring you right in the face, yet be able to recall it later with a different set of cues
(Watkins & Tulving, 1975). For example, suppose you had the task of recognizing the
surnames of famous authors. At first, you might think that being given the actual last
name would always be the best cue. However, research has shown this not
necessarily to be true (Muter, 1984). When given names such as Tolstoy, Shaw,
Shakespeare, and Lee, subjects might well say that Tolstoy and Shakespeare are
famous authors, whereas Shaw and Lee are not. But, when given a cued recall test
using first names, people often recall items (produce them) that they had failed to
recognize before. For example, in this instance, a cue like George Bernard
________ often leads to a recall of “Shaw,” even though people initially failed to
recognize Shaw as a famous author’s name. Yet, when given the cue “William,” people
may not come up with Shakespeare, because William is a common name that matches
many people (the cue overload principle at work). This strange fact—that recall can
sometimes lead to better performance than recognition—can be explained by the
encoding specificity principle. As a cue, George Bernard _________ matches the way
the famous writer is stored in memory better than does his surname, Shaw, does (even
though it is the target). Further, the match is quite distinctive with George

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Bernard ___________, but the cue William _________________ is much more

overloaded (Prince William, William Yeats, William Faulkner, will.i.am).

when a man tried to kidnap me. I was held in by the strap fastened round me while my
nurse bravely tried to stand between me and the thief. She received various scratches,
and I can still vaguely see those on her face. . . . When I was about 15, my parents
received a letter from my former nurse saying that she had been converted to the
Salvation Army. She wanted to confess her past faults, and in particular to return the
watch she had been given as a reward on this occasion. She had made up the whole
story, faking the scratches. I therefore must have heard, as a child, this story, which my
parents believed, and projected it into the past in the form of a visual memory. . . .
Many real memories are doubtless of the same order. (Norman & Schacter, 1997, pp.
187–188)
Piaget’s vivid account represents a case of a pure reconstructive memory. He heard
the tale told repeatedly, and doubtless told it (and thought about it) himself. The
repeated telling cemented the events as though they had really happened, just as we
are all open to the possibility of having “many real memories ... of the same order.” The
fact that one can remember precise details (the location, the scratches) does not
necessarily indicate that the memory is true, a point that has been confirmed in
laboratory studies, too (e.g., Norman & Schacter, 1997).

Putting It All Together: Improving Your Memory

A central theme of this module has been the importance of the encoding and retrieval
processes, and their interaction. To recap: to improve learning and memory, we need
to encode information in conjunction with excellent cues that will bring back the
remembered events when we need them. But how do we do this? Keep in mind the
two critical principles we have discussed: to maximize retrieval, we should
construct meaningful cues that remind us of the original experience, and those cues
should be distinctive and not associated with other memories. These two conditions
are critical in maximizing cue effectiveness (Nairne, 2002).

So, how can these principles be adapted for use in many situations? Let’s go back to
how we started the module, with Simon Reinhard’s ability to memorize huge numbers
of digits. Although it was not obvious, he applied these same general memory
principles, but in a more deliberate way. In fact, all mnemonic devices, or memory
aids/tricks, rely on these fundamental principles. In a typical case, the person learns a
set of cues and then applies these cues to learn and remember information. Consider
the set of 20 items below that are easy to learn and remember (Bower & Reitman,
1972).
1. is a gun. 11 is penny-one, hot dog bun.
2. is a shoe. 12 is penny-two, airplane glue.
3. is a tree. 13 is penny-three, bumble bee.
4. is a door. 14 is penny-four, grocery store.
5. is knives. 15 is penny-five, big beehive.

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6. is sticks. 16 is penny-six, magic tricks.

7. is oven. 17 is penny-seven, go to heaven.
8. is plate. 18 is penny-eight, golden gate.
9. is wine. 19 is penny-nine, ball of twine.
10. is hen. 20 is penny-ten, ballpoint pen.
It would probably take you less than 10 minutes to learn this list and practice recalling it
several times (remember to use retrieval practice!). If you were to do so, you would
have a set of peg words on which you could “hang” memories. In fact, this mnemonic
device is called the peg word technique. If you then needed to remember some
discrete items—say a grocery list, or points you wanted to make in a speech—this
method would let you do so in a very precise yet flexible way. Suppose you had to
remember bread, peanut butter, bananas, lettuce, and so on.

The way to use the method is to form a vivid image of what you want to remember and
imagine it interacting with your peg words (as many as you need). For example, for
these items, you might imagine a large gun (the first peg word) shooting a loaf of
bread, then a jar of peanut butter inside a shoe, then large bunches of bananas
hanging from a tree, then a door slamming on a head of lettuce with leaves flying
everywhere. The idea is to provide good, distinctive cues (the weirder the better!) for
the information you need to remember while you are learning it. If you do this, then
retrieving it later is relatively easy. You know your cues perfectly (one is gun, etc.), so
you simply go through your cue word list and “look” in your mind’s eye at the image
stored there (bread, in this case).

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This peg word method may sound strange at first, but it works quite well, even with little
training (Roediger, 1980). One word of warning, though, is that the items to be
remembered need to be presented relatively slowly at first, until you have practice
associating each with its cue word. People get faster with time. Another interesting
aspect of this technique is that it’s just as easy to recall the items in backwards order
as forwards. This is because the peg words provide direct access to the memorized
items, regardless of order.
How did Simon Reinhard remember those digits? Essentially he has a much more
complex system based on these same principles. In his case, he uses “memory
palaces” (elaborate scenes with discrete places) combined with huge sets of images
for digits. For example, imagine mentally walking through the home where you grew up
and identifying as many distinct areas and objects as possible.

Simon has hundreds of such memory palaces that he uses. Next, for remembering
digits, he has memorized a set of 10,000 images. Every four-digit number for him
immediately brings forth a mental image. So, for example, 6187 might recall Michael
Jackson. When Simon hears all the numbers coming at him, he places an image for
every four digits into locations in his memory palace. He can do this at an incredibly
rapid rate, faster than 4 digits per 4 seconds when they are flashed visually, as in the
demonstration at the beginning of the module. As noted, his record is 240 digits,
recalled in exact order. Simon also holds the world record in an event called “speed
cards,” which involves memorizing the precise order of a shuffled deck of cards. Simon

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was able to do this in 21.19 seconds! Again, he uses his memory palaces, and he
encodes groups of cards as single images.

Many books exist on how to improve memory using mnemonic devices, but all involve
forming distinctive encoding operations and then having an infallible set of memory
cues. We should add that to develop and use these memory systems beyond the basic
peg system outlined above takes a great amount of time and concentration. The World
Memory Championships are held every year and the records keep improving.
However, for most common purposes, just keep in mind that to remember well you
need to encode information in a distinctive way and to have good cues for retrieval.
You can adapt a system that will meet most any purpose.

Stages of memory: Sensory memory, Short-term memory (Working memory),

Long-term Memory (Declarative – Episodic and Semantic; Procedural)
Types of Memory

Sensory Memory
Sensory memory allows individuals to retain impressions of sensory information after
the original stimulus has ceased. One of the most common examples of sensory
memory is fast-moving lights in darkness: if you’ve ever lit a sparkler on the Fourth of
July or watched traffic rush by at night, the light appears to leave a trail. This is
because of “iconic memory,” the visual sensory store. Two other types of sensory
memory have been extensively studied: echoic memory (the auditory sensory store)
and haptic memory (the tactile sensory store). Sensory memory is not involved in
higher cognitive functions like short- and long-term memory; it is not consciously
controlled. The role of sensory memory is to provide a detailed representation of our
entire sensory experience for which relevant pieces of information are extracted by
short-term memory and processed by working memory.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Key Points
 Sensory memory allows individuals to recall great detail about a complex
stimulus immediately following its presentation.
 There are different types of sensory memory, including iconic memory, echoic
memory, and haptic memory.
 In sensory memory, no manipulation of the incoming information occurs, and the
input is quickly transferred to the working memory.

Key Terms
 sensory memory: The brief storage (in memory) of information experienced by
the senses; typically only lasts up to a few seconds.
 iconic: Visually representative.
 echoic: Imitative of a sound; onomatopoeic.
Sensory memory allows individuals to retain impressions of sensory information for a
brief time after the original stimulus has ceased. It allows individuals to remember great

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sensory detail about a complex stimulus immediately following its presentation.

Sensory memory is an automatic response considered to be outside of cognitive
control. The information represented in this type of memory is the “raw data” which
provides a snapshot of a person’s overall sensory experience. Information from
sensory memory has the shortest retention time, ranging from mere milliseconds to five
seconds. It is retained just long enough for it to be transferred to short-term (working)
memory.
In sensory memory, no manipulation of the incoming information occurs as it is
transferred quickly to working memory. The amount of information is greatly reduced
during this transfer because the capacity of working memory is not large enough to
cope with all the input coming from our sense organs.

Types of Sensory Memory

It is assumed that there is a subtype of sensory memory for each of the five major
senses (touch, taste, sight, hearing, and smell); however, only three of these types
have been extensively studied: echoic memory, iconic memory, and haptic memory.
Iconic Memory
Sensory input to the visual system goes into iconic memory, so named because the
mental representations of visual stimuli are referred to as icons. Iconic memory has a
duration of about 100 ms. One of the times that iconic memory is noticeable is when
we see “light trails.” This is the phenomenon when bright lights move rapidly at night
and you perceive them as forming a trail; this is the image that is represented in iconic
memory.

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Light trails: In iconic memory, you perceive a moving bright light as forming a
continuous line because of the images retained in sensory memory for milliseconds.
Echoic Memory
Echoic memory is the branch of sensory memory used by the auditory system. Echoic
memory is capable of holding a large amount of auditory information, but only for 3–4
seconds. This echoic sound is replayed in the mind for this brief amount of time
immediately after the presentation of the auditory stimulus.

Haptic Memory
Haptic memory is the branch of sensory memory used by the sense of touch. Sensory
receptors all over the body detect sensations like pressure, itching, and pain, which are
briefly held in haptic memory before vanishing or being transported to short-term
memory. This type of memory seems to be used when assessing the necessary forces
for gripping and interacting with familiar objects. Haptic memory seems to decay after
about two seconds. Evidence of haptic memory has only recently been identified and
not as much is known about its characteristics compared to iconic memory.

Short-Term Memory
Short-term memory is also known as working memory. It holds only a few items
(research shows a range of 7 +/- 2 items) and only lasts for about 20 seconds.
However, items can be moved from short-term memory to long-term memory via

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processes like rehearsal. An example of rehearsal is when someone gives you a

phone number verbally and you say it to yourself repeatedly until you can write it down.
If someone interrupts your rehearsal by asking a question, you can easily forget the
number, since it is only being held in your short-term memory.

Key Points
 Short-term memory acts as a scratchpad for temporary recall of information
being processed. It decays rapidly and has a limited capacity.
 Rehearsal and chunking are two ways to make information more likely to be held
in short-term memory.
 Working memory is related to short-term memory. It contains a phonological loop
that preserves verbal and auditory data, a visuospatial scratchpad that preserves
visual data, and a central manager that controls attention to the data.
Key Terms
 chunking: The splitting of information into smaller pieces to make reading and
understanding faster and easier.
 encoding: The process of converting information into a construct that can be
stored within the brain.
 consolidation: A process that stabilizes a memory trace after its initial
acquisition.
Short-term memory is the capacity for holding a small amount of information in an
active, readily available state for a brief period of time. It is separate from our long-term
memory, where lots of information is stored for us to recall at a later time. Unlike
sensory memory, it is capable of temporary storage. How long this storage lasts
depends on conscious effort from the individual; without rehearsal or active
maintenance, the duration of short-term memory is believed to be on the order of
seconds.

Capacity of Short-Term Memory

Short-term memory acts as a scratchpad for temporary recall of information. For
instance, in order to understand this sentence you need to hold in your mind the
beginning of the sentence as you read the rest. Short-term memory decays rapidly and
has a limited capacity.

The psychologist George Miller suggested that human short-term memory has a
forward memory span of approximately seven items plus or minus two. More recent
research has shown that this number is roughly accurate for college students recalling
lists of digits, but memory span varies widely with populations tested and with material
used.
For example, the ability to recall words in order depends on a number of characteristics
of these words: fewer words can be recalled when the words have longer spoken
duration (this is known as the word-length effect) or when their speech sounds are
similar to each other (this is called the phonological similarity effect). More words can
be recalled when the words are highly familiar or occur frequently in the language.

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Chunking of information can also lead to an increase in short-term memory capacity.

For example, it is easier to remember a hyphenated phone number than a single long
number because it is broken into three chunks instead of existing as ten digits.

Rehearsal is the process in which information is kept in short-term memory by mentally

repeating it. When the information is repeated each time, that information is re-entered
into the short-term memory, thus keeping that information for another 10 to 20
seconds, the average storage time for short-term memory. Distractions from rehearsal
often cause disturbances in short-term memory retention. This accounts for the desire
to complete a task held in short-term memory as soon as possible.

