Year 3 Semester 1 > AM Midterm II > Flashcards

AM Midterm II Flashcards

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1
Q

What is a member of a category called?

A

-Exemplar or instance
-Oak is an exemplar/ instance of a tree

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2
Q

How was the question if animals perceive categories tested?

A

-Harvard study trained pigeons to respond to the category a stimulus belonged to
-Images were in black and white
-Data supports hypothesis of categorical perception and shows pigeons generalize
-Pigeons generalize to novel exemplars (controls for memorization)
-But Aust and Huber (2001)- pigeons generalize from pictures to scrambles

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3
Q

What is the feature theory?

A

-Animals learn features specific to a category
-Stimuli have many features, some of which are S+ (behavior will be reinforced), others are S- (behavior will not be reinforced)
-Response to novel exemplars can be predicted from the V’s of the component features
-Perceive objects by processing individual features

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4
Q

Explain features

A

-Features are things that are consistently there
-V for every single feature
-Not every feature has to be present in every exemplar for the animal to react
-An extension of associative learning
-Configurations are features too (negative patterning)

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5
Q

What does polymorphic mean?

A

-Natural categories are polymorphic
-Occurring in several different forms

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6
Q

What is the exemplar theory?

A

-Perceptual categories learned by memorizing exemplars
-Novel exemplars are categorized by their similarity to learned exemplars
-People categorize objects and concepts by comparing them to specific, memorized examples (exemplars) from their memory, rather than to a single abstract prototype
-Requires a prodigious memory

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7
Q

What is the exemplar effect?

A

-Responses to learned exemplars are faster than to novel ones

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8
Q

What is prototype theory?

A

-Prototype is a perfect exemplar of a category
-Novel exemplars are compared to the prototype

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9
Q

What are concrete categories?

A

Members have similar physical characteristics

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10
Q

What are abstract categories?

A

-Concepts
-Stimuli that are treated the same even though they have different physical characteristics

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11
Q

What are the subcategories of abstract categories?

A

-Functional- common outcome or use
-Relational- two objects instantiate a similar relationship

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12
Q

What are functional categories?

A

-Defined by a common outcome or use
-Ex: chimps trained to sort items into piles of
“food” and “tools” correctly to generalize to new objects

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13
Q

What is functional equivalence?

A

-Functional categories
-Perceptually dissimilar stimuli become associated through common response or outcome

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14
Q

What is stimulus equivalence?

A

-Functional categories
-Changing value of one exemplar changes responses to all exemplars of the category

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15
Q

What is mediated generalization?

A

-Functional categories
-Category is based on common unconditioned stimulus
-Novel exemplars are ‘classified’ based on unconditioned response

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16
Q

What are relational categories?

A

-Are abstract, can apply to an infinite number of concrete objects
-Many kinds of relationships between stimuli- same vs different, father/son mother/daughter

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17
Q

Describe the sameness experiment

A

-Test using match-to-sample task: sample and comparison stimuli
-Reward for choosing same stimulus
-Alternatively, reinforce “same” and “different” responses
-If the animal learns the task, need to control for memorizing configurations; present novel sample/comparison stimuli
-Many species can do this, but some have more difficulty; relational cues may be more or less salient; number of samples increases reliance on relational cues

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18
Q

What are second-order relationships?

A

-The relationship between two other relationships

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19
Q

Can animals communicate with symbols?

A

Animals trained to use communication symbols show strong performance on relational categories

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20
Q

Describe stimuli

A

-Real-world stimuli are complex and categorical
-Animals learn functional categories by associating different stimuli with similar outcomes
-Some animals are able to learn relational categories

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21
Q

What is a hypothesis?

A

-A question about phenomenon about the natural world
-A prediction based on inference (logical)
-An educated guess to a question

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22
Q

What is the difference between logic and science?

A

-Logic- what is possible
-Science- what we know

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23
Q

What is the order of experimental design?

A

-Observation
-Question
-Hypothesis = premise/proposition
-Inference
-Experimental design
-Prediction

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24
Q

Describe logic

A

Given A, what can I deduce is possible knowing A is true?

