Unit 4: Learning and Memory
Psychologists are concerned with how people learn and create memories of their experiences. For example, early psychologists such as Ivan Pavlov and B. F. Skinner performed experiments that explained human action by measuring changes in behavior. These experiments informed our understanding of the process of learning and marked the beginning of the field of behaviorism. In this chapter, we will draw from behaviorism, cognitive psychology, and neuropsychology to learn the basic principles of learning and memory.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 10 hours.
Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- discuss research conducted by notable scholars such as John B. Watson, B.F. Skinner, and Ivan Pavlov;
- describe major learning theories, including operant conditioning, classical conditioning, and observational learning;
- understand real-world applications of learning theories, including reinforcement and reinforcement schedules, punishment, and shaping;
- understand how memory functions, memory processes, and the parts of the brain involved in memory processing;
- differentiate among the various types of memory, including semantic, episodic, sensory, short-term, long-term, declarative (explicit), procedural, and implicit; and
- explain how the various types of memory work together, the causes of memory problems, and methods to improve memory.
4.1: Major Theories and Models of Learning
Read the Introduction and four sections of Chapter 6, which covers important topics related to learning in psychology. After you read, you should understand the concepts associated with different theories of learning, including classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and modeling.
Read this article on conditioning and how it relates to learning.
Watch this video on classical conditioning, which is important as both a behavioral phenomenon and as a method to study simple associative learning.
4.2: Memory
Read the Introduction and four sections of Chapter 8, which discusses memory. Afterwards, think about memory in relation to the concept of thinking, and be sure you can explain the sensing process, memory, and the medium.
4.2.1: The Memory Process
Read this article and think about the following questions: What do you encode? How do you get information into memory? How do you distinguish between visual encoding, acoustic encoding and semantic encoding? Why is encoding such an important step? What happens if you encode incorrectly?
4.2.2: Problems with Memory
Read this article and focus specifically on misinformation. Why do you think young adults are often susceptible to misinformation, but children and older adults tend to be more susceptible, even without an intention to deceive?
Read this selection to learn about forgetting and amnesia that can occur as a result of brain injuries.
Unit 4 Assessment
- Receive a grade Receive a pass grade
Take this assessment to see how well you understood this unit.
- This assessment does not count towards your grade. It is just for practice!
- You will see the correct answers when you submit your answers. Use this to help you study for the final exam!
- You can take this assessment as many times as you want, whenever you want.