Working Memory
Though the term “working memory” is often used synonymously with “short-term
memory,” working memory is related to but actually distinct from short-term memory. It
holds temporary data in the mind where it can be manipulated. Baddeley and Hitch’s
1974 model of working memory is the most commonly accepted theory of working
memory today. According to Baddeley, working memory has a phonological loop to
preserve verbal data, a visuospatial scratchpad to control visual data, and a central
executive to disperse attention between them.

Phonological Loop
The phonological loop is responsible for dealing with auditory and verbal information,
such as phone numbers, people’s names, or general understanding of what other
people are talking about. We could roughly say that it is a system specialized for
language. It consists of two parts: a short-term phonological store with
auditory memory traces that are subject to rapid decay, and an articulatory loop that
can revive these memory traces. The phonological store can only store sounds for
about two seconds without rehearsal, but the auditory loop can “replay them” internally
to keep them in working memory. The repetition of information deepens the memory.

Visuospatial Sketchpad
Visual and spatial information is handled in the visuospatial sketchpad. This means
that information about the position and properties of objects can be stored. The
phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad are semi-independent systems; because
of this, you can increase the amount you can remember by engaging both systems at
once. For instance, you might be better able to remember an entire phone number if
you visualize part of it (using the visuospatial sketchpad) and then say the rest of it out
loud (using the phonological loop).

Central Executive
The central executive connects the phonological loop and the visuospatial sketchpad
and coordinates their activities. It also links the working memory to the long-term
memory, controls the storage of long-term memory, and manages memory retrieval
from storage. The process of storage is influenced by the duration in which information

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is held in working memory and the amount that the information is manipulated.
Information is stored for a longer time if it is semantically interpreted and viewed with
relation to other information already stored in long-term memory.
Transport to Long-Term Memory
The process of transferring information from short-term to long-term memory involves
encoding and consolidation of information. This is a function of time; that is, the longer
the memory stays in the short-term memory the more likely it is to be placed in the
long-term memory. In this process, the meaningfulness or emotional content of an item
may play a greater role in its retention in the long-term memory.

This greater retention is owed to an enhanced synaptic response within the

hippocampus, which is essential for memory storage. The limbic system of the brain
(including the hippocampus and amygdala) is not necessarily directly involved in long-
term memory, but it selects particular information from short-term memory and
consolidates these memories by playing them like a continuous tape.

Long-Term Memory
Long-term memories are all the memories we hold for periods of time longer than a few
seconds; long-term memory encompasses everything from what we learned in first
grade to our old addresses to what we wore to work yesterday. Long-term memory has
an incredibly vast storage capacity, and some memories can last from the time they
are created until we die.

There are many types of long-term memory. Explicit or declarative memory requires
conscious recall; it consists of information that is consciously stored or retrieved.
Explicit memory can be further subdivided into semantic memory (facts taken out of
context, such as “Paris is the capital of France”) and episodic memory (personal
experiences, such as “When I was in Paris, I saw the Mona Lisa“).
In contrast to explicit/declarative memory, there is also a system for procedural/implicit
memory. These memories are not based on consciously storing and retrieving
information, but on implicit learning. Often this type of memory is employed in learning
new motor skills. An example of implicit learning is learning to ride a bike: you do not
need to consciously remember how to ride a bike, you simply do. This is because of
implicit memory.

Key Points
 Long-term memory is the final, semi-permanent stage of memory; it has a
theoretically infinite capacity, and information can remain there indefinitely.
 Long-term memories can be categorized as either explicit or implicit memories.
 Explicit memories involve facts, concepts, and events, and must be recalled
consciously.
 Explicit memories can be either semantic (abstract, fact-based) or episodic
(based on a specific event).
 Implicit memories are procedures for completing motor actions.

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Key Terms
 long-term memory: Memory in which associations among items are stored
indefinitely; part of the theory of a dual-store memory model.
 script: A “blueprint” or routine for dealing with a specific situation.
If we want to remember something tomorrow, we have to consolidate it into long-term
memory today. Long-term memory is the final, semi-permanent stage of memory.
Unlike sensory and short-term memory, long-term memory has a theoretically infinite
capacity, and information can remain there indefinitely. Long-term memory has also
been called reference memory, because an individual must refer to the information in
long-term memory when performing almost any task. Long-term memory can be
broken down into two categories: explicit and implicit memory.

Explicit Memory
Explicit memory, also known as conscious or declarative memory, involves memory of
facts, concepts, and events that require conscious recall of the information. In other
words, the individual must actively think about retrieving the information from memory.
This type of information is explicitly stored and retrieved—hence its name. Explicit
memory can be further subdivided into semantic memory, which concerns facts, and
episodic memory, which concerns primarily personal or autobiographical information.

Semantic Memory
Semantic memory involves abstract factual knowledge, such as “Albany is the capital
of New York.” It is for the type of information that we learn from books and school:
faces, places, facts, and concepts. You use semantic memory when you take a
test. Another type of semantic memory is called a script. Scripts are like blueprints of
what tends to happen in certain situations. For example, what usually happens if you
visit a restaurant? You get the menu, you order your meal, you eat it, and then you pay
the bill. Through practice, you learn these scripts and encode them into semantic
memory.

Episodic Memory
Episodic memory is used for more contextualized memories. They are generally
memories of specific moments, or episodes, in one’s life. As such, they include
sensations and emotions associated with the event, in addition to the who, what,
where, and when of what happened. An example of an episodic memory would be
recalling your family’s trip to the beach. Autobiographical memory (memory for
particular events in one’s own life) is generally viewed as either equivalent to, or a
subset of, episodic memory. One specific type of autobiographical memory is a
flashbulb memory, which is a highly detailed, exceptionally vivid “snapshot” of the
moment and circumstances in which a piece of surprising and consequential (or
emotionally arousing) news was heard. For example, many people remember exactly
where they were and what they were doing when they heard of the terrorist attacks on
September 11, 2001. This is because it is a flashbulb memory.

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Semantic and episodic memory are closely related; memory for facts can be enhanced
with episodic memories associated with the fact, and vice versa. For example, the
answer to the factual question “Are all apples red?” might be recalled by remembering
the time you saw someone eating a green apple. Likewise, semantic memories about
certain topics, such as football, can contribute to more detailed episodic memories of a
particular personal event, like watching a football game. A person that barely knows
the rules of football will remember the various plays and outcomes of the game in
much less detail than a football expert.

Implicit Memory
In contrast to explicit (conscious) memory, implicit (also called “unconscious” or
“procedural”) memory involves procedures for completing actions. These actions
develop with practice over time. Athletic skills are one example of implicit memory. You
learn the fundamentals of a sport, practice them over and over, and then they flow
naturally during a game. Rehearsing for a dance or musical performance is another
example of implicit memory. Everyday examples include remembering how to tie your
shoes, drive a car, or ride a bicycle. These memories are accessed without conscious
awareness—they are automatically translated into actions without us even realizing it.
As such, they can often be difficult to teach or explain to other people. Implicit
memories differ from the semantic scripts described above in that they are usually
actions that involve movement and motor coordination, whereas scripts tend to
emphasize social norms or behaviors.

Working Memory from the Psychological

Since the concept of working memory was introduced over 50 years ago, different
schools of thought have offered different definitions for working memory based on the
various cognitive domains that it encompasses.

The general consensus regarding working memory supports the idea that working
memory is extensively involved in goal-directed behaviors in which information must be
retained and manipulated to ensure successful task execution. Before the emergence
of other competing models, the concept of working memory was described by the
multicomponent working memory model proposed by Baddeley and Hitch. In the
present article, the authors provide an overview of several working memory-relevant
studies in order to harmonize the findings of working memory from the neurosciences
and psychological standpoints, especially after citing evidence from past studies of
healthy, aging, diseased, and/or lesioned brains.

In particular, the theoretical framework behind working memory, in which the related
domains that are considered to play a part in different frameworks (such as memory’s
capacity limit and temporary storage) are presented and discussed.
From the neuroscience perspective, it has been established that working memory
activates the fronto-parietal brain regions, including the prefrontal, cingulate, and

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parietal cortices. Recent studies have subsequently implicated the roles of subcortical
regions (such as the midbrain and cerebellum) in working memory.

Aging also appears to have modulatory effects on working memory; age interactions
with emotion, caffeine and hormones appear to affect working memory performances
at the neurobiological level. Moreover, working memory deficits are apparent in older
individuals, who are susceptible to cognitive deterioration. Another younger population
with working memory impairment consists of those with mental, developmental, and/or
neurological disorders such as major depressive disorder and others.

A less coherent and organized neural pattern has been consistently reported in these
disadvantaged groups. Working memory of patients with traumatic brain injury was
similarly affected and shown to have unusual neural activity (hyper- or hypoactivation)
as a general observation. Decoding the underlying neural mechanisms of working
memory helps support the current theoretical understandings concerning working
memory, and at the same time provides insights into rehabilitation programs that target
working memory impairments from neurophysiological or psychological aspects.

Working memory has fascinated scholars since its inception in the 1960’s (Baddeley,
2010; D’Esposito and Postle, 2015). Indeed, more than a century of scientific studies
revolving around memory in the fields of psychology, biology, or neuroscience have not
completely agreed upon a unified categorization of memory, especially in terms of its
functions and mechanisms (Cowan, 2005, 2008; Baddeley, 2010).
From the coining of the term “memory” in the 1880’s by Hermann Ebbinghaus, to the
distinction made between primary and secondary memory by William James in 1890,
and to the now widely accepted and used categorizations of memory that include:
short-term, long-term, and working memories, studies that have tried to decode and
understand this abstract concept called memory have been extensive (Cowan,
2005, 2008).

Short and long-term memory suggest that the difference between the two lies in the
period that the encoded information is retained. Other than that, long-term memory has
been unanimously understood as a huge reserve of knowledge about past events, and
its existence in a functioning human being is without dispute (Cowan, 2008). Further
categorizations of long-term memory include several categories:
(1) episodic;
(2) semantic;
(3) Pavlovian; and
(4) procedural memory (Humphreys et al., 1989). For example, understanding and
using language in reading and writing demonstrates long-term storage of semantics.
Meanwhile, short-term memory was defined as temporarily accessible information that
has a limited storage time (Cowan, 2008).
Holding a string of meaningless numbers in the mind for brief delays reflects this short-
term component of memory.

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Thus, the concept of working memory that shares similarities with short-term memory
but attempts to address the oversimplification of short-term memory by introducing the
role of information manipulation has emerged (Baddeley, 2012). This article seeks to
present an up-to-date introductory overview of the realm of working memory by
outlining several working memory studies from the psychological and neurosciences
perspectives in an effort to refine and unite the scientific knowledge concerning
working memory.

Episodic memory
Episodic memory refers to any events that can be reported from a person’s life.
This covers information such as any times, places involved – for example, when you
went to the zoo with a friend last week. It is a type of ‘declarative’ memory, i.e. it can
be explicitly inspected and recalled consciously. Episodic memory can be split further
into autobiographical episodic memory (memories of specific episodes of one’s life)
and experimental episodic memory (where learning a fact [a semantic memory, below]
has been associated with memory of the specific life episode when it was
learned). Flashbulb memories are detailed autobiographical episodic memories that
are stored permanently in LTM when they are first learned, often because they were of
emotional or historical importance in that person’s life (e.g. a birth or a death).

Semantic memory
Like episodic memory, semantic memory is also a type of ‘declarative’ (explicit,
consciously recalled) memory.
However, the conscious recall here is of facts that have meaning, as opposed to the
recall of past life events associated with episodic memory. For instance, recalling that
you listen to music using your ears does not require knowing when or where you first
learned this fact.

Procedural memory
Procedural memory describes our implicit knowledge of tasks that usually do not
require conscious recall to perform them. One example would be riding a bike –you
might struggle to consciously recall how to manage the task, but we can
[unconsciously] perform it with relative ease.

Theories of Forgetting: Interference, Retrieval Failure, Decay, Motivated

forgetting
The Interference Theory
What did you have for dinner Tuesday night of last week? Is that difficult to recall? If
someone had asked you that question Wednesday morning, you probably would have
had no problem recalling what you had for dinner the night before.

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But as intervening days pass, the memories of all the other meals you have eaten
since then start to interfere with your memory of that one particular meal. This is a
good example of what psychologists call the interference theory of forgetting.4
According to interference theory, forgetting is the result of different memories
interfering with one another. The more similar two or more events are to one another,
the more likely interference will occur.

It is difficult to remember what happened on an average school day two months ago
because so many other days have occurred since then. Unique and distinctive events,
however, are less likely to suffer from interference. Your high school graduation,
wedding, and the birth of your first child are much more likely to be recalled because
they are singular events—days like no other.

