Psychology: Learning and Memory

Long lasting change in behavior due to experience

Classical Conditioning 

• Ivan Pavlov
• Studies digestion in dogs
• Dogs would salivate before they were given food
• Dogs must have learned to salivate
• This is passive learning (automatic...learner does NOT have tot think)

• First thing you need is a unconditional relationship
• Unconditional stimulus (UCS)-something that elicits a natural, reflexive response
• Unconditional response (UCR)-response to the UCS
• Next you find a neutral stimulus (something that by itself elicits no response)
• You present the stimulus with the UCS a whole bunch of times
• After a while, the body begins to link together the neutral stimulus and the UCS
• We know learning takes place when the previously neutral stimulus elicits a response
• At this point the neutral stimulus is called the conditioned stimulus (CS) and the unconditional response becomes the conditioned response (CR)
• Tricky Fact: We know learning exists because the CS is linked to the UCS
• This is called acquisition
• Acquisition does not last forever
• The moment the CS is no longer associated with the UCS, we have extinction

Timing Matters

• Delayed Conditioning: Present CS, while CS is still there, present UCS
• Trace Conditioning: Present CS, short break, then present UCS
• Simultaneous Conditioning: CS and the UCS are presented at the same time
• Backward Conditioning: UCS is presented, then CS is presented

Spontaneous Recovery: Sometimes, after extinction, the CR still randomly appears after the CS is presented

Generalization: Something is so similar tot he CS that you get a CR

Discrimination: Something so different tot he CS so you do not get a CR

Classical Conditioning and Humans

• John Watson brought classical conditioning to psychology with his Baby Albert Experiment

First-Order Conditioning

• Bell + Meat = Salivation
• Bell = Salivation

Second-Order Conditioning (After first order conditioning has occurred)

• Light + Bell = Salivation
• Light = Salivation

Learned Taste Aversions

• When it comes to food being paired with sickness, the conditioning is incredibly strong
• Even when food and sickness are hours apart
• Food must be salient (noticeable)

Garcia and Koelling Study

• Studies rats and how they make associations
• Some associations seem to be adaptive

Operant Conditioning 

• Edward Thorndike
• Locked cats in a cage
• Behavior changes because of its consequences.
• Rewards strengthen behavior.
• If consequences are unpleasant, the Stimulus-Reward connection will weaken.
• Called the whole process instrumental learning.

B.F. Skinner

• The Mac Daddy of Operant Conditioning
• Nurture guy through and through
• Used a Skinner Box (Operant Conditioning Chamber) to prove his concepts

Reinforces

• A reinforcer is anything that increases a behavior 
• Positive Reinforcement: The addition of something pleasent
• Negative Reinforcement: The removal of something unpleasant
• Two types of negative reinforcement
• Escape learning
• Avoidance Learning
• Getting kicked out of class versus cutting class

Punishment 

• Meant to decrease a behavior
• Positive Punishment: Addition of something unpleasant
• Negative Punishment (Omission Training): Removal of something unpleasant
• Punishment works best when it is immediately done after behavior and if it is harsh

How do we actually use Operant Conditioning?

• Do we work for the subject to deliver the desired behavior?
• Use shaping
• Shaping is reinforcing small steps on the way to the desired behavior

Chaining Behaviors

• Subjects are thought a number of responses successively in order to get a reward

Primary vs. Secondary Reinforcer

• Primary Reinforcer: Things that are in themselves rewarding
• Secondary reinforcer: Things we have learned to value
• Money is a special secondary reinforcer called generalized reinforcer (because it can be traded for just about anything) 

Reinforcement is used to increase a desired behavior 

Punishment is used to decrease an unwanted behavior

Token Economy

• Every time a desired behavior is performed, a token is given 
• They can trade tokens in for a variety of prizes (reinforcers)
• Used in homes, prisons, mental institutions, and schools. 

