Psychology Past Paper PDF 2024-2025

1 B.A Semester-I Psychology MAJOR Subject FUNDAMENTALS OF PSYCHOLOGY-I Theory Marks= 80 (Final Examination) + 20 (Internal A...

1 B.A Semester-I Psychology MAJOR Subject FUNDAMENTALS OF PSYCHOLOGY-I Theory Marks= 80 (Final Examination) + 20 (Internal Assessment) = 100 Notes as per 2024-25 NEP Syllabus Note are to be used only as supplementary material and aid for reference. Students are required to read reference books for detailed content and knowledge. UNIT III- COGNITIVE PROCESSES-II LEARNING Meaning, Types, Thorndike’s Laws of Learning, Methods (Conditioning, Observational, Insight, Latent) MEMORY Meaning Process-Encoding-Storage-Retrieval Stages-Sensory-Short-Term-Long Term Types of Long-Term Memory: Implicit (Non-Declarative)- Procedural Explicit (Declarative)- Semantic and Episodic Forgetting- Causes Memory Improvement Techniques LEARNING Learning is defined as “any relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of practice or experience”. This definition has three important elements. a. Learning is a change in behavior—better or worse. b. It is a change that takes place through practice or experience, but changes due to growth or maturation are not learning. c. This change in behavior must be relatively permanent, and it must last a fairly long time. There are different types of learning. TYPES OF LEARNING Verbal Learning Motor Skill Problem Solving 1 B.A Sem I UNIT III NEP Notes (to be used only for reference)……....Compiled by Dr. Sonal Paliwal 2 Verbal Learning: - Learning of this type helps in the acquisition of verbal behavior. The spoken and written language is the result of verbal learning. Signs, pictures, symbols, words, figures, sounds, etc, are the tools used in such activities. Motor Skill: - In motor learning great emphasis may be placed on the exact nature and speed of movements as well as on the results achieved by them. Most of our activities in our day-to-day life refer to motor activities. The individual has to learn them to maintain his regular life, for example, walking, running, skating, driving, climbing, etc. All these activities involve muscular coordination. Problem Solving: - This is a higher-order learning process. This learning requires the use of cognitive abilities such as thinking, reasoning, observation, imagination, generalization, etc. This is very useful to overcome difficult problems encountered by the people. METHODS OF LEARNING Conditioning: Classical Conditioning and Operant Conditioning Trial and error Insight Latent Learning Observational Learning THORNDIKE’S LAWS OF LEARNING The laws of learning were proposed by psychologist Edward Thorndike. Experiment by Thorndike Thorndike did several experiments on cats using a box that he called a ‘puzzle box’. In one of the experiments, a hungry cat was placed in the box and the door was closed which could be opened by pressing a Latch. A fish was placed outside the box in a plate. The cat could see this fish. The cat was given 100 trials, ten in the morning and ten in each afternoon for five days. The cat was fed at the end of each experimental period and then was given nothing more to eat until after the next session. If succeeded in opening the door in any trial by chance, he went to eat food (fish). A complete record was made of the cat’s behavior during each trial. In the beginning, the cat made several random movements like biting, clawing, dashing, etc. Gradually in subsequent trials, the cat reduced the incorrect responses (errors), as it was in a position to manipulate the latch as soon as it was put in the box. 2 B.A Sem I UNIT III NEP Notes (to be used only for reference)……....Compiled by Dr. Sonal Paliwal 3 This experiment revealed that the random movements decreased gradually, and that as the trials increased the errors decreased. As the trials increased the solution to open the door (pressing the latch) was discovered and at the end, the cat could open the door with zero error. The time taken in each trial was eventually reduced. Even though the first pressing of the latch occurred simply by accident, the cat became likely to repeat it because it had received an award immediately after acting. Thorndike noted that with each trial, the cat became much faster at opening the door. Because pressing the lever had led to a favorable outcome, the cat was much more likely to perform the behavior again in the future. The law of effect states that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and the behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely. According to the law of effect, behaviors that are followed by consequences that are satisfying to the organism are more likely to be repeated, and behaviors that are followed by unpleasant consequences are less likely to be repeated. If an organism does something that brings about a desired result, the organism is more likely to do it again. If an organism does something that does not bring about the desired result, the organism is less likely to do it again. An example of the law of effect is in employment. One of the reasons (and often the main reason) we show up for work is because we get paid to do so. If we stop getting paid, we will likely stop showing up—even if we love our job. There are two key aspects of the law of effect: 1. Behaviors immediately followed by favorable consequences are more likely to occur again. 2. Behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences are less likely to occur again. Thorndike’s discovery had a major influence on the development of behaviorism. B.F. Skinner based his theory of operant conditioning on the law of effect. Skinner even developed his own version of a puzzle box which he referred to as an operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner box). CONDITIONING: CLASSICAL CONDITIONING AND OPERANT CONDITIONING Conditioning means ‘getting used’ to, or ‘adjusted ‘to a new situation, or a stimulus. It is a process of substituting the original stimulus with a new one and connecting the response with it. There are two types of conditioning theories: Classical and Operant. 3 B.A Sem I UNIT III NEP Notes (to be used only for reference)……....Compiled by Dr. Sonal Paliwal 4 CLASSICAL CONDITIONING Classical conditioning is a basic form of learning in which a stimulus that produces an innate reflex becomes associated with a previously neutral stimulus, which then acquires the power to elicit essentially the same response. Classical conditioning was given by Ivan P Pavlov (1849-1936), Russian physiologist who was awarded Nobel Prize, in 1904 for his experiments. Experiment by Pavlov Pavlov designed an apparatus to measure the quantity of saliva produced in response to food (meat power). At the beginning of his experiment, Pavlov noted that no saliva flowed when he rang the bell. He then trained the dog by sounding the bell, and shortly afterward presented food. After the sound of the bell had been paired with food a few times, he tested the effects of the training by measuring the amount of saliva that flowed when he rang the bell and did not present food. He found that some saliva was produced in response to the sound of the bell alone. He then resumed the training-paired presentation of the bell and food a few times and then tested again with the bell alone. As the training continued, the amount of saliva on tests with the bell alone increased. Thus, after training, the dog’s mouth watered or salivated- whenever the bell was sounded. This is what was learned; it is the conditioned response. This theory states that CS (bell) becomes a substitute after pairing with UCS (food) and acquires the capacity to elicit a response. It is because the association (conditioning) is formed between CS and UCS. This may be diagrammatically presented as follows:  4 B.A Sem I UNIT III NEP Notes (to be used only for reference)……....Compiled by Dr. Sonal Paliwal 5 Figure: Process of CC Example of Classical conditioning in Cancer patients 5 B.A Sem I UNIT III NEP Notes (to be used only for reference)……....Compiled by Dr. Sonal Paliwal 6 Basic features of Classical conditioning Stimulus: Anything in the environment that can be detected by the senses Response: Any kind of reaction that can be observed or measured Neutral Stimulus (NS): A neutral stimulus is some stimulus that causes a sensory response, such as being seen, heard, or smelled, but does not produce the reflex being tested Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): An unconditioned stimulus, or UCS, is some stimulus that triggers or elicits a physiological reflex, such as salivation or eye blink. Unconditioned Response (UCR): The unconditioned response, or UCR, is an unlearned, innate, involuntary physiological reflex that is elicited by the unconditioned stimulus. Conditioned Stimulus (CS): A formerly neutral stimulus (NS) that has acquired the ability to elicit a response that was previously elicited by the unconditioned stimulus. Conditioned Response (CR): Response which is elicited by the conditioned stimulus and is similar to, but not identical in size or amount to, the unconditioned response. STAGES OF CLASSICAL CONDITIONING Acquisition The initial stage is when one links a neutral stimulus (CS) and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response. A phase in which after repeated pairing of CS (tone/bell) and UCS (food), the CS (tone) alone can produce a CR (salivation) that is similar to UCR (salivation). Extinction Extinction means cessation (stopping) of a response. The strength of the CS gradually decreases when it is presented alone and not followed by UCS for several trails. This process is called ‘extinction’. In this experiment when only the bell is presented without food for several trials, the dog stopped salivation gradually. Spontaneous recovery After extinction when the CS (bell) is paired again with UCS (food) for some trials, the CR (salivation) is recovered. This is known as ‘spontaneous recovery’. In spontaneous recovery, the dog required less number of trials than the first time, because the association between CS and UCS still existed in the brain of the animal. 