Interference also plays a role in what is known as the serial position effect, or the
tendency to recall the first and last items of a list.5 For example, imagine that you wrote
down a shopping list but forgot to take it with you to the store. In all likelihood, you will
probably be able to easily recall the first and last items on your list, but you might forget
many of the items that were in the middle.
The first thing you wrote down and the last thing you wrote down stand out as being
more distinct, while the fourth item and seventh item might seem so similar that they
interfere with each other. There are two basic types of interference that can occur:4
 Retroactive interference happens when newly acquired information interferes
with old memories. For example, a teacher learning the names of her new class
of students at the start of a school year might find it more difficult to recall the
names of the students in her class last year. The new information interferes with
the old information.
 Proactive interference occurs when previously learned information makes it
more difficult to form new memories. Learning a new phone number or locker
combination might be more difficult, for example, because your memories of your
old phone number and combination interfere with the new information.
Eliminating interference altogether is impossible, but there are a few things you can do
to minimize its effects. One of the best things you can do is rehearse new information
in order to better commit it to memory. In fact, many experts
recommend overlearning important information, which involves rehearsing the material
over and over again until it can be reproduced perfectly with no errors.6

Another tactic to fight interference is to switch up your routine and avoid studying
similar material back to back. For example, don't try to study vocabulary terms for your
Spanish language class right after studying terms for your German class. Break up the
material and switch to a completely different subject each study session.
Sleep also plays an essential role in memory formation. Researchers suggest
that sleeping after you learn something new is one of the best ways to turn new
memories into lasting ones.

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The Decay Theory of Forgetting

According to the trace theory of memory, physical and chemical changes in the brain
results in a memory "trace." Information in short-term memory lasts several seconds
and if it is not rehearsed, the neurochemical memory trace quickly fades.8 According to
the trace decay theory of forgetting, the events that happen between the formation of a
memory and the recall of the memory have no impact on recall.9

Trace theory proposes that the length of time between the memory and recalling that
information determines whether the information will be retained or forgotten. If the time
interval is short, more information will be recalled. If a longer period of time passes,
more information will be forgotten and memory will be poorer.

The idea that memories fade over time is hardly new. The Greek philosopher Plato
suggested such a thing more than 2,500 years ago. Later, experimental research by
psychologists such as Ebbinghaus bolstered this theory.2

One of the problems with this theory is that it is difficult to demonstrate that time alone
is responsible for declines in recall. In real-world situations, many things happen
between the formation of a memory and the recall of that information. A student who
learns something in class, for example, might have hundreds of unique and individual
experiences between learning that information and having to recall it on an exam.

Was forgetting the date that the American Revolutionary War began due to the length
of time between learning the date in your American History class and being tested on
it? Or did the multitude of information acquired during that interval of time play a role?
Testing this can be exceedingly difficult. It is nearly impossible to eliminate all the
information that might have an influence on the creation of the memory and the recall
of the memory.

Another problem with decay theory is it does not account for why some memories fade
quickly while others linger. Novelty is one factor that plays a role. For example, you are
more likely to remember your very first day of college than all of the intervening days
between it and graduation. That first day was new and exciting, but all the following
days probably seem quite similar to each other.

Retrieval Failure Theory

Retrieval failure is where the information is in long term memory, but cannot be
accessed. Such information is said to be available (i.e. it is still stored) but not
accessible (i.e. it cannot be retrieved). It cannot be accessed because the retrieval
cues are not present.
When we store a new memory we also store information about the situation and these
are known as retrieval cues. When we come into the same situation again, these
retrieval cues can trigger the memory of the situation. Retrieval cues can be:

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External / Context - in the environment, e.g. smell, place etc.

Internal / State- inside of us, e.g. physical, emotional, mood, drunk etc.
There is considerable evidence that information is more likely to be retrieved from long-
term memory if appropriate retrieval cues are present. This evidence comes from both
laboratory experiments and everyday experience. A retrieval cue is a hint or clue that
can help retrieval.
Tulving (1974) argued that information would be more readily retrieved if the cues
present when the information was encoded were also present when its retrieval is
required. For example, if you proposed to your partner when a certain song was
playing on the radio, you will be more likely to remember the details of the proposal
when you hear the same song again. The song is a retrieval cue - it was present when
the information was encoded and retrieved.

Tulving suggested that information about the physical surroundings (external context)
and about the physical or psychological state of the learner (internal context) is stored
at the same time as information is learned. Reinstating the state or context makes
recall easier by providing relevant information, while retrieval failure occurs when
appropriate cues are not present. For example, when we are in a different context (i.e.
situation) or state.

Context (external) Cues

Retrieval cues may be based on context-the setting or situation in which information is
encoded and retrieved. Examples include a particular room, driving along a motorway,
a certain group of people, a rainy day and so on.

Context also refers to the way information is presented. For example, words may be
printed, spoken or sung, they may be presented in meaningful groups - in categories
such as lists of animals or furniture - or as a random collection without any link
between them. Evidence indicates that retrieval is more likely when the context at
encoding matches the context at retrieval.
You may have experienced the effect of context on memory if you have ever visited a
place where you once lived (or an old school). Often such as visit helps people recall
lots of experiences about the time they spent there which they did not realize were
stored in their memory.
A number of experiments have indicated the importance of context-based cues for
retrieval. An experiment conducted by Tulving and Pearlstone (1966) asked
participants to learn lists of words belonging to different categories, for example names
of animals, clothing and sports.

Participants were then asked to recall the words. Those who were given the category
names recalled substantially more words than those who were not. The categories
provided a context, and naming the categories provided retrieval cues. Tulving and
Pearlstone argued that cue-dependent forgetting explains the difference between the

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two groups of participants. Those who recalled fewer words lacked appropriate
retrieval cues.

An interesting experiment conducted by Baddeley (1975) indicates the importance of

setting for retrieval. Baddeley (1975) asked deep-sea divers to memorize a list of
words. One group did this on the beach and the other group underwater. When they
were asked to remember the words half of the beach learners remained on the beach,
the rest had to recall underwater.

Half of the underwater group remained there and the others had to recall on the
beach. The results show that those who had recalled in the same environment (i.e.
context) which that had learned recalled 40% more words than those recalling in a
different environment. This suggests that the retrieval of information is improved if it
occurs in the context in which it was learned.

State (internal) Dependent Cues

The basic idea behind state-dependent retrieval is that memory will be best when a
person's physical or psychological state is similar at encoding and retrieval.

For example, if someone tells you a joke on Saturday night after a few drinks, you'll be
more likely to remember it when you're in a similar state - at a later date after a few
more drinks. Stone cold sober on Monday morning, you'll be more likely to forget the
joke.
State retrieval clues may be based on state-the physical or psychological state of the
person when information is encoded and retrieved. For example, a person may be
alert, tired, happy, sad, drunk or sober when the information was encoded. They will
be more likely to retrieve the information when they are in a similar state.

Tulving and Pearlstone’s (1966) study involved external cues (e.g. presenting
category names). However, cue-dependent forgetting has also been shown
with internal cues (e.g. mood state). Information about current mood state is often
stored in the memory trace, and there is more forgetting if the mood state at the time of
retrieval is different. The notion that there should be less forgetting when the mood
state at learning and at retrieval is the same is generally known as mood-state-
dependent memory.

A study by Goodwin et al. (1969) investigated the effect of alcohol on state-dependent

retrieval. They found that when people encoded information when drunk, they were
more likely to recall it in the same state. For example, when they hid money and
alcohol when drunk, they were unlikely to find them when sober. However, when they
were drunk again, they often discovered the hiding place. Other studies found similar
state-dependent effects when participants were given drugs such as marijuana.
People tend to remember material better when there is a match between their mood at
learning and at retrieval. The effects are stronger when the participants are in a

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positive mood than a negative mood. They are also greater when people try to
remember events having personal relevance.

Evaluation
According to retrieval-failure theory, forgetting occurs when information is available in
LTM but is not accessible. Accessibility depends in large part on retrieval cues.
Forgetting is greatest when context and state are very different at encoding and
retrieval. In this situation, retrieval cues are absent and the likely result is cue-
dependent forgetting.

There is considerable evidence to support this theory of forgetting from laboratory

experiments. The ecological validity of these experiments can be questioned, but their
findings are supported by evidence from outside the laboratory.
For example, many people say they can't remember much about their childhood or
their school days. But returning to the house in which they spent their childhood or
attending a school reunion often provides retrieval cues which trigger a flood of
memories.

Motivated Forgetting in Early

Educators assume that students are motivated to retain what they are taught. Yet,
students commonly report that they forget most of what they learn, especially in
mathematics. In the current study I ask whether students may be motivated to forget
mathematics because of academic experiences threaten the self-perceptions they are
committed to maintaining. Using a large dataset of 1st and 2nd grade children (N =
812), I hypothesize that math anxiety creates negative experiences in the classroom
that threaten children’s positive math self-perceptions, which in turn spurs a motivation
to forget mathematics.

A math achievement growth score was devised from a regression model of fall math
achievement predicting spring achievement. Results show that children with higher
math self-perceptions showed reduced growth in math achievement across the school
year as a function of math anxiety. Children with lower math interest self-perceptions
did not show this relationship. Results serve as a proof-of-concept for a scientific
account of motivated forgetting within the context of education.

Introduction
Despite all of the effort that students put into studying, they commonly report that
knowledge is rapidly lost once a course is over. While the belief in a total loss of
formally acquired knowledge is false (Bahrick, 1979), it is true that students experience
a significant amount of forgetting soon after the completion of a course (Conway et al.,
1991; Kamuche and Ledman, 2011). Research on long-term retention of classroom
knowledge reports that forgetting arises because of blocked learning schedules
(Landauer and Bjork, 1978; Dempster, 1992), a lack of subsequent relearning (Bahrick
and Phelps, 1987; Bahrick and Hall, 1991; Cooper et al., 2000; Deslauriers and

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Wieman, 2011), poor initial knowledge structures and shallow levels of understanding
gained during the course itself (Conway et al., 1991). In this article, I consider an
alternative explanation. I draw on the suppression and threat based coping literature to
argue that students themselves may be motivated to forget due to negative academic
experiences that threaten their self-perceptions.

Motivated Forgetting
Motivated forgetting is the active process of forgetting memories that are unpleasant,
painful, or generally threating to the self-image that individuals strive to maintain (Tajfel
and Turner, 1986; Thompson et al., 1997). Research in cognitive psychology
demonstrates that people can intentionally down-prioritize unwanted memories from
entering consciousness via control processes.

Threat Based Model of Motivated Forgetting

The cognitive literature on intentional forgetting provides compelling evidence that
forgetting previously encoded information is possible, yet it has not provided an
account for why individuals engage in intentional forgetting outside of the laboratory.
Recent social psychological investigations have advanced the motivated forgetting
literature by developing a framework to predict the social and intrapersonal
circumstances that elicit motivated forgetting.

A growing body of research draws on threat-based theories to argue that motivated

forgetting arises as a possible coping mechanism to defend against memories that
threaten the integrity of the self (Tajfel and Turner, 1986; Aronson et al.,
1999; Sherman and Cohen, 2006). Threat-based theories begin with the premise that
people are motivated to see themselves in an overly positive light and will
fundamentally alter their behaviors, attention, and even memory processes to maintain
this positive internal representation (Greenwald, 1980; Taylor and Brown, 1994).

Motivated Forgetting and Academic Break Periods

A recent study examined the consequences of motivated forgetting within the context
of education, where students are generally motivated to remember. Ramirez et al.
(2017) asked whether we can draw on the basic premises underlying the research on
psychological threat and motivated forgetting to predict the circumstances under which
students forget course content once the class is over. To test this, students enrolled in
a multivariable calculus course were asked to report their math self-perceptions and
course relevant stress. At the end of the quarter, students completed their final exam
per usual which served as a baseline measure of acquired knowledge. The authors
measured how much content students forgot by asking them to re-take some items
from their final exam 2 weeks into the summer break.

Current Study
To summarize, memory research suggests that people are capable of intentional
forgetting. Threat-based theories identify self-perceptions and experiences that

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threaten self-perceptions as key ingredients in creating a defensive memory reaction

that leads to a motivation to forget. Recent neuro investigations of threat suggests that
brain activity during rest periods is associated with activation in areas involved in
defensive memory adaptations. The aim of the current proof-of-concept study is to
address whether children at risk for motivated forgetting may be forgetting important
course relevant content during academic break periods.

Limitations
The current study holds several limitations which warrant attention. For instance, the
data collection timeline makes it difficult to make a strong case that the winter break
period was responsible for allowing students to engage in motivated forgetting; all of
the students in the study underwent a winter break period. Future research should
examine achievement immediately prior to and after the winter break period using
assessments that measure what children are learning in their specific class. The
reliability for my measure of math self-perceptions could have been higher if children
had been presented with more items, as well. The correlational research design also
did not allow me to manipulate extensive rest periods or identity threat, which could
have provided causal evidence for the account I put forth. Lastly, I was also not able to
assess perceived threat, intention to forget, or suppression-avoidance processes,
which limited my ability to provide greater evidence for the mechanism of motivated
forgetting.

Implications and Future Directions

The work reported here extends research on motivated forgetting to an educational
context where students typically exert a great deal of effort to avoid forgetting. This
work also makes a novel contribution by providing evidence that even young children
are capable of experiencing threat-based motivated forgetting. If motivated forgetting is
indeed a factor reducing children’s accessibility of memories for important course
content, then ensuring that children begin and leave the classroom with a restored
sense of self (Walton, 2014) could be quite useful in reducing motivated forgetting.