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25
What does H -> -|P mean?
Hypothesis implies something will not happen is better than H -> P
26
What is a prediction?
What is going to happen to a set of variables when you manipulate some and measure others
27
Describe independent variables
-What is changed -Need at least two levels (comparison)
28
What is an extraneous variable?
Variable that is not IV or DV
29
What is a confounding variable?
Variable that could influence DV or mediation between IV and DV
30
How do you prevent confounding variables?
-Control- keep same but not always possible -Balance- different groups are balanced between conditions; 1/2 group A in morning and 1/2 group B in morning, rest in afternoon -Randomize- randomize participants and select them to groups so confounding variables are distributed by chance, least control but deals with most variables
31
Describe the Koehler 1951 experiment
-Asked if animals can count -Used parrots, jackdaws and other birds -Matched drawings based on number of items -Failed with more than 6-7 items -Required extensive training -Could train them to eat a number of treats, just not more than 6-7 -Suggests learning based on trial and error, memorization
32
Describe numerosity
-Being aware that some numbers are larger or smaller than others -Distinct from amount -Animals can learn to discriminate based on numerosity
33
What is the difference between amount and quantity?
-Amount is how much water -Quantity is how many liters of water -Rats can be trained based on number of pulses, amount is how long the pulse and quantity is how many pulses
34
What is relative numerosity?
-Animals can learn to discriminate based on numerosity -Follows weber's law- midpoint of discrimination is at geometric, not arithmetic mean -Effect implies that quantity is being represented as an analog magnitude
35
Describe weber's law
-Triangle I is how long it takes to notice something (numerator) -I is base amount (denominator) -=K -The just noticeable difference between two stimuli is a constant proportion of the original stimulus -The larger the initial stimulus, the greater the change mjst be for it to be perceived
36
How can animals use numerosity?
-Animals can use numerosity to guide production -Ex: Platt and Johnson (1971) trained rats to press a lever a fixed number of times to receive reward; errors scaled with mean -> weber's law; similar results with humans in keypress task -Middle at geometric mean between 2 extremes = weber's law
37
Describe absolute number
-With small numbers of objects, perception of does not always obey weber's law -Ex: Hauser, Carey and Hauser (2000)- free-ranging rhesus macaques -Certain number of food in multiple boxes -Monkey got to choose which box, is hungry so wants to choose box with most food -Does not follow weber's law -Monkey is counting very poorly
38
Describe absolute number and object tracking
-Habituation studies with babies and monkeys -Display changes must take place quickly -> perceptual rather than numerical process -Most likely explanation is that absolute numbers are represented by short-term memory, or object tracking
39
Describe the multiple systems for tracking quantity
-For small numbers, multiple systems are available; object tracking (absolute quantity) and analog magnitude -For large numbers (>4-6), only analog magnitude is used; discrimination tests consistent with weber's law
40
What is analog magnitude?
-Mental representation that handles quantities like spatial extent, time and number using a continuous, scaled format, rather than by precise, discrete units -Distance effect- judgments are faster and more accurate when the two magnitudes are being compared further apart and it follows weber's law
41
Describe numerical competence/ordinal comparison
-Numbers are not just labels (a nominal scale) -Can be compared (interval scale)- numerosity -Have order (ordinal scale)
42
Describe the brannon and terrace (2000) experiment
-Gave animals a touch screen, trained them to touch in a particular sequence -Transfer to novel, larger numbers -Could not learn task with arbitrary order -Harder for animals to learn if order was not numerical
43
What does it say about a task if arbitrary images replace stimuli related by numerosity?
-The task is a test of sequence production or simultaneous changing -S+: A-> B-> C-> D-> E-> -The objects change position on each trial, so the animal can't simply learn a sequence of motor acts
44
Describe serial order learning
-Serial order task is very difficult to teach -Easier for monkeys to learn -Process of learning items in a sequence, such as a list or a series of actions
45
What is the magnitude effect?
-Latency to respond to first item increases with position in sequence -Serial order learning
46
What is the distance effect?
-Latency to respond to first item decreases with gap -Serial order learning -Suggest order is represented spatially
47
Describe transitive inference
-Items that are ordered along a scale have transitive properties -Ability to deduce a relationship between two items based on their individual relationships with a third item -If susan is taller than polly, and polly is taller than carol, who is tallest?
48
What are dyads?