6 B.A Sem I UNIT III NEP Notes (to be used only for reference)……....Compiled by Dr. Sonal Paliwal 7 Figure: Graph showing the stages of CC 7 B.A Sem I UNIT III NEP Notes (to be used only for reference)……....Compiled by Dr. Sonal Paliwal 8 STIMULUS GENERALIZATION A tendency to respond to a stimulus that is similar to the original one is called stimulus generalization, the greater the similarity, the more the generalization. In this experiment, the dog started salivating even at the sound of a buzzer which was similar to a bell. Example: When toddlers are taught to fear moving cars also become afraid of moving trucks and motorcycles Figure: Concept of Stimulus Generalization STIMULUS DISCRIMINATION When there is much difference between two stimuli, the animal can discriminate between the two. For example, if the dog is conditioned to salivate at the signal of a red light, it will not salivate when a green light is presented. Conditioning is used as psychotherapeutic technique very effectively in the treatment of abnormal behaviours such as phobias, alcoholism, enuresis, etc. These are called behaviour modification techniques. 8 B.A Sem I UNIT III NEP Notes (to be used only for reference)……....Compiled by Dr. Sonal Paliwal 9 OPERANT CONDITIONING Operant conditioning, also called instrumental conditioning, is a kind of learning in which an animal or human performs some behavior, and the following consequence (reward or punishment) increases or decreases the chance that an animal or human will again perform that same behavior. This method of conditioning was developed by an American psychologist B.F Skinner. Working with Thorndike’s law of effect as his foundation, Skinner began conducting scientific experiments on animals (mainly rats and pigeons) to determine how organisms learn through operant conditioning Skinner’s Experiment on Rats Skinner conducted his famous experiment by placing a hungry rat in a box called after his name ‘Skinner box’. This box was containing a lever and a food tray in a corner of the box. It was so arranged, that the animal was free to move inside the box, but the pressing of the lever would get the animal a pallet of food in the tray as reinforcement. Arrangement was also made to record the number of pressings of the lever by a mechanical device. It was found in the beginning that the rat pressed the lever occasionally and used it to get food as reinforcement for each pressing. Gradually, as the animal learned the pressing of lever would give some food, it repeated the responses very rapidly. This rapid increase in pressing the lever is an indication that the animal is conditioned to get food. In day-to-day life also, much learning takes place in animals as well as in human beings by this method. The reinforcement will be the motivating factor. It will make the organism repeat its action. Based on these experiments, Skinner made his famous statement “Rewarded behavior is repeated”. Operant conditioning is useful in shaping undesirable behavior and also in the modification of behavior. This is also useful in the training of mentally retarded children to learn dressing, eating, and toilet training skills, treatment of phobias, drug and alcohol addictions, and psychotherapy and to teach needed behavior in children. Further, these experiments have proved that intermittent reinforcement yields better results than continuous reinforcement. Figure: Skinner Box 9 B.A Sem I UNIT III NEP Notes (to be used only for reference)……....Compiled by Dr. Sonal Paliwal 10 Principles of Operant Conditioning  Positive = add or apply  Negative = subtract or remove Reinforcement A consequence that increases the probability of response it follows. Positive Reinforcers: Stimulus presented after a response; increases the probability of that response happening again Negative Reinforcers: Removal of an unpleasant stimulus; increases the probability of that response happening again Punishment An aversive consequence that diminishes the strength of the response it follows. Positive Punishment: Application (+) of an aversive stimulus after a response Negative Punishment: Removal (-) of an attractive stimulus after a response Both attempt to decrease the likelihood that a behavior will reoccur. So, in operant conditioning, several everyday words—positive, negative, reinforcement, and punishment—are used in a specialized manner. Positive means you are adding something, and negative means you are taking something away. Reinforcement means you are increasing a behavior, and punishment means you are decreasing a behavior. Reinforcement can be positive or negative, and punishment can also be positive or negative. 10 B.A Sem I UNIT III NEP Notes (to be used only for reference)……....Compiled by Dr. Sonal Paliwal 11 INSIGHT LEARNING Insight is a mental process marked by the sudden and unexpected solution to a problem: a phenomenon often called the “ah-ha!” experience. About the same time that Thorndike in America was studying the trial-and-error learning of cats escaping from a puzzle box, Wolfgang Köhler in Germany was studying how chimpanzees learned to obtain bananas that were out of reach. Köhler challenged Thorndike’s conclusion that animals learned only through trial and error. Köhler suggested instead that cats and other animals that were observed under the proper circumstances could solve a problem in a sudden flash known as insight or “ah-ha!”