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UNIT-5 ATTENTION, PERCEPTION, LEARNING,
MEMORY AND FORGETTING MCQS

DIWAKAR
EDUCATION
HUB
(The Learn With Expertise)

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UNIT-5 ATTENTION, PERCEPTION, LEARNING, MEMORY AND FORGETTING MCQS

1. When an object is moved farther away, (2) Haphazard Stimulation of nerve cells
we tend to see it as more or less invariant (3) Stimulation of nerve cells in the eyes
in size. This is due to: (4) Stimulation of rods and cones
(1) Shape Constancy (5) None of the above
(2) Colour Constancy Answer: (1)
(3) Size Constancy
(4) Brightness Constancy 6. Behaviourists have:
(5) None of the above (1) No theory of learning
Answer: (3) (2) No theory of thinking
(3) No theory of memory
2. Reversible goblet is a favourite (4) No theory of perception
demonstration of: (5) None of the above
(1) A figure-ground reversal Answer: (4)
(2) A focus-margin reversal
(3) A shape-size reversal 7. The process by which the eyes get
(4) A size-contour reversal prepared to see very dimlight is known as:
(5) None of the above (1) Light Adaptation
Answer: (1) (2) Dark Adaptation
(3) Brightness Adaptation
3. A simpler form of stroboscopic motion is (4) Colour Adaptation
: (5) None of the above
(1) Psychokinesis Answer: (2)
(2) Autokinetic Effect
(3) Phi-Phenomenon 8. The partially colour blind people are
(4) Illusion known as:
(5) Hallucination (1) Blind
Answer: (3) (2) Colour-blind
(3) Achromats
4. Empiricists (Barkeley, Locke) maintained (4) Dichromats
that we learn our ways of perceiving (5) None of the above
through : Answer: (4)
(1) Eyes
(2) Motivaton 9. Totally colour blind people are
(3) Experiene otherwise known as :
(4) Learning (1) Colour-blind
(5) None of the above (2) Achromats
Answer: (3) (3) Monochromats
(4) Dichromats
5. William James characterised the (5) None of the above
perception of an infant as a : Answer: (3)
(1) Blooming buzzing confusion

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10. The phenomenon of sifting from one 14. Sensations of movement from inside
picture to another is known as : our bodies are called:
(1) Retina Rivalry (1) Proprioception
(2) Eyes Rivalry (2) Perception
(3) Attention Rivalry (3) Interoception
(4) Perception Rivalry (4) Sensation
(5) None of the above (5) Attention
Answer: (1) Answer: (1)

11. When the lens cannot bulge out to the 15. Sensation increases by a constant
extent necessary due to muscular defects, amount each time the stimulus is doubled.
the individual suffers from: This is called:
(1) Double Vision (1) Lewin-Zeigamik Effect
(2) Astigmatism (2) Lewin-Prentice Effect
(3) Myopia (3) Mallinoswki Law
(4) Farsightedness (4) Webber-Fechner Law
(5) None of the above (5) None of the above
Answer: (4) Answer: (4)

12. Due to the irregularities in the 16. The experiments which tell us about
formation of the lens or the cornea, the the relationship between the intensity of
object viewed will be partly clear and stimulus and the consequent changes in
partly blurred. This occurs when the the intensity of sensation are included in :
individual suffers from: (1) Psychoanalysis
(1) Astigmatism (2) Gestalt Psychology
(2) Colour-blindness (3) Parapsychology
(3) Distraction (4) Psychophysics
(4) Ratinal Disparity (5) None of the above
(5) None of the above Answer: (4)
Answer: (1)
17. The study on the Zulu tribes of Africa
13. The length of car number has reference revealed that the Zulu individuals would
to: be less susceptible to the:
(1) Shifting of Attention (1) Figure-Ground Phenomenon
(2) Distraction (2) Zollner Illusion
(3) Span of Attention (3) Ponzo illusion
(4) Focus and Margin (4) Muller-Lyer Illusion
(5) Focus of Consciousness (5) None of the above
Answer: (3) Answer: (4)

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18. A complete change of vitreous humour (2) Defective rods

occurs approximately once in: (3) Defective Cones
(1) Every four hours (4) Defective Retina
(2) Every three hours (5) None of the above
(3) Every two hours Answer: (1)
(4) Every one hour
(5) None of the above 23. As compared with cones, rods appear
Answer: (1) to be more sensitive to:
(1) Longer Wavelengths
19. The theory of colour perception which (2) Any wavelengths
seems to be the most acceptable one (3) Both shorter and longer wavelengths
today is called the: (4) Shorter wavelengths
(1) Retinex Theory (5) None of the above
(2) Perspective Theory Answer: (4)
(3) Confusion Theory
(4) Young-Helmholtz Theory 24. The alteration in the comparative
(5) None of the above sensitivity of the retinal apparatus which
Answer: (1) accompanies change in the level of light
energy is known as:
20. Who developed the ‘Retinex Theory” of (1) Purkinje Effect
colour perception? (2) Dark Adaptation
(1) Thomas Young (3) Scotopic Vision
(2) Hermann Von Helmholtz (4) Visual Acuity
(3) Edward Herring (5) None of the above
(4) Edwin Land Answer: (1)
(5) None of the above
Answer: (4) 25. An increase in sensitivity of retina
owing to absence of stimulation in
21. Who received Nobel Prize for his darkness is known as:
research on the mechanisms of the (1) Dark Adaptation
cochlea? (2) Scotopic Vision
(1) Snyder (3) Visual Acuity
(2) Pronko (4) Photopic Vision
(3) VonBekesy (5) None of the above
(4) Stratton Answer: (1)
(5) Turnbull
Answer: (3) 26. The decrease in sensitivity of the eye
which occurs on account of its stronger
22. The condition of night-blindness is a stimulation is known as:
consequence of: (1) Light Adaptation
(1) Rhodopsin deficiency in rods (2) Photopic Vision

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(3) Scotopic Vision 31. Ability to discriminate fine differences

(4) Visual Acuity in visual detail or visual sharpness is
(5) None of the above otherwise known as:
Answer: (1) (1) Photopic Vision
(2) Scotopic Vision
27. In cone adaptation experiment, test (3) Visual Acuity
field is strictly limited to the: (4) Colourless Vision
(1) Cone-free fovea (5) None of the above
(2) Cornea Answer: (3)
(3) Retina
(4) Rod-free fovea 32. Intensity multiplied by its duration
(5) None of the above brings about a constant perceptual effect.
Answer: (4) Let “I” stands for light intensity and “T” for
time or duration, then IXT=C, where “C” is
28. Reaction to powerful light, primarily by constant perceptual effectiveness. This
cones, is called: above principle is called:
(1) Photopic Vision (1) Roscoe-Bunsen Law
(2) Scotopic Vision (2) Hess and Polt Law
(3) Colourless Vision (3) Evans Principle
(4) Visual Acuity (4) Landis Principle
(5) None of the above (5) None of the above
Answer: (1) Answer: (1)

29. Visual reaction of the dark adapted eye 33. Cases of yellow-blue colour blindness
to very feeble light is called : are:
(1) Photopic Vision (1) Maximum
(2) Scotopic vision (2) Exceedingly Rare
(3) Visual Acuity (3) Mostly found in children
(4) Colourless Vision (4) Mostly found in women
(5) None of the above (5) Mostly found in men
Answer: (2) Answer: (2)

30. Visual angle varies inversely with: 34. “Interest is latent attention and
(1) Acuity attention is interest in action.” This
(2) Light statement deals with the:
(3) Brightness (1) Objective determinants of attention
(4) Length of cones (2) Span of attention
(5) Length of rods (3) Subjective determinants of attention
Answer: (1) (4) Shifting of attention
(5) None of the above
Answer: (3)

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35. “It is not a different process; it is just 39. Certain alterations in the colour of
attention to irrelevant stimuli that are not objects occur depending upon their
a part of the main assigned task.” Then relative distances from the observer. For
what is it? this reason, distant hills look blue on
(1) Distraction account of the light rays travelling through
(2) Shifting of Attention haze. This illustrates:
(3) Span of attention (1) Linear Perspective
(4) Involuntary Attention (2) Monocular Parallax
(5) Voluntary Attention (3) Aerial Perspective
Answer: (1) (4) Visual Acuity
(5) Scotopic Vision
36. Simultaneous focussing on two Answer: (3)
separate activities is otherwise known as:
(1) Span of attention 40 A set of depth cues of the nature of
(2) Shifting of attention some sort of arrangement of proportional
(3) Division of attention rise and fall in compactness of de signs
(4) Distraction which is related to perspectives is called:
(5) None of the above (1) Rods
Answer: (3) (2) Cones
(3) Gradients
37. When familiar large objects look (4) Perspectives
smaller than they are known to be, they (5) None of the above
are regarded as being at a distance. This is Answer: (3)
an instance of what is called:
(1) Visual Acuity 41. The apparent displacement of an
(2) Monocular Parallax object resulting from an actual change of
(3) Linear Perspective observer’s position is known as:
(4) Scotopic Vision (1) Parallax
(5) Pliotopic Vision (2) Acuity
Answer: (3) (3) Scotopic Vision
(4) Photopic Vision
38. Movement Parallax is a monocular cue (5) None of the above
of distance or depth and for this reason it Answer: (1)
is also called:
(1) Visual Acuity 42. The phenomenon of “induced
(2) Monocular parallax movement” occurs when there is some
(3) Linear Perspective real movement which is attributed to:
(4) Scotopic vision (1) A right objects
(5) Photopic Vision (2) A real object
Answer: (2) (3) A wrong object

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(4) A substitute object (4) Jevons himself

(5) None of the above (5) The wife of Jevons
Answer: (3) Answer: (4)

43. “It has been said that beauty is in the 47. The first person to document the
eye of the beholder”—With what factors existence of the sensory register and to
of perception this statement deals? explore its properties was:
(1) Objective Factors (1) George Sperling (1960)
(2) Figure and Ground (2) Paulham (1887)
(3) Phi-phenomenon (3) Cairnes (1891)
(4) Functional Factors (4) Hersey (1936)
(5) None of the above (5) O’comer (1958)
Answer: (4) Answer: (1)

44. According to Woodworth (1938), the 48. From his experiments of sensory
first systematic experiment that attempted register, Sperling suggested that there is
to measure the span of apprehension was some visual trace available to the Subject
carried out by: that prolongs the life of the image. He calls
(1) Jevons this visual trace as the:
(2) Paulham (1) Sensory Information Centre
(3) Jastrow (2) Perceptual Information Centre
(4) Cairnes (3) Attending Information Centre
(5) Hersey (4) Apprehension Information Centre
Answer: (1) (5) None of the above
Answer: (1)
45. The first experiment to measure span
of attention (apprehension) was designed 49. In 1976, Neisser introduced a term for
by: “Sensory Information Store.” That term is
(1) Coren and Porac in 1979 called as:
(2) Coren and Girgus in 1978 (1) Focus
(3) Jevons in 1871 (2) Margin
(4) Watkins in 1973 (3) Prepotency
(5) None of the above (4) Icon
Answer: (3) (5) Extensity
Answer: (4)
46. Who was/were the Subject (S) in
Jevon’s first experiment on span of 50. When tachistoscope exposures are
apprehension? short and there is no post exposure
(1) Boys from different SES masking field, we can be fairly sure that
(2) Girls from different SES the Subject is actually reading the
(3) A friend of Jevons stimulus:

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(1) From the icon rather than from the (2) A sense organ and its receptors
visual image itself (3) A cell
(2) From the image (4) A neuron
(3) From the short-term memory storage (5) Any cell of the sense organs
(4) From the long-term memory storage Answer: (2)
(5) None of the above
Answer: (1) 55. Hue, saturation and brightness are the
conventional terms which are used to
51. A basis on which one stream of characterise the attributes of:
information can be segregated and (1) Brightness
attended to while others can be ignored is (2) Colours
known as: (3) Light
(1) Basilar Membrane (4) Darkness
(2) Cochlea (5) None of the above
(3) Tympanic Membrane Answer: (2)
(4) Channel
(5) Eustachian tube 56. Vision in the ordinary ranges of
Answer: (4) daylight from fairly faint twilight up to the
brightest blaze of the sun is called:
52. The most important school of (1) Photopic Vision
psychology which has contributed a lot (2) Scotopic Vision
toward perception is: (3) Autokinetic Effect
(1) Psychoanalysis (4) Phi-phenomenon
(2) Behaviouristic School (5) Illusion
(3) Structuralistic School Answer: (1)
(4) Gestalt Psychology
(5) Functionalistic School 57. The important part of the inner ear for
Answer: (4) hearing is the snail-shaped:
(1) Cochlea
53. Autokinetic movement does not occur (2) Round Window
if there is a fixed: (3) Oval Window
(1) Frame of Reference (4) Semicircular Canals
(2) Illusion (5) Auditory Nerve
(3) Vision Answer: (1)
(4) Distance between stimulus and the eye
(5) None of the above 58. The most primitive and oldest feature
Answer: (1) of music is:
(1) Harmony
54. A stimulus is any change in external (2) Melody
energy that activates: (3) Rhythm
(1) An effector organ (4) Song

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(5) None of the above (4) Colour-blindness