-Pair of individuals who interact with each other -Animals in social groups have many relationships -A common kind of dyad is dominant-subordinate -Dominance is transitive
49
Describe social transitive inference
-Social animals may have natural selective pressure to perform transitive inference -Social pinyon jays learn relative ank of strangers by observing interactions
50
Why do animals need to know where they are (spatial cognition)
-Food and other resources are separated from places of refuge -Location of food and breeding partners changes over the year (migration)
51
What is social intelligence theory?
-The more social you are, the more relationships to keep track of, humans are very social so more intelligence than other species -More social species better at tranisitve inference
52
What is the difference between egocentric and allocentric?
-Egocentric- self-centered, animal knows where it is relative to where it's been, internal frame of reference, dead reckoning/path integration, direction and distance -Allocentric- other-centered, external frame of reference, beacons and landmarks
53
What is dead reckoning?
-Estimating one's current location by integrating cues from self-movement, such as speed, direction and time, to mentally track a path from a starting point -Path integration- continuously adding vectors of motion on outbound journey -Vectors- direction and distance -Does NOT use landmarks -A displaced animal moves the same as one that isn't -Ex: desert ants
54
Describe egocentric navigation
-Dead reckoning- path integration only requires direction and distance -No vision, landmarks, scent, etc. -Desert ants navigating away from nest to food and back
55
How do animals dead reckon (direction)?
-Magnetic fields -Sun compass, how the sun moves (ephemera) and what the time is (circadian clock)
56
How do animals dead reckon (distance)?
-Counting ants hypothesis- ants count their steps to determine distance -Another hypothesis- flying insects use optic flow to measure distance
57
What is optic flow?
-The flow of objects moving across our vision: angular motion -If traveling at a given speed, things close by move fast, things far away move slow, parallax
58
Describe dead reckoning in vertebrates
-Optic flow, step counting -Vestibular system measures acceleration -Acceleration is a change in speed and/or direction -Can be used to calculate distance and direction
59
What are the advantages and disadvantages of dead reckoning?
-Egocentric spatial localization mechanism; where is x relative to me, path integration of vectors -Disadvantages- accumulates error, small errors can add up -Advantages- no external cues (direction can be external or internal for animals with vestibular systems), no extra learning
60
Describe allocentric navigation
-External cue for navigation -External frame of reference -Beacons and landmarks
61
What are beacons?
-Proximal cues -Near goals -Hotel sign
62
What are landmarks?
-Distal cues -Far from goal -Buildings near hotel -Template matching, vector summation, multiple bearings
63
Describe landmarks in the Tinbergen study
-Classic demonstration in Tinbergen's study of homing in digger wasp -Wasps make orientation flights on exiting nest -Changing objects while wasp is in nest elicits new orientation flight -If objects are moved while wasp is away, she will return to the objects -Wasps prefer to use large, three-dimensional objects as landmarks
64
How are landmarks used?
-In CONTRAST to beacons, landmarks are inherently spatial -There must be an association between the landmark and a location
65
What is template matching?
-Landmarks -Compare current view to "snapshot" in memory -Adjust position to match the snapshot -Cognitive theory of object recognition that proposes the mind compares incoming sensory information to pre-stored mental templates, or internal representations of objects and patterns
66
Describe template matching in insects
-Cartwright and collet (1983) -Bees trained to find food at given distance and direction from landmarks -Hypothesis- panoramic snapshot stored, bees attempt to match their view to this stored image -Test- manipulate landmark size to test if bees use template matching -Larger image -> too close to landmark -> search farther away -Smaller image -> too far from landmark -> search closer
67
How does template matching work over longer distances?
Local view hypothesis: "album of snapshots", each snapshot associated with nearby locations (CS-CS association), each snapshot associated with vectors of movement (S-R associations)
68
What is vector summation?
-Rather than memorize panormas, learn individual landmarks -One landmark is ambiguous -Two or more landmarks can unambiguously specify a location, need heading and distances -Moving a landmark will systematically affect animal's computation of where it is
69
Describe vector summation and multiple bearings
-Vector summation requires estimating distances (-> weber's law errors) -If more than than two landmarks, bearings alone can be used to triangulate
70
What is the difference between landmark templates of vectors?
-Template matching predicts errors from changes in size of landmarks; cartwright and collet (1983) bees make size-based errors -Vector-based models predict errors from symmetric displacements; "midway" test suggest gerbils use bearings