. Many times, learning proceeds by the more efficient process of trying those methods which seem to have a relation to the solution. This is possible by understanding or perception of the situation. Learning by perceiving the relationship in the scene and understanding the situation is insightful learning. This theory was developed by a psychologist known as Wolfgang Kohler, who belonged to the Gestalt school of psychology. Kohler conducted his most famous experiments on a chimpanzee- called Sultan. Kohler’s Experiment on Chimpanzee In the experiment, a chimpanzee named Sultan was put in a cage and a banana was placed at some distance outside the cage. Then the chimpanzee was given two sticks, so constructed that one stick could be fitted into another and make the stick longer. The hungry Sultan first attempted with his hands to get the banana. Then he took one of the sticks and tried to pull the banana nearer, then tried with another stick, but failed to reach it. By this effort, the chimpanzee became tired and left the attempts to reach the banana and started playing with sticks. While playing so, one of the sticks got fitted into the other and the stick became lengthier. Immediately Sultan became elated and pulled the banana with this long stick and ate it. This ‘sudden flash of idea’ to reach food with the longer stick was called ‘Insight’, by Kohler. He conducted many experiments to prove that learning takes place also by insight and not only by trial and error. He concluded that the occurrence of insight to find a solution to a problem is possible by perception of the whole situation. Kohler conducted many experiments on this line of learning to prove that, just trial and error method is not enough to find solutions for many complex problems. Trial and error or association through connectionism and conditioning may account for the simple acquisition of knowledge, skills, interests, habits, and other personality characteristics. But it is insufficient for solving complex problems. 11 B.A Sem I UNIT III NEP Notes (to be used only for reference)……....Compiled by Dr. Sonal Paliwal 12 It is here the method of insightful learning is very useful. Because it involves many higher mental processes such as thinking, reasoning, intelligence, etc. Insight occurs, when the individual sees in a flash, the solution to his problem or difficulty. It is not blind or stupid learning. It is an intelligent way of learning. On many occasions, people try to size up the situation, and things and arrive at a conclusion. With experience, man can solve problems better and sooner. He exercises that discrimination ability in solving problems, and learning becomes a matter of insight rather than of trial and error. Archimedes’ example of the’ Aha’ experience (eureka) explained in creative thinking is the appropriate example of the occurrence of insight. LATENT LEARNING Learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it is called latent learning. Latent learning is a type of learning which is not apparent in the learner's behavior at the time of learning, but which manifests later when a suitable motivation and circumstances appear. The concept of latent learning was given by Edward Tolman. Tolman argued that humans engage in this type of learning every day as we drive or walk the same route daily and learn the locations of various buildings and objects. Only when we need to find a building or object does learning become obvious. Infants learn an enormous amount of information by merely observing their surroundings, but what they learn remains latent until they have a response and an opportunity to express it. Tolman conducted experiments with rats and mazes to examine the role that reinforcement plays in the way that rat learn their way through complex mazes. These experiments eventually led to the theory of latent learning. Evidence of cognitive processes has also come from studying rats in mazes. Rats exploring a maze, with no obvious reward, are like people sightseeing in a new town. They seem to develop a cognitive map, a mental representation of the maze. In their famous experiments, Tolman and Honzik (1930) built a maze to investigate latent learning in rats. In their study, 3 groups of rats had to find their way around a complex maze. At the end of the maze, there was a food box. Some groups of rats got to eat the food, some did not, and for some rats, the food was only available after 10 days. Group 1: Rewarded Day 1 – 17: Every time they got to the end, given food (i.e. reinforced). Group 2: Delayed Reward 12 B.A Sem I UNIT III NEP Notes (to be used only for reference)……....Compiled by Dr. Sonal Paliwal 13 Day 1 - 10: Every time they got to the end, taken out. Day 11 -17: Every time they got to the end, given food (i.e. reinforced). Group 3: No reward Day 1 – 17: Every time they got to the end, taken out. Results indicated that the delayed reward group learned the route on days 1 to 10 and formed a cognitive map of the maze. They took longer to reach the end of the maze because there was no motivation for them to perform. From day 11 onwards they had a motivation to perform (i.e. food) and reached the end before the