Answer: (3) (5) None of the above
Answer: (4)
59. Phi-phenomenon is a form of:
(1) Stroboscopic Motion 64. Young-Helmholtz theory of colour
(2) Photopic Vision vision can otherwise be called:
(3) Scotopic Vision (1) Trichromatic Theory
(4) Autokinetic Effect (2) Opponent Process Theory
(5) Illusion (3) Ladd-Franklin Theory
Answer: (1) (4) Scientific Validity Theory
(5) None of the above
60. Which one of the following is not a Answer: (1)
principle of Organization of Perception?
(1) The Law of Proximity 65. A continuous small tremor of the eyes
(2) The Law of Similarity is known as:
(3) The Law of Pragnaz (1) Rod-Cone breaks
(4) The Law of Contrast (2) Purkinje Effect
(5) None of the above (3) Physiological Nystagmus
Answer: (4) (4) Acuity
(5) None of the above
61. Alcohol is/an: Answer: (3)
(1) Stimulant
(2) Sensory Stimulus 66. The eye is sensitive to wavelengths of
(3) Effective Stimulus light that range from about:
(4) Depressant (1) 380 to about 760 nm
(5) None of the above (2) 300 to about 500 nm
Answer: (4) (3) 200 to about 300 nm
(4) 160 to about 200 nm
62. The name given to the cone pigments (5) None of the above
is: Answer: (1)
(1) Idopsin
(2) Bipolar Cells 67. Different wavelengths produce the
(3) Ganglian Cells experience of different:
(4) Rhodopsin (1) Colours
(5) None of the above (2) Brightness
Answer: (1) (3) Hues
(4) Lights
63. Ishihara test is meant for testing: (5) None of the above
(1) Visual Experience Answer: (3)
(2) Principal complementary Colour
(3) Wavelengths

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68. The Scottish Philosopher Thomas Reid (2) E. B. Titchener

(1710- 1796) has first developed the (3) J.B.Watson
distinction between: (4) Wilmhelm Wundt
(1) Sensation and Attention (5) Kurt Lewin
(2) Attention and Perception Answer: (4)
(3) Audition and Vision
(4) Sensation and Perception 73. Harvey Carr defined perception as the
(5) Vision and Recurrent Inhibition cognition of a present object in relation to:
Answer: (4) (1) Recurrent Inhibition
(2) Some acts of adjustment
69. Helmholtz’s theory of space perception (3) Some acts of stimulation
centred around the concept of: (4) Simultaneous Contrast
(1) Unconscious inference (5) None of the above
(2) Conscious inference Answer: (2)
(3) Recurrent Inhibition
(4) Mechanism of Vision 74. Gestalt Psychology looks upon the
(5) The Static sense world as:
Answer: (1) (1) Psychophysical
(2) Psychological
70. RundolfLotze (1817-1881) assumed (3) Physical
that mind is inherently capable of: (4) Neuro-physiological
(1) Perceiving Space (5) Neurological
(2) Perceiving Size Answer: (1)
(3) Perceiving Depth
(4) Perceiving Colour 75. Which principle states that because
(5) Perceiving Brightness Gestalten are isomorphic to stimulus
Answer: (1) patterns, they may undergo extensive
changes without losing their identities?
71. Helmholtz’s treatment of perception is (1) Simultaneous Contrast
the extension of: (2) Recurrent Inhibition
(1) Herring’s opponent-process theory (3) Transposition
(2) Ladd-Franklin Theory (4) Phi-phenomenon
(3) Lotze’s local-sign theory (5) Autokinetic Effect
(4) Recurrent inhibition theory Answer: (3)
(5) None of the above
Answer: (3) 76. “Memory is a dynamic process in which
traces undergo progressive changes
72. Who defined apperception as the according to some principles of
awareness of any conscious content that is organization that govern original
clearly comprehended or grasped? perception.”
(1) Ratliff This definition of memory was given by:

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(1) Behaviourists (3) Franklin

(2) Structuralists (4) Gibson
(3) Functionalists (5) Riggs
(4) Gestalt Psychologists Answer: (4)
(5) Psychoanalysts
Answer: (4) 81. The gestalt concept of equilibrium is
expressed by the law of:
77. Who defined ‘perception’ as the (1) Similarity
process of maintaining contact with the (2) Proximity
world? (3) Continuity
(1) Helmholtz (4) Pragnaz
(2) Lorrin A. Riggs (5) Good Figure
(3) Herring Answer: (4)
(4) Gibson
(5) None of the above 82. In 1915; Edgar Rubin introduced the
Answer: (4) idea of:
(1) Figure and Ground
78. When the sense organs are oriented (2) Phi-phenomenon
towards the environment and are actively (3) Physiological Nystagmus
seeking information, we call it— (4) Illusion
(1) Obtained Perception (5) Hallucination
(2) Illusion Answer: (1)
(3) Hallucination
(4) Attention 83. The ‘Law of Closure’ reflects the idea of
(5) Distraction striving for:
Answer: (1) (1) Goodflgure
(2) Continuity
79. The perception which arises from the (3) Completion
skin, nose, ears, eyes or other organs is (4) Good Contour
called: (5) None of the above
(1) Obtained Perception Answer: (3)
(2) Illusion
(3) Hallucination 84. Which law of organization in
(4) Imposed Perception perception has become a principle of
(5) None of the above temporal contiguity in the learning theory?
Answer: (4) (1) The Law of Similarity
(2) The Law of Pragnaz
80. The distinction between “Obtained and (3) The Law of Proximity
Imposed Perception” was brought out by: (4) The La of Good Figure
(1) Helmholtz (5) None of the above
(2) Herring Answer: (3)

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89. For constancy to operate in the world

85. The contrast between a dynamic field of normal objects, the more distant
and a mechine was brought out by: features must be:
(1) KurtKoffka (1) Perceptually expanded
(2) Wertheimer (2) Clearly Visualised
(3) KurtLewin (3) Projected in sufficient light
(4) W. G. Kohler (4) Clearly Spaced
(5) Helmholtz (5) None of the above
Answer: (4) Answer: (1)

86. The Gestalt Psychologists learned their 90. Outline or boundary of an object is
“Principles of Organization” from the study called:
of: (1) Contour
(1) Perception (2) Figure
(2) Sensory Experience (3) Ground
(3) Attention (4) Brightness
(4) Consciousness (5) None of the above
(5) Insightful Learning Answer: (1)
Answer: (2)
91. Prolongation or renewal of a sensory
87. Reinforcing factors in perceptual experience after the stimulus has ceased
organization are analogous to the: to affect the sense organ is called:
(1) Reinforcement of a conditioned (1) After image
response (2) Illusion
(2) The Law of Effect (3) Hallucination
(3) Both (1) and (2) (4) Autokinetic Effect
(4) The Law of Exercise (5) Stroboscopic Motion
(5) None of the above Answer: (1)
Answer: (3)
92. A familiar study on perception which
88. Wavelength is obtained by dividing the has shown that the poor children
speed of the light by the: overestimated the size of coins to a greater
(1) Frequency degree than wealthy children, was done
(2) Brightness by:
(3) Illumination (1) Bruner and Goodman
(4) Colour (2) Osgood
(5) None of the above (3) Dember
Answer: (1) (4) Murray
(5) Mc Ginnis
Answer: (1)

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93. Camouflage is the deliberate confusion (1) Receptor Potential

of: (2) Generator Potential
(1) Illusion and Hallucination (3) Vestibular Sense
(2) Stroboscopic Motion (4) Spike Potential
(3) Figure and Ground (5) None of the above
(4) Autokinetic Effect Answer: (1)
(5) Phi-phenomenon
Answer: (3) 98. Whether it is the receptor potential
itself or some other voltage, the electrical
94. The protective colouration of many event that triggers nerve impulses is
animals is an example of: known as the:
(1) Figure and Ground (1) Spike Potential
(2) Camouflage (2) Generator Potential
(3) Reversible Figures (3) Receptor Potential
(4) Phi-phenomenon (4) Nerve Impulse
(5) Autokinetic Effect (5) None of the above
Answer:B Answer: (2)

95. Sense Organs in the muscles, tendons 99 The entire range of wavelengths is
and joints tell us about the position of our called the:
limbs and the state of tension in the (1) Electromagnetic Spectrum
muscles. They serve the sense called: (2) Visible Spectrum
(1) Kinesthesis (3) Photosensitive Area
(2) Transduction (4) Blind Spot
(3) Vision (5) None of the above
(4) Auditory Sense Answer: (1)
(5) None of the above
Answer: (1) 100. The tendency to perceive a line that
starts in one way as continuing in the same
96. The process of converting physical way is called the principle of:
energy into nervous system activity is (1) Proximity
called: (2) Similarity
(1) Transmission (3) Closure
(2) Nerve Impluse (4) Continuation
(3) Inhibition (5) None of the above
(4) Transduction Answer: (4)
(5) None of the above
Answer: (4) 101. The idea that we may be ‘ready’ and
‘primed for’ certain kinds of sensory input
97. Receptor cells convert physical energy is known as:
into an electric voltage or potential called: (1) Set

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(2) Cognitive Style (1) Hallucination

(3) Sensory System (2) Illusion
(4) Mood (3) Linear perspective
(5) None of the above (4) Law of Pragnaz
Answer: (1) (5) None of the above
Answer: (2)
102. The spatial-frequency theory
maintains that form vision depends on the 106. In a study on the Zulu tribes of Africa,
firing pattern of brain cells that respond to the Experimenters reasoned that the Zulu
variations in the rates of change in individuals would be less susceptible to the
brightness from: Muller- Lyer illusion than the European
(1) One part of a visual scene to another people in Africa. This illustration states
(2) Temporal lobe to Frontal lobe that:
(3) One part of the brain to another (1) Perception of illusions depends on the
(4) Spinal cord to brain culture of the perceiver
(5) None of the above (2) Perception of illusion depends on the
Answer: (1) Socio-economic Status
(3) Perception of illusions depends on the
103. The receptors for taste are specialized educational qualification of the individuals
cells grouped together in little clusters (4) Perception of illusion depends on the
known as: colour of the individuals
(1) Tongue (5) None of the above
(2) Taste Buds Answer: (1)
(3) Taste Nerves
(4) Sweet Glands 107. Sometimes it is very difficult to find
(5) None of the above an empty seat in a dark cinema hall. We
Answer: (2) bump against people and sometimes try to
sit on them after entering to the dark hail
104. The audible range for human beings is in a sunny afternoon. After a brief span of
from about: time, we may adapt to darkness and see.
(1) 20 hertz to about 20,000 hertz This is an example of:
(2) 200 hertz to about 2000 hertz (1) Dark Adaptation
(3) 400 hertz to about 4000 hertz (2) Perceptual Constancy
(4) 300 hertz to about 3000 hertz (3) Depth Perception
(5) 600 hertz to about 6000 hertz (4) Brightness Constancy
Answer: (1) (5) Colour Constancy
Answer: (1)
105. On a dark night, we may hear the
footsteps of a thief outside the house, 108. One psychologist has developed a
where as in reality, a cat may be passing theory of colour vision as well as a theory
by. This is an example of: of hearing. Who is he?

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(1) Von Bekesy

(2) Helmholtz 112. Figure-ground relationship was first
(3) Hubel established by:
(4) Wiesel (1) Gestalt Psychologists
(5) N.R. Carlson (2) Behaviourists
Answer: (2) (3) Structuralists
(4) Functionalists
109. From the following, who won the (5) None of the above
Nobel Prize for his research on the Answer: (1)
mechanisms of the cochlea?
(1) Helmholtz 113. Closure is a basic principle of:
(2) Von Bekesy (1) Perceptual defence
(3) E. Gardner (2) Perceptual Organization
(4) Schiffman (3) Depth Perception
(5) Leiman (4) Phi-phenomenon
Answer: (2) (5) None of the above
Answer: (2)
110. When your friend is at a distance,
certainly he looks smaller than when he is 114. Personal factors in perception are
standing close to you. But you do not think otherwise known as:
that really he is smaller or shorter. The size (1) Functional factors in perception
of familiar objects does not change with (2) Motivational factors in perception
distance. As your friend comes closer to (3) Social factors in perception
you from a distance, you do not think that (4) Cultural factors in perception
he is getting larger and larger. This is an (5) None of the above
illustration of: Answer: (1)
(1) Size Constancy
(2) Object Constancy 115. The gap between Cornea and lens is
(3) Height Constancy filled with:
(4) Depth Constancy (1) Amino Acid
(5) Binocular Vision (2) Vitreous Humour
Answer: (1) (3) Unknown Fluid
(4) Aqueous Humour
111. The mechanism of reflex action is (5) None of the above
called: Answer: (4)
(1) Reflexology
(2) Reflex Path 116. The image of an object falling on the
(3) Reflex Arc blind spot of the eye :
(4) Reflexon (1) Will be visible
(5) None of the above (2) Will not be visible
Answer: (3) (3) Automatically vanishes

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(4) Is not clear 121. Perception without sensory stimulus