71
Describe environmental geometry
-Two or more landarms in an area create a shape (line, triangle, rectangle) -Cheng (1986): -Rats explore a rectangular arena for food -Test- rats explore correct corner and diagonally opposite corner at test -Animals made diagonal rerros when locations were made discriminable -Imples that animals relate themselves to box geometry
72
What is a route?
-Series of movements from one location to another -Involves chains of S-S and S-R associations -Associations can be flexibly linked together -Stimulus generalization allows some novel paths to be discovered -Advantage- speed, little cognitive effort -Disadvantage- changes in environment not immediately detected
73
What is a map?
-Metric representation of space -Novel routes can be computed -Allows shortcuts, detours, planning ahead
74
What is the evidence for maps?
-Food-catching animals revist sites in a different order from the order they stored food -Implies a global map of the cache locations -May also be motivated by local cues -Test by seeing whether animals use the most efficient route
75
What is the conclusion of whether animals have a cognitive map?
-Evidence is mixed; failure to rule out dead reckoning and landmarks -Part of the problem is that "cognitive map" is not clearly defined -Even humans may not have cognitive maps -Similar experiments with humans often show same errors as other animals
76
Summarize spatial navigation
-Two kinds of systems for representing location- egocentric and allocentric -Three kinds of cues for allocentric navigation- beacons, landmarks, geometry -Three different mechanisms for using landmarks- template matching, vector summation, multiple bearings
77
What is memory?
-Information retained over time -Working memory- within a trial -Reference memory- across trials
78
What is the difference between learning and memory?
-Learning- how information about events is acquired -Memory- how information is encoded, retained and retrieved
79
What is the difference between short term and long term memory?
-Some kinds of information are retained for much longer periods of time -Working memory- events on specific trial -Reference memory- long-term retention across trials
80
What is a habituation experiment?
-Measures the reduction in behavioral response to a stimulus after repeated exposure -IV- retention time -DV- response time
81
What is a trace conditioning experiment?
-Memory trace forms in working memory that gradually decays -IV- CS-US contiguity -DV- ability to form associations
82
What is a delayed response task experiment?
-Measures working memory by presenting a stimulus, delaying for a period, and then requiring the subject to recall the information -Delayed match to sample
83
What is a radial maze experiment?
-Uses a central platform with typically eight arms to test an animal's spatial learning and memory with a food reward at the end of each arm -Animal must remember which arms it has already visited to avoid re-entering them -Animal forced to return to central platform each time
84
What are conditions for memory encoding?
-Attention; compound stimuli more difficult to remember when salient feature not known
85
What are conditions for memory retention?
-Observation- memory performance tends to decrease over time -Proactive and retroactive interference -Three models: spontaneous decary, limited capacity, active rehearsal
86
What is the difference between proactive and retrocative interference?
-Proactive- interference from prior events -retroactive- interference from subsequent events
87
What is decay theory?
-Proposed by thorndike (1914) -External stimuli activate a mental representation (trace) -Inability to retrieve a trace reflects failure to retain -Experimental support- exponential forgetting curve
88
What is limited capacity?
-Wagner 1976 -Number of traces that can be maintained is limited -New traces displace or weaken old ones -Experimental support- retroactive interference -May also explain proactive interference if limited capacity affects encoding
89
What are functions of memory (and forgetting)?
-Learning is adaptive because environments are unstable -Therefore, memory should track the rate the environment changes
90
What is rehearsal theory?
-Humans use verbal rehearsal in short-term memory tasks -Other animals may also be able to use nonverbal rehearsal -Rehearsal-memories can be actively maintained in a "buffer" -Similar to limited capacity theory, but choose what to store and what to forget
91
Describe cognitive control
-A central "executive" controls or influences other cognitive processes -Encoding, maintenance, processing, attention, etc. -Control is limited and requires effort -Controlled processing initiated by external instruction or internal volition
92
What is directed forgetting?
Basic paradigm- -R-cue- instruction to remember stimulus -F-cue- instruction to forget stimulus -On catch trials, test for memory of f-cued stimuli Can we test this in nonverbal animals? -DMTS- present an R-cue or F-cue after the sample stimulus -Only test for retention on R-cued trials -Catch trials test for retention with an F-cue
Year 3 Semester 1
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