reward group. This shows that between stimulus (the maze) and response (reaching the end of the maze), a mediational process was occurring the rats were actively processing information in their brains by mentally using their cognitive map (which they had latently learned). This is the process of latent learning. Figure: Results of the Maze learning experiment 13 B.A Sem I UNIT III NEP Notes (to be used only for reference)……....Compiled by Dr. Sonal Paliwal 14 Figure: Cognitive Map (mental representation) example OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING The main proponent of observational learning was Albert Bandura. Unlike classical conditioning and operant conditioning, according to observational learning, cognitive processes play an important role in learning behavior. Based on his work with phobic patients and the famous Bobo doll experiment (1963), Bandura propounded the ‘Social Learning Theory’. According to social learning theory, learning occurs in a social setting by observing others' behavior and its outcome. This observational learning can occur in two ways: (i) direct observation, and (ii) indirect observation. In direct observation, you learn behavior by observing others (called a model), directly, while in indirect observation you learn by observing or hearing others' experiences. This kind of indirect learning is known as vicarious learning. Suppose you wanted to go on a trip to the Northeastern states of India. One of your friends who recently came back from his trip to the northeast suggests you carry an umbrella or raincoat, as it can rain anytime. What will you do? There are very high chances that you will listen to his experience and carry an umbrella. This kind of learning is an example of vicarious learning. Experiment on Bobo doll Bandura and his colleagues experimented on children to investigate the role of observation and imitation in learning social behavior, such as aggression. It was observed that children who were exposed to the aggressive model imitated the model’s behavior. They also punched, hit, and used abusive words for Bobo dolls. In contrast, the children of the second experimental group, who were exposed to a non-aggressive 14 B.A Sem I UNIT III NEP Notes (to be used only for reference)……....Compiled by Dr. Sonal Paliwal 15 model, did not demonstrate any aggression with the Bobo doll. This was one of the landmark studies in psychology. It suggested that observation and imitation play a crucial role in learning. For the details of the real experiment visit: https://www.psychologywizard.net/uploads/2/6/6/4/26640833/bandura_1965.pdf Process Involved in Observational Learning Attention: To learn, one needs to focus his or her attention on a model. This process is influenced by the characteristics of the model as well as the characteristics of the observer. Retention: It is important to remember the observed behavior for future reproduction. This process depends on one’s ability to rehearse and mentally represent the observed behavior. Production: In the third step, learned behavior is produced by the observer. However, the production of a retained behavior depends on the capability to perform it, i.e., whether the observer possesses the required skills or not. Motivation: An observed behavior will be performed only when there is an appropriate motivation or reason to do so. 15 B.A Sem I UNIT III NEP Notes (to be used only for reference)……....Compiled by Dr. Sonal Paliwal 16 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. Encoding is the translation of incoming stimulus energy into a unique neural code that your brain can process. Storage is retaining the encoded information over time. Retrieval is the recovery of the stored information. In 1968 Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin proposed a model of memory known as the stage model or information processing model. According to this model of human memory information processes through 3 different stages: - Sensory memory (SM) - Working memory or short-term memory (STM) - Long-term memory (LTM) The transfer of information from the Sensory Register to Short Term Memory is controlled by ‘attention’. Once in the STM, the information is subject to the control process of ‘Rehearsal’. Rehearsal serves functions like: - To maintain information in STM - To transfer information from STM to LTM Figure: Atkinson and Shiffrin’s model of memory 16 B.A Sem I UNIT III NEP Notes (to be used only for reference)……....Compiled by Dr. Sonal Paliwal 17 Sensory Memory /Sensory Register Sensory memory allows individuals to retain impressions of sensory information for a brief time after the original stimulus has ceased. 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 Iconic memory is a form of sensory memory that automatically holds visual information for about a quarter of a second or more; as soon as you shift your attention, the information disappears. (The word icon means “image.”) Echoic Memory Echoic memory is a form of sensory memory that holds auditory information. 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 sensory memory 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. 