(5) None of the above is called:
Answer: (2) (1) Illusion
(2) Phi-phenomenon
117. The gap between cornea and lens is (3) Hallucination
known as: (4) Perceptual Defence
(1) Posterior Chamber (5) Perceptual Constancy
(2) Anterior Chamber Answer: (3)
(3) Inner Chamber
(4) Secular Chamber 122. As the eyes become adapted to dark
(5) None of the above at one particular point, red colours begin
Answer: (2) to darken and the green and blues become
brighter. This change is known as:
118. The innermost layer of the eye is (1) Duplicity theory of Colour Vision
called: (2) Herring’s theory of Colour Vision
(1) Cornea (3) Purkinje Effect
(2) Retina (4) Perceptual Constancy
(3) Blind Spot (5) None of the above
(4) Fovea Answer: (3)
(5) None of the above
Answer: (2) 123. The classic example of perceiving a
coil of rope in darkness as a snake depicts
119. The point at which the optic nerve about:
gets out of the retina is called the: (1) Hallucination
(1) Light Spot (2) Illusion
(2) Fovea (3) Phi-phenomenon
(3) Blind Spot (4) Autokinetic Effect
(4) Yellow Spot (5) Perceptual Constancy
(5) None of the above Answer: (2)
Answer: (3)
124. Meaningful sensation is otherwise
120. A person who has no cones at the known as:
fovea: (1) Attention
(1) Is a colour blind (2) Sensation
(2) Is very often a colour blind (3) Emotion
(3) Is not able to see yellow colour at all (4) Perception
(4) Is deprived of black and white vision (5) None of the above
(5) None of the above Answer: (4)
Answer: (1)
125. Size judgement is based on:
(1) Retinal Image

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(2) Clarity of Object (5) None of the above

(3) Object Size Answer: (2)
(4) Distance Information
(5) None of the above 130. A general principle of perception of
Answer: (4) form is the law of Pragnaz which was
termed by:
126. “Perceived Size” approaches “physical (1) Behaviourists
size” when: (2) Structuralists
(1) Depth and Distance Cues are available (3) Functionalists
(2) Object is small (4) Gestalt Psychologists
(3) Information is Minimum (5) None of the above
(4) Object is Old Answer: (4)
(5) None of the above
Answer: (1) 131. Which one of the following is a
stimulus variable in the determination of
127. Which one of the following happens attending?
to be an important factor in selectivity of (1) Interest
attention? (2) Attitude
(1) Attitude (3) Size
(2) Interest (4) Aptitude
(3) Boredom (5) None of the above
(4) Concentration Answer: (3)
(5) None of the above
Answer: (2) 132. The perception of the whiteness of
the snow even though the night dark can
128. An incorrect interpretation of the be explained on the basis of:
stimulus input is called: (1) Purkinje Effect
(1) Illusion (2) Dark Adaptation
(2) Hallucination (3) Brightness Constancy
(3) Sensation (4) Perceptual Defence
(4) Perception (5) None of the above
(5) Attention Answer: (3)
Answer: (1)
133. Perception of “Figure and Ground”
129. Each receptor requires some results from:
minimum level of energy to excite it. That (1) Experience
minimum energy is called: (2) Sensation Pattern
(1) Minimum Threshold (3) Trial and Error
(2) Absolute Threshold (4) The structure of Nervous System
(3) Boundary Threshold (5) None of the above
(4) Contour Threshold Answer: (2)

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(5) None of the above

134. An one-eyed person would lose Answer: (4)
precision in the perception of:
(1) Height 138. Figure and Ground perception results
(2) Weight from:
(3) Colour (1) Attention Pattern
(4) Depth (2) Sensation pattern
(5) None of the above (3) Perception Pattern
Answer: (4) (4) Emotional pattern
(5) None of the above
135. The perceptual principle of ‘proximity’ Answer: (2)
states that:
(1) When stimuli are close together they 139. Perception is a:
tend to be grouped (1) Psychological Process
(2) The nearer an object is, the more likely (2) Physiological Process
it is to be perceived (3) Physical Process
(3) The closer a stimulus is, the more likely (4) Psycho-physiological Process
it is to be attended (5) None of the above
(4) Stimuli coming from equal distance are Answer: (4)
perceived as part of the same figure
(5) None of the above 140. We perceive a square as a square in
Answer: (1) whatever position it is held, this constancy
in perception relates to:
136. Even though parallel, the rails appear (1) Size
to be meeting at a distance. This is a bright (2) Depth
illustration of: (3) Shape
(1) Linear Perspective (4) Height
(2) Distance Perception (5) Weight
(3) Visual Illusion Answer: (3)
(4) Aerial perspective
(5) None of the above 141. Illusion is the:
Answer: (3) (1) False perception
(2) Right perception
137. In a normal waking state, if an (3) Wrong perception
individual gets certain sensation with (4) Delayed Perception
particular stimulus which is not available (5) None of the above
to others, this person is said to have: Answer: (3)
(1) An illusion
(2) A phi-phenomenon 142. Hallucinations occur to individuals
(3) A sensation suffering from:
(4) A hallucination (1) Hysteria

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(2) Epilepsy (3) Size Constancy

(3) Peptic Ulcer (4) Shape constancy
(4) Schizophrenia (5) None of the above
(5) Asthma Answer: (2)
Answer: (4)
147. Whenever an object appears to
143. A normal individual may experience maintain its shape despite marked changes
hallucinations after taking drugs like: in the retinal image, it is known as:
(1) Heroin (1) Size Constancy
(2) Morphine (2) Depth Constancy
(3) Seconel (3) Shape Constancy
(4) Pethedine (4) Height Constancy
(5) None of the above (5) None of the above
Answer: (1) Answer: (3)

144. The tendency to see the immobility of 148. A red ball looks red in broad daylight
objects when he moves about is called: as well as in dark night. This is due to:
(1) Location Constancy (1) Light Constancy
(2) Size Constancy (2) Brightness Constancy
(3) Shape Constancy (3) Size Constancy
(4) Depth Constancy (4) Colour Constancy
(5) None of the above (5) None of the above
Answer: (1) Answer: (1)

145. A contour is the boundary between: 149. Soldiers dressed in colours of uniform
(1) A figure and its ground that merge with the background is called:
(2) A figure and another figure’s ground (1) Colour Matching
(3) Two similar figures (2) Colour Constancy
(4) Two dissimilar figures (3) Brightness Constancy
(5) None of the above (4) Camaouflage
Answer: (1) (5) None of the above
Answer: (4)
146. An object that has been constituted
perceptually as a permanent and stable 150. When there is a deliberate confusion
thing continue to be perceived as such, of figure and ground and it is difficult to
regardless of illumination, position, organise form and distinguish objects from
distance etc. This kind of stability of the one another, it is called:
environment experienced by human (1) Camaouflage
beings is termed as: (2) Phi-phenomenon
(1) Depth Constancy (3) Colour Constancy
(2) Perceptual Constancy (4) Brightness Constancy

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(5) None of the above (4) Emotion

Answer: (1) (5) Motive
Answer: (3)
151. Which principle/law of organization in
perception states that there is a tendency 155. “The whole (perception) is more than
to organize stimuli to make a balanced or the sum of its parts (Sensory inputs)”. This
symmetrical figure that includes all parts? statement was given by:
(1) Law of Similarity (1) Behaviourists
(2) Law of Symmetry (2) Gestalt Psychologists
(3) Law of Proximity (3) Functionalists
(4) Law of Closure (4) Psychoanalysts
(5) Law of Pragnaz (5) Structuralists
Answer: (2) Answer: (2)

152. Stimuli that make the lowest 156. The events, we perceive clearly, are at
interruptions in contour also tend to be the:
grouped together. The tendency to (1) Margin
organize the fragmentary stimuli into a (2) Centre
familiar pattern is called the principle of: (3) Side
(1) Similarity (4) Focus
(2) Proximity (5) None of the above
(3) Closure Answer: (4)
(4) Continuation
(5) Pragnaz 157. Attention is the term given to the
Answer: (4) processes that select certain inputs for
inclusion in the focus of:
153. “Why do things look the way they (1) Sensation
do”? —This question was asked by the (2) Consciousness
Gestalt Psychologist: (3) Unconsiousness
(1) W. G. Kohler (4) Experience
(2) M. Wertheimer (5) None of the above
(3) Kurt Lewin Answer: (2)
(4) K. Koffka
(5) None of the above 158. The most fundamental process in
Answer: (4) form perception is the recognition of:
(1) A figure on a ground
154. An illusion is not a trick or (2) A picture without background
misperception. It is a/an: (3) A figure without ground
(1) Attention (4) The contour of a figure
(2) Sensation (5) None of the above
(3) Perception Answer: (1)

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163. A gradient is a continuous change:

159. Which principle of perceptual (1) Without abrupt transitions
organization makes our perceived world of (2) With abrupt transitions
form more complete than the sensory (3) With highest stimulating agent
stimulation that is presented? (4) With lowest stimulating agent
(1) The Law of Pragnaz (5) None of the above
(2) The Law of Closure Answer: (1)
(3) The Law of Similarity
(4) The Law of Proximity 164. Retinal disparity is the difference in
(5) The Law of Continuity the images falling on:
Answer: (2) (1) The retinas of the two eyes
(2) The foveas of the two eyes
160. The device which is used in perceptual (3) The blind spots of the two eyes
experiments for the very brief (4) The corneas of the two eyes
presentation of stimuli is known as: (5) None of the above
(1) Psycho galvanometer Answer: (1)
(2) Tachistoscope
(3) Aesthesiometer 165. Who conducted a pioneering
(4) Electroencephalograph experiment to show that “Value” has a
(5) Polygraph considerable effect on perception?
Answer: (2) (1) Bruner and Goodman
(2) Osgood
161. Coal looks black even in very bright (3) Dember
sunlight, while snow continues to look (4) Carter
white even at night. This is due to: (5) Postman
(1) Colour Constancy Answer: (1)
(2) Size Constancy
(3) Shape Constancy 166. Which one of the following is a term
(4) Constancy of Brightness given to the processes that select certain
(5) Colour Reflection inputs for inclusion in the focus of
Answer: (4) experience?
(1) Sensation
162. Monocular Cues are those which can (2) Emotion
operate when: (3) Affection
(1) Two eyes are looking (4) Attention
(2) Both eyes are invalid (5) Conation
(3) Only one eye is looking Answer: (4)
(4) Only one eye is invalid
(5) None of the above 167. Which are the well known examples
Answer: (3) of the transformations and elaborations of

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sensory input that occur in the process of 171. Which one of the following is an
perceiving the world? increase in the activity to extract
(1) Hallucinations information from the environment as a
(2) Sensations result of experience or practice with the
(3) Illusions stimulation coming from it?
(4) Conation (1) Convergence
(5) Attention (2) Divergence
Answer: (3) (3) Perceptual Learning
(4) Plasticity of Perception
168. Who has first pointed out that the (5) None of the above
‘Whole’ is more than the sum total of its Answer: (3)
parts?
(1) Kohler 172. The ability to read other people’s
(2) Wertheimer thoughts is called
(3) KurtLewin (1) Prerecognition
(4) KurtKoffka (2) Telepathy
(5) Otto Rank (3) Psychokinesis
Answer: (4) (4) Clairvoyance
(5) None of the above
169. Which one of the following is formed Answer: (2)
whenever a marked difference occurs in
the brightness or colour of the 173. “We perceive things as we are”. This
background? statement emphasises upon:
(1) Sizes (1) Functional Factors in Perception
(2) Shapes (2) Objective Patterns in Perception
(3) Contours (3) Organizational factors in perception
(4) Sets (4) Voluntary Attention
(5) None of the above (5) Involuntary Attention
Answer: (3) Answer: (1)

170. Perceived motion also occurs without 174. The fact that the moon looks larger
any energy movement across the receptor near the horizon than high in the sky is
surface. This type of motion is called: called the:
(1) Constant Motion (1) MullerLyer Illusion
(2) Retinal Disparity (2) Jastrow Illusion
(3) Real motion (3) Ponzo illusion
(4) Apparent Motion (4) Moon Illusion
(5) None of the above (5) Height-Width Illusion
Answer: (4) Answer: (4)

175. One of the causes of the mental set is:

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(1) Mood
(2) Emotion 180. We are able to separate forms from
(3) Sensation the general ground in our visual perception
(4) Habit only because we can perceive:
(5) Span (1) Size
Answer: (4) (2) Shape
(3) Side
176. The old saying “Seeing is believing” (4) Contours
does not hold good in case of: (5) Colours
(1) Hallucination Answer: (4)
(2) Illusion
(3) Affection 181. The thought perception without any
(4) Conation known means of communication is known
(5) Stimulation as:
Answer: (2) (1) Preognition
(2) Psychokinesis (PK)
177. The stimulus is explicit in: (3) Clairovoyance
(1) Hallucination (4) Telepathy
(2) Illusion (5) None of the above
(3) Affection Answer: (4)
(4) Conation
(5) Stimulation 182. The perception of future events or
Answer: (2) happenings through dreams or
hallucinations is known as:
178. In illusion, the stimulation is usually (1) Psychokinesis (PK)
external, while the stimulations in (2) Clairovoyance
hallucinations are: (3) Precognition
(1) In the person himself (4) Telepathy
(2) In the stimulus itself (5) None of the above
(3) Both in stimulus and perceiver Answer: (3)
(4) In the external world
(5) None of the above 183. Attention divides our perceived world
Answer: (1) into:
(1) Focus and Margin
179. Muller-Lyer illusion is: (2) Margin and Centre
(1) Also a hallucination Jastrow illusion (3) Nucleus and Focus
(2) An individual illusion (4) Focus and centre
(3) Otherwise called as (5) None of the above
(4) An optical illusion Answer: (1)
(5) None of the above
Answer: (4)

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184. The tendency to see the colour of a 188. Averaging models suggest that the
familiar object as the same, regardless of mean of the information is:
the actual light conditions is called: (1) Most appropriate
(1) Colour Constancy (2) Not most appropriate
(2) Brightness Constancy (3) Predictable
(3) Light Constancy (4) Unpredictable
(4) Dark Constancy (5) None of the above
(5) None of the above Answer: (1)
Answer: (1)
189. “Schemas” are organized bodies of
185. By comparing experimental information stored in:
outcomes, which model provides more (1) Perceptual Field
accurate predictions? (2) Cognitive Field
(1) Averaging Model (3) Emotion field
(2) Additive Model (4) Memory
(3) Self-attribution Model (5) Sensation
(4) Personal-attribution Model Answer: (4)
(5) None of the above
Answer: (1) 190. In case of personality traits, we
organize information into schemas called:
186. Experimental evidences suggest that (1) Common Effects
people use a weighted averaging model to (2) Non-common Effects
combine: (3) Prototypes
(1) Type information (4) Somatotypes
(2) Attribute information (5) Stereotypes
(3) Non-common Effects Answer: (3)
(4) Trait information
(5) None of the above 191. Prototypes are schemas that organize
Answer: (4) a group of personality traits into a/an:
(1) Meaningful Personality Type
187. The way in which individuals focus on (2) Meaningless Personality Type
specific traits to form an overall impression (3) Emotional Trauma
of others is known as: (4) Avoidance conflicting situation
(1) Social perception (5) None of the above
(2) Perceptual organization Answer: (1)
(3) Person Perception
(4) Phi-phenomenon 192. The personality types that we derive
(5) Perceptual Constancy in the case of person perception are
Answer: (3) organized into schemas known as:
(1) Prototypes
(2) Stereotypes

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(3) Somatotypes (5) None of the above

(4) Phi-phenomenon Answer: (1)
(5) None of the above
Answer: (1) 197. Covariation principle suggests that we
try to analyse the relationships among a
193. Nancy Cantor and Walter Mischel multitude of possible cause-and-effect
suggest a frequently held prototypes variables inherent in a situation:
concerns a person labelled on a general (1) To pin point a cause of behaviour
level as: (2) To find out the cause of perceptual
(1) “Permitted” errors
(2) “Submitted” (3) To find out cause of sensational errors
(3) “Dedicated” (4) To find out the cause of social
(4) “Committed” perception
(5) None of the above (5) None of the above
Answer: (4) Answer: (1)

194. At what level, the prototype consists 198. The Covariation Principle” states that
of different types of committed individuals the cause that will be choosen to explain
like monks, nuns and activists? an effect a cause that is present when the
(1) Personal Level effect is also absent. This principle was
(2) Environmental Level introduced by:
(3) Subordinate Level (1) T. D. Wilson
(4) Secondary Level (2) Keith Davis
(5) Primary Level (3) Harold Kelley
Answer: (3) (4) E.E. Jones
(5) I.J. Stone
195. Information processing capabilities Answer: (3)
are enhanced through the use of:
(1) Stereotypes 199. Consensus is the degree to which
(2) Prototypes other people react similarly in the:
(3) Prejudices (1) Same situation
(4) Attitudes (2) Different situation
(5) None of the above (3) Different emotional setup
Answer: (2) (4) Different sensational setup
(5) None of the above
196. With any schema, prototypes help us Answer: (1)
to organize:
(1) The social world around us 200. Consistency refers to the degree to
(2) The psychological world around us which the actor behaves the same way in :
(3) The psychophysical world around us (1) Different situations
(4) The physical world around us (2) Similar situations

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(3) Both similar and dissimilar situations (2) Janis and Mann (1977)
(4) Other situations (3) Solomon (1974)
(5) None of the above (4) Corbit (1974)
Answer: (4) (5) None of the above
Answer: (1)
201. “A goal refers to some substance,
objects or environmental condition 205. The achievement motivation theory
capable of reducing or temporarily of Mc Clelland is explained in terms of:
eliminating the complex of internal (1) “Affective Arousal model of moti-
conditions which initiated action.” This vation”
definition of “goal” was given by: (2) Action Specific energy
(1) Janis& Mann (1977) (3) Innate Releasing Mechanism
(2) Ruch (1970) (4) Displacement Behaviour
(3) Solomon and Corbit (1974) (5) Opponent Process Theory
(4) Neal Miller (1959) Answer: (1)
(5) None of the above
Answer: (2) 206. Intrinsic Motivational Theory was
propounded by:
202. Cannon called the concept of internal (1) Mc Clelland
equilibrium and function as: (2) Maslow
(1) Imprinting (3) Harry Harlow
(2) Instinct (4) Solomon
(3) Homeostasis (5) Corbit
(4) Substitute Behaviour Answer: (3)
(5) None of the above
Answer: (3) 207. Psychoanalytic theory of motivation
was developed by:
203. The expectations or goal that one sets (1) Sigmund Freud
to achieve in future keeping in view his (2) Maslow
past performance is called: (3) Harry Harlow
(1) Valence (4) McClelland
(2) Vector (5) None of the above
(3) Vigilance Answer: (1)
(4) Level of Aspiration
(5) None of the above 208. The goals which the person tries to
Answer: (4) escape are called:
(1) Positive goals
204. “The need for achievement” was first (2) Vectors
defined largely on the basis of clinical (3) Valences
studies done by: (4) Negative goals
(1) Murray (1938) (5) None of the above

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Answer: (4) Answer: (1)

209. A person’s need for feeling competent 213. Intrinsic motivation as currently
and self-determining in dealing with his conceived is championed by:
environment is called: (1) Janis (1977)
(1) Intrinsic Motivation (2) Soloman (1974)
(2) Instinct (3) Deci (1975)
(3) Imprinting (4) Mann (1977)
(4) Coolidge Effect (5) Corbit (1974)
(5) None of the above Answer: (3)
Answer: (1)
214. Most of the research on intrinsic
210. When the motive is directed towards motivation has concentrated on the
goals external to the person such as money interaction between:
or grade, it is called: (1) Intrinsic and extrinsic rewards
(1) Extrinsic Motivation (2) Instinct and imprinting
(2) Intrinsic Motivation (3) Action specific energy and balance
(3) Imprinting sheet grid
(4) Instinct (4) Substitute behaviour and
(5) None of the above consummatory behaviour
Answer: (1) (5) None of the above
Answer: (1)
211. Steers and Porter (1975) in their text
entitled “Motivation and work behaviour” 215. An individual’s affective orientation
identified: towards particular outcomes is called the:
(1) Two major components of motivation (1) Vector of the outcome
(2) Four major components of motivation (2) Approach gradient of the outcome
(3) Five major components of motivation (3) Valence of the outcome
(4) Three major components of motivation (4) Avoidance gradient of the outcome
(5) None of the above (5) None of the above
Answer: (4) Answer: (3)

212. The conditions which influence the 216. Dipboye (1977) distinguished
arousal, direction and maintenance of between the strong and weak version of:
behaviours relevant in work settings are (1) Achievement theory
called: (2) Two-factor theory
(1) Work Motivation (3) Valence theory
(2) Drive stimuli (4) Consistency theory
(3) Substitute behaviour (5) None of the above
(4) Consummatory behaviour Answer: (4)
(5) None of the above

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217. Motives are: (3) Motive

(1) Internal sources of behaviour (4) Incentive
(2) External sources of behaviour (5) None of the above
(3) Natural sources of behaviour Answer: (1)
(4) Both subjective and objective sources
of behaviour 222. The selected part of environment
(5) None of the above refers to the end results of behaviour
Answer: (1) sequence which are known as:
(1) Aims
218. Motives move a person from: (2) Objectives
(1) Within (3) Goals
(2) Outside (4) Destinations
(3) Beginning (5) None of the above
(4) Birth Answer: (3)
(5) Death
Answer: (1) 223. Goal refers to:
(1) Directional aspects of behaviour
219. Literally, motivation means the (2) End result of instrumental behaviour
process of inducing: (3) Destination after conscious activities
(1) Movement (4) Occasional halts
(2) Excitement (5) None of the above
(3) Tension Answer: (1)
(4) Conflict
(5) None of the above 224. When a motive is aroused and the
Answer: (1) organism is driven to a goal, a condition is
produced within the organism called:
220. Motivation is defined as a state of the (1) Conflict
organism in which bodily energy is (2) Tension
mobilised and selectively directed towards (3) Anxiety
parts of the: (4) Jealousy
(1) Stimulus (5) None of the above
(2) Response Answer: (2)
(3) World
(4) Environment 225. The tension increases when the goal
(5) None of the above is:
Answer: (4) (1) Free
(2) Easy to achieve
221. “Mobilisation of bodily energy” is (3) Obstructed
otherwise known as: (4) Static
(1) Drive (5) None of the above
(2) Need Answer: (3)

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(1) Self-actualisation theory of motivation

226. Those internal mechanisms of the (2) Physiological theory of motivation
body which, by controlling numerous (3) Psychological theory of motivation
highly complicated physiological processes, (4) Psychophysical theory of motivation
keep it in a state of equilibrium are known (5) None of the above
as: Answer: (1)
(1) Homeostases
(2) Nervous System 231. “Intrinsic motivation theory” was
(3) Nutrition developed by:
(4) None of the above (1) Halow (1950)
Answer: (1) (2) Sigmund Freud (1902)
(3) Mark and Ervin (1970)
227. Homeostasis is the overall term for (4) Dollard (1939)
equilibrium preserving tendencies with an (5) Bandura (1973)
organism by which: Answer: (1)
(1) Neurophysiological condition is main-
tained 232. A person who is motivated displays:
(2) Psychological condition is maintained (1) Unconscious Behaviour
(3) Physiological condition is maintained (2) Conscious Behaviour
(4) Psychophysical condition is maintained (3) Hapazard Behaviour
(5) None of the above (4) Goal-directed Behaviour
Answer: (1) (5) Erratic Behaviour
Answer: (4)
228. Curiosity comes under:
(1) Social Motives 233. The process of maintaining the
(2) Personal motives biochemical balance or equalibrium
(3) Non-homeostatic motives throughout human body is referred as:
(4) Both (2) and (3) (1) Osmosis
(5) None of the above (2) Circulation
Answer: (2) (3) Hoeostasis
(4) Nervous System
229. Sex is a: (5) Diffusion
(1) Biological motive Answer: (3)
(2) Physiological motive
(3) Both (1) and (2) 234. Which one of the following is not a
(4) Psychological motive psychological motive?
(5) None of the above (1) Need for achievement
Answer: (3) (2) Need for affection
(3) Need for belonging
230. Maslow’s idea about the structure of (4) Need for Oxygen
needs is known as: (5) None of the above

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Answer: (4) 239. During 1950s, psychologists began to

be disenchanted with the drive reduction
235. ‘The competition of two or more theory of motivation as an explanation of:
contradictory impulses, usually (1) All types of behaviour
accompanied by emotional tension is (2) Only certain types of physiological
called a/an: behaivour
(1) Conflict (3) Only certain types of psychological
(2) Anxiety behaviour
(3) Neurosis (4) Both physiological and psychological
(4) Psychosis behaviour
(5) Phobia (5) Social behaviour
Answer: (1) Answer: (1)

236. An object or thing which directs or 240. The hypothalamus plays an important
stimulates behaviour: role in the regulation of:
(1) Instinct (1) Food intake
(2) Incentive (2) Water intake
(3) Need (3) Alcohol intake
(4) Motive (4) Both food and water intake
(5) Drive (5) None of the above
Answer: (2) Answer: (1)

237. A pituitary hormone associated with 241. Lateral hypothalamus (LH) is

the secretion of milk is known as: otherwise known as:
(1) Prolactin (1) Stimulating centre
(2) Adrenalin (2) Circulatory Centre
(3) Estrogens (3) Feeding Centre
(4) Progesterones (4) Water centre
(5) Insulin (5) None of the above
Answer: (1) Answer: (3)

238. A motive that is primarily learned 242. Research evidences indicated that
rather than basing on biological needs is ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH):
known as: (1) Facilitates eating
(1) Physical Motive (2) Expedites eating
(2) Psychological Motive (3) Both facilitates and
(3) Neurophysiological Motive (4) Inhibits eating expedites eating
(4) Psychological Motive (5) None of the above
(5) None of these Answer: (4)
Answer: (4)