17 B.A Sem I UNIT III NEP Notes (to be used only for reference)……....Compiled by Dr. Sonal Paliwal 18 Functions of Sensory Memory Prevents being overwhelmed: Sensory memory keeps you from being overwhelmed by too many incoming stimuli because any sensory information you do not attend to will vanish in seconds. Gives decision time: Sensory memory gives you a few seconds to decide whether some incoming sensory information is interesting or important. Information you pay attention to will automatically be transferred to short-term memory. Provides stability, playback, and recognition: Iconic memory makes things in your visual world appear smooth and continuous, such as “seeing” even during blinking. Echoic memory lets you play back auditory information, such as holding separate sounds so that you can recognize them as words. If you attend to information in sensory memory, it goes into short-term memory. Short-Term/ Working Memory (STM) Short-term memory, more recently called working memory, refers to a process that can hold a limited amount of information— an average of seven items—for a limited period—2 to 30 seconds. However, the relatively short duration can be lengthened by repeating or rehearsing the information. STM has a very limited capacity. It is the only memory store in which the conscious processing of material takes place. Memory transferred to it by the SR and LTM can be worked over, thought about, and organized. The brief storage capacity of working memory is called the immediate memory span. The capacity of working memory is between five and nine bits of information- about seven (plus or minus two) familiar items such as letters, words, numbers, or almost any kind of meaningful item. This magic number 7 was discovered by George Miller. The limited capacity of STM can be improved by chunking and rehearsal. A Chunk is a meaningful unit of information. Chunking is the process of recording single items by grouping them based on similarity or other organizing principle Rehearsal helps in transferring information from STM to LTM There are two types of Rehearsal: - Maintenance rehearsal: Repeating or reciting the information to keep it in mind. It is not an efficient way to remember information. - Elaborative Rehearsal: A process in which information is not just repeated but actively analyzed and related to already-stored knowledge. 18 B.A Sem I UNIT III NEP Notes (to be used only for reference)……....Compiled by Dr. Sonal Paliwal 19 Long-Term Memory (LTM) Long-term memory is used for the storage of information over long periods, ranging from a few hours to a lifetime. 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. 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 “New Delhi is the Capital of India” 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. Episodic Memory Episodic memories 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. 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 19 B.A Sem I UNIT III NEP Notes (to be used only for reference)……....Compiled by Dr. Sonal Paliwal 20 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. Figure: Types of long-term memories FORGETTING Forgetting refers to the apparent loss of information already encoded and stored in long-term memory. Much of what we think we have forgotten does not really qualify as “forgotten” because it was never encoded and stored in the first place. A case of a life overtaken by memory is “A. J.,” whose experience has been studied and verified by a University of California at Irvine research team (Parker et al., 2006). A. J., who has identified herself as Jill Price, describes her memory as “like a running movie that never stops. It’s like a split screen. I’ll be talking to someone and seeing something else.... Whenever I see a date flash on the television (or anywhere for that matter) I automatically go back to that day and remember where I was, what I was doing, what day it fell on, and on and on and on and on. It is nonstop, uncontrollable, and totally exhausting.” A good memory is helpful, but so is the ability to forget. If a memory enhancing pill becomes available, it had better not be too effective. More often, however, our memory dismays and frustrates us. Memories are quirky. 20 B.A Sem I UNIT III NEP Notes (to be used only for reference)……....Compiled by Dr. Sonal Paliwal 21 Memory researcher Daniel Schacter (1999) enumerates the ways our memories fail us: Absent-mindedness—inattention to details leads to encoding failure (our mind is elsewhere as we lay down the car keys). Transience—storage decay over time (after we part ways with former classmates, unused information fades). Blocking—inaccessibility of stored information (seeing an actor in an old movie, we feel the name on the tip of our tongue but experience retrieval failure—we cannot get it out) Causes of Forgetting Encoding Failure Much of what we sense we never notice, and what we fail to encode, we will never remember. Age can affect encoding efficiency. The brain areas that jump into action when young adults encode new information are less responsive in older adults. This slower encoding helps explain age-related memory decline. We encode some information—where we had dinner yesterday—automatically; other types of information—like the concepts of this topic— require effortful processing. Without effort, many memories never form. Storage Decay Even after encoding something well, we sometimes later forget it. To study the durability of stored memories, Ebbinghaus (1885) learned more lists of nonsense syllables and measured how much he retained when relearning each list, from 20 minutes to 30 days later. The result, confirmed by later experiments, was his famous forgetting curve: The course of forgetting is initially rapid, then levels off with time. One explanation for these forgetting curves is a gradual fading of the physical memory trace. Cognitive neuroscientists are getting closer to solving the mystery of the physical storage of memory and are increasing our understanding of how memory storage could decay. But memories fade for other reasons, including the accumulation of learning that disrupts our retrieval. Retrieval Failure We have seen that forgotten events are like books you can’t find in your campus library—some because they were never acquired (not encoded), others because they were discarded (stored memories decay). But there is a third possibility: The book may be there but inaccessible because we don’t have enough information to look it up and retrieve it. How frustrating when we know information is “in there,” but we cannot get it out, as when a name lies poised on the tip of our tongue, waiting to be retrieved. Given retrieval cues (“It begins with an M”), we may easily retrieve the elusive memory. Retrieval problems contribute to the occasional memory failures of older adults, who 21 B.A Sem I UNIT III NEP Notes (to be used only for reference)……....Compiled by Dr. Sonal Paliwal 22 more frequently are frustrated by tip-of-the-tongue forgetting. Often, forgetting is not memories discarded but memories unretrieved. Interference Learning some items may interfere with retrieving others, especially when the items are similar. If someone gives you a phone number, you may be able to recall it later. But if two more people give you their numbers, each successive number will be more difficult to recall. Likewise, if you buy a new combination lock, your memory of the old one may interfere. Such proactive (forward-acting) interference occurs when something you learned earlier disrupts your recall of something you experience later. As you collect more and more information, your mental attic never fills, but it certainly gets cluttered. Retroactive (backward-acting) interference occurs when new information makes it harder to recall something you learned earlier. It is rather like a second stone tossed in a pond, disrupting the waves rippling out from a first. Information presented in the hour before sleep is protected from retroactive interference because the opportunity for events is minimized. So, forgetting is not just the decay of old impressions and associations but also a matter of interference, inhibition, or obliteration of the old by the new. Motivated Forgetting The psychoanalytic theory of repression suggests that some forgetting comes to pass because a person wishes to forget something. The idea of motivated forgetting indicates that unwanted or unpleasant events might be lost in memory simply because people wanted to forget them. Repression is likely to put memories in the unconscious. But Freud believed that such memories continued to influence behavior in the form of unconscious motives. Experimental evidence to support the notion of repression has not been produced, but case histories give us a good account for forgetting of this nature. Books used for compiling notes  Introduction to Psychology by Morgan, King, Weiz and Schopler Psychology by Robert Baron  Introduction to Psychology by Rod Plotnik and Kouyoumdjiyan Psychology by David G. Myers  Psychology by Zimbardo and Weber 22 B.A Sem I UNIT III NEP Notes (to be used only for reference)……....Compiled by Dr. Sonal Paliwal 23 Sample Questions (only for reference) Long answer questions (8 marks) - Explain the process of classical conditioning with the help of an example. - Explain the experiment of Operant Conditioning. - Describe the principles of Operant Conditioning with the help of examples. - Define Memory. Explain different stages of memory in detail. - Define memory and discuss types of long-term memory in detail. - Explain in detail the different causes of forgetting. - Write a detailed note on Memory Improvement techniques. Short answer questions (4 marks) Write short notes on: - Types of learning. - Stages of memory - Insight learning - Latent learning - Observational learning - Retroactive and Proactive interference - Causes of forgetting - Implicit/ Explicit Memory Very short answer questions (2 mark) - Mention the types of learning with one example each - Define Learning - Write Thorndike’s Law of Learning - Who gave the concept of Classical/ Operant/ Insight/ Latent/ Observational learning? - What are the functions of sensory memory? - Types of Rehearsal - Name two memory Improvement techniques 23 B.A Sem I UNIT III NEP Notes (to be used only for reference)……....Compiled by Dr. Sonal Paliwal