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243. Electrical stimulation of ventromedial 247. An empty stomach produces the

hypothalamus (VMH) cells: periodic contractions of muscles in the
(1) Inhibits eating stomach wall which we identify as:
(2) Facilitates eating (1) Stomach ache
(3) Expedites eating (2) Stomach pain
(4) Both expedites and inhibits eating (3) Stomach ailment
(5) None of the above (4) Hunger Pangs
Answer: (1) (5) None of these
Answer: (4)
244. Injections of glucose (which raise
blood sugar level): 248. Obesity is thought to stem from
(1) Facilitate eating disturbances during the:
(2) Expedite eating (1) Phallic stage of psychosexual develop-
(3) Both expedite and facilitate eating ment
(4) Inhibit eating (2) Oral and Anal stages of psychosexual
(5) None of the above development
Answer: (4) (3) Genital stage of psychosexual develop-
ment
245. Injections of insulin (which lower (4) Latency period of psychosexual deve-
blood sugar level): lopment
(1) Increase food intake (5) None of these
(2) Decrease food intake Answer: (2)
(3) Expedite food intake
(4) Facilitate food intake 249. Dehydration of the osmoreceptors
(5) None of the above can be produced by depriving the organism
Answer: (1) of:
(1) Food
246. Studies indicated that the (2) Water
hypothalamus contains cells (3) Blood
(glucoreceptors) sensitive to the rate of (4) Sugar
which: (5) Alcohol
(1) Glucose passes through them Answer: (2)
(2) Glucose stimulates them
(3) Glucose inhibits them 250. Water deficit in the body increases
(4) Glucose both stimulates and inhibits the concentration of:
them (1) Pottasium
(5) None of the above (2) Insulin
Answer: (1) (3) Sugar
(4) Sodium
(5) Glucose
Answer: (4)

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(3) Instincts
251. Realistic anxiety is otherwise known (4) Dreams
as: Answer: (1)
(1) Objective anxiety
(2) Subjective anxiety 256. Defense mechanisms help the person
(3) Psychic anxiety in protecting ego from open expression of
(4) Ego defenses id impulses and opposing:
Answer: (1) (1) Superego directives
(2) Death Instinct
252. In “moral anxiety”, ego’s dependence (3) Lie Instinct
upon: (4) Unconscious mind
(1) Superego is found Answer: (1)
(2) Id is found
(3) Sex is found 257. Defense mechanisms operate at
(4) Unconscious is found unconscious level. They occur without
Answer: (1) awareness of the individual. Hence they
are:
253. Neurotic anxiety is one in which there (1) Self-explanatory
occurs emotional response to a threat to (2) Self-deceptive
ego that the impulses may break through (3) Self-expressive
into: (4) Self-dependant
(1) Consciousness Answer: (2)
(2) Unconsciousness
(3) Subconsciousness 258. A child scolded by his father may hit
(4) Super ego his younger sublings. This is an example of:
Answer: (1) (1) Displacement
(2) Rationalization
254. Sometimes the superego gives threats (3) Regression
to punish the ego. This causes an (4) Repression
emotional response called: Answer: (1)
(1) Moral Anxiety
(2) Realistic Anxiety 259. “A young woman after fighting with
(3) Objective Anxiety her husband returned to her parent’s
(4) Neurotic Anxiety home only to allow her parents to “baby”
Answer: (1) her and fulfil her every wish like that of a
child”. This is an illustration of:
255. Always we want to protect ego from (1) Repression
the ensuring anxiety. For doing this, ego (2) Regression
adopts some strategies which are called: (3) Fixation
(1) Defense mechanisms (4) Reaction Formation
(2) Sex energy Answer: (2)

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(3) Alfred Adler

260. The last stage of psychosexual (4) C.G. Jung
development is: Answer: (2)
(1) Phallic Stage
(2) Genital Stage 265. Who said that after birth, the child
(3) Oral Stage has a strong frustrating experience?
(4) Anal Stage (1) Sigmund Freud (1917)
Answer: (2) (2) Otto Rank (1929)
(3) Alfred Alder (1920)
261. Sigmund Freud has regarded the first (4) C.G. Jung (1919)
three stages of psychosexual development Answer: (2)
i.e., the period of 5 or 6 years of life, to be
decisive for the formation of: 266. “Penis envy” is found in girls in:
(1) Intelligence (1) Oral Stage
(2) Personality (2) Anal Stage
(3) Emotion (3) Genital Stage
(4) Ego (4) Pohallic Stage
Answer: (2) Answer: (4)

262. In the book “Group Psychology and 267. Homosexuality is a derivative of:
the Analysis of the Ego”, Freud has (1) Electra Complex
explained the formation of: (2) Oedipus Complex
(1) Personality (3) Libido
(2) Group (4) Death Instinct
(3) Society Answer: (2)
(4) Gang
Answer: (2) 268. The Oral, Anal and Phallic stages of
Psychosexual Development are called:
263. Freud had published a book “Totem (1) Pregenital Period
and Taboo” in 1913. By publishing this (2) Sexual Genesis
book, he has shown his concern for: (3) Life Instinct
(1) Social Psychology (4) Latency Period
(2) Abnormal Psychology Answer: (1)
(3) Industrial Psychology
(4) Child Psychology 269. The genital stage is generally
Answer: (1) characterized by object choices rather than
by:
264. Who viewed, “A person is brown with (1) Libido
sex, lives in sex and finally dies in sex” ? (2) Narcissim
(1) J. Herbart (3) Personality
(2) Sigmund Freud (4) Superego

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Answer: (2) Answer: (1)

270. In Anal Stage of Psychosexual 275. Studies of Freud and Breuer reported
Development, pleasure is derived from: successful treatment of hysterical
(1) Thinking symptoms by a method called:
(2) Libido (1) Hypnosis
(3) Emotion (2) Free Association
(4) Expulsion and Retention (3) Catharsis
Answer: (4) (4) Dream Analysis
Answer: (3)
271. The “Super ego” is the equivalent of
what is more commonly known as the: 276. The success of the cathartic method
(1) Conscience was regarded by Freud as evidence of the:
(2) Personality (1) Unconscious
(3) Libido (2) Conscious
(4) Narcissism (3) Subconsious
Answer: (1) (4) Libido
Answer: (1)
272. The psychoanalysis performed in a
controlled setting is known as: 277. From the experiences in hypnotism
(1) Psychotherapy and catharsis, Freud’s theory of:
(2) Chemotherapy (1) Unconscious was derived
(3) Hypoanalysis (2) Conscious was derived
(4) Hyperanalysis (3) Narcisssim was derived
Answer: (3) (4) Dream was derived
Answer: (1)
273. A state of deep unconsciousness, with
non- responsiveness to stimulation, is 278. Dreams represent demands or wishes
known as: stemming from the:
(1) Coma (1) Unconscious
(2) Fixation (2) Conscious
(3) Hypnotism (3) Preconscious
(4) Trauma (4) Death Instinct
Answer: (1) Answer: (1)

274. In 1895, Freud and Breuer published a 279. In a special book, Freud analyzed the
book entitled: psychology of error and found the source
(1) Studies in Hysteria of errors in the conflict between:
(2) Interpretation of Dreams (1) Ego and Super ego
(3) Moses and Menotheism (2) Unconscious wish and conscious
(4) Psychopathology of Everyday Life censorship

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(3) Conscious wish and unconscious (1) Penis in erection

censorship (2) Sexual urge
(4) Ego and Preconscious (3) Ego-conflict
Answer: (2) (4) Self-Love
Answer: (1)
280. The parts of the body that are capable
of reacting to sexual stimuli are called: 285. Urethral eroticism is mainly:
(1) Erotogenic Zones (1) Autoerotic
(2) Abnormal Zones (2) Conscious
(3) Sensitive Zones (3) Unconscious
(4) Secular Zones (4) Egocentric
Answer: (1) Answer: (1)

281. The main erotogenic zone of our body 286. According to Freud, the negative
is: Oedipus complex may lead to:
(1) Mouth (1) Heterosexuality
(2) Genitals (2) Homosexuality
(3) Anal Zones (3) Narcissism
(4) Lips (4) Castration
Answer: (2) Answer: (2)

282. According to Freud, the entire activity 287. The idea of developmental stages was
of men is bent upon procuring pleasure borrowed by Freud from:
and avoiding pain. This activity is (1) Biology
controlled by: (2) Sociology
(1) Reality Principle (3) Anthropology
(2) Pleasure Principle (4) Physics
(3) Primary Narcissism Answer: (1)
(4) Secondary Narcissim
Answer: (2) 288. The diversion of a part of the sexual
energy into non-sexual activities is called:
283. The urethral development stage is an (1) Repression
introductory period to the: (2) Regression
(1) Oral Stage (3) Rationalization
(2) Phallic Stage (4) Sublimation
(3) Genital Stage Answer: (4)
(4) Latency Stage
Answer: (2) 289. The term “defense mechanism” was
introduced by:
284. The very term “Phallic” is derived (1) Freud in 1894
from “Phallos”, which means: (2) Jung in 1902

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(3) Alfred Adler in 1905 (1) Mood disorders

(4) Sullivan in 1935 (2) Addictive diroders
Answer: (1) (3) Schizoprenia
(4) Borderline personality disorder (BPD)
290. Moving away from the reality is called Answer: (4)
the mechanism of:
(1) Withdrawal 295. Even after the brain of a frog has been
(2) Denial crushed, it still responds to a pinch on the
(3) Daydream leg by drawing it away. This act is an
(4) Introjection example of
Answer: (2) (1) Conditioned reflex
(2) Simple reflex
291. The stimulation of a muscle fibre by a (3) Automated motor response
motor neuron occurs at the (4) Neurotransmitter induced response
(1) myofibril Answer: (2)
(2) transverse tubules
(3) neuromuscular junction 296. Which of these functions will be
(4) sarcoplasmic reticulum affected if the medulla oblongata is
Answer: (3) damaged?
(1) Vision
292. An injury sustained by the (2) Thermoregulation
hypothalamus is most likely to interrupt (3) Memory
(1) coordination during locomotion (4) Tactile sensation – response when
(2) short term memory prickled with a needle
(3) regulation of body temperature Answer: (4)
(4) executive function like decision making
Answer: (3) 297. This part of the human brain is also
known as the emotional brain
293. In humans, the Alzheimer disease is (1) Epithalamus
linked with the deficiency of (2) Limbic system
(1) acetylcholine (3) Broca’s area
(2) dopamine (4) Corpus callosum
(3) glutamic acid Answer: (2)
(4) Gamma Amino Butyric Acid (GABA)
Answer: (1) 298. This is the outermost cranial
appendage
294. What is the person with these (1) Dura mater
symptoms suffering from? Outbursts of (2) Pia mater
emotions, unpredictable moods, (3) Skull
quarrelsome behaviour, conflicts with (4) Arachnoid
others Answer: (1)

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(4) the kidney, causing suppression of the

299. This cranial meninges is in close renin-angiotensin-aldosterone pathway
proximity of the brain tissue Answer: (2)
(1) Dura mater
(2) Pia mater 303. After trying for several years, a couple
(3) Arachnoid finally learnt that they are going to have a
(4) Skull tissue baby. They are experiencing this type of
Answer: (2) stress
(1) Strain
300. This statement is not associated with (2) Anxiety
midbrain (3) Distress
(1) the ventral portion of the midbrain is (4) Eustress
composed of mainly four, round swellings Answer: (4)
known as 304. This part of the autonomic nervous
corpora quadrigemina system provides the body with energy for
(2) located between thalamus of the the fight-or-flight response
forebrain and pons of the hindbrain (1) Central nervous system
(3) the canal called cerebral aqueduct (2) Sympathetic nervous system
passes through the midbrain (3) Peripheral nervous system
(4) hindbrain and midbrain constitute the (4) Parasympathetic nervous system
brain stem Answer: (2)
Answer: (1)
305. A real or perceived challenge or threat
301. This hormone is produced under which causes the body to produce a
condition of stress which stimulates response is a(n)
glycogenolysis in the liver of human beings (1) injury
(1) Insulin (2) phobia
(2) Thyroxin (3) stressor
(3) Estradiol (4) frustration
(4) Adrenaline Answer: (3)
Answer: (4)
306. The hormone released by the adrenal
302. Fight or flight reactions causes the glands allows the body to make energy
activation of more readily available from the stored
(1) the parathyroid glands, leading to nutrients
increased metabolic rate (1) ACTH
(2) adrenal medulla leading to increased (2) Cortisol
secretion of epinephrine and (3) Epinephrine
norepinephrine (4) Norepinephrine
(3) pancreas leading to a reduction in the Answer: (2)
blood sugar levels

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307. When danger or stress is

perceived/experienced, this response
occurs in the body
(1) Exhaustion
(2) Adaption
(3) Fight-or-flight
(4) Resistance
Answer: (3)

308. This branch of science investigates the

relationship between stress and the
nervous and immune systems
(1) Neurolinguistics
(2) Sociology
(3) Adaptive immunology
(4) Psychoneuroimmunology
Answer: (4)

309. All of the following is true about the

hormone epinephrine except that it
(1) is released by the pituitary gland
(2) is also known as adrenaline
(3) is secreted by the adrenal gland
(4) prepares the body for action
Answer: (1)

310. The primary hormone responsible for

stress-related physiological responses,
such as an increase in heart rate is
(1) insulin
(2) cortisol
(3) epinephrine
(4) thyroxin
Answer: (3)

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