Premack Principle

• You have to take into consideration the reinforcer used 
• Is the reinforcer wanted...or at least is it more preferable than the targeted behavior

Continuous vs. Partial Reinforcement

• Continuous
• Reinforce the behavior every time the behavior is exhibited
• Usually done when the subject is first learning to make the associations
• Acquisition comes really fast
• But so does extinction
• Partial
• Reinforce the behavior only some of the times it is exhibited
• Acquisition comes more slowly
• But is more resistant to extinction

Types of Partial Reinforcement Schedules

• Ration Schedules
• Fixed Ratio
• Provides a reinforcement after a SET number of responses
• Variable Ratio
• Provides a reinforcement after a random number of responses
• Vary hard hard to get acquisition but also very resistant to extinction
• Interval Schedules
• Fixed Interval
• Requiring a SET amount of time before giving the reinforcement
• Variable Interval
• Requires a RANDOM amount of time to elapse before giving the reinforcement
• Very hard to get acquisition but also very resistant to extinction

Observational Learning

• Albert Bandura and his BOBO doll
• We learn through modeling behavior from others
• Observational learning + Operational Conditioning = Social Learning Theory

Latent Learning

• Edward Toleman
• 3 Rat experiment
• Latent means hidden

Insight Learning

• Wolfgang Kohler and his chimpanzees
• Some animal learn through the "ah ha" experience

Memory

Memory: The persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information

The memory process: encoding, storage, retrieval

• Encoding: The processing of information into the memory system
• Storage: The retention of encoded material over time.
• Retrieval: The process of getting the information out of memory storage

Recall vs. Recognition

• With recall-you must identify retrieve the information from your memory (fill int the blank test)
• With recognition-you must identify the target from possible targets (multiple choice test)

Flashbulb Memory: A clear moment of an emotionally significant moment or event

Types of Memory: short-term, sensory, and long-term

• Sensory: The immediate, initial recording of sensory information in the memory system
• Stored for just an instant, and most gets unprocessed
• Short-Term Memory: Memory that holds a few items briefly
• Seven digits (plus of minus 2)
• The info will be stored into long-term or forgotten
• Long-Term Memory: The relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory information

Working Memory (Modern Day STM)

• Another way of describing the use of short-term memory
• Has 3 parts:
• Audio
• Visual
• Integration of audio and visual (controls where your attention lies)

2 ways to encoding

• Automatic Processing
• Unconscious encoding of incidental information
• You encode space, time, and word meaning without effort
• Things can become automatic with practice
• Effortful Processing
• Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort
• Rehearsal is the most common effortful processing technique
• Through enough rehearsal, what was effortful becomes automatic

Things to remember about encoding

• The next in line effect: We seldom remember what the person has just said or done if we are next
• Spacing effect: We encode better when we study/practice over time
• DO NOT CRAM

Serial Positioning Effect: our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list

Types of encoding:

• Semantic Encoding: The encoding of meaning like the meaning of words
• Acoustic Encoding: The encoding of sound, especially the sounds of words
• Visual Encoding: The encoding of picture images

Tricks to encode

• Use imagery: mental pictures
• Mnemonic Devices
• Chunking
• Organizing items into familiar, manageable units
• Often it will occur automatically

Psychology: Sleep and Drugs

States of Consciousness

• Conscious Level
• Non-conscious Level
• Preconscious Level
• Sun-conscious Level

Sleep

• Sleep is a state of consciousness
• We are less aware of our surroundings
• Circadian Rhythms

Sleep Cycle

• Use an EEG machine to measure stages of sleep
• When you are the onset of sleep, you experience alpha waves
• Produces mild hallucinations, like a feeling of falling

Stage 1

• Kind of awake and kind of asleep
• Lasts a few minutes and experienced once a night
• Brain produces Theta waves

Stage 2

• Theta waves get slower
• Begin to show sleep spindles...Short bursts of rapid brain waves

Stage 3 and 4

• Slow wave sleep
• Produce Delta waves
• Vital for restoring; body's growth hormones, and good overall health

REM Sleep

• Rapid Eye Movement
• Often called paradoxical sleep
• Brain is active
• Dreams usually occur in this state
• Body is essentially paralyzed

Sleep Disorders

Insomnia

• Persistent problems falling asleep
• Effects 10% of the population

Narcolepsy

• Suffer from sleeplessness and may fall asleep at unpredictable or inappropriate times
• Directly into REM sleep
• Less than .001% of the population is affected

Sleep Apnea

• A person stops breathing during their sleep
• Wake up momentarily, gasps for air, then falls back asleep
• Wake up screaming, and don't know why

Sleep Walking (Somnambulism)

• Sleepwalking is a sleep disorder affecting an estimated 10% of all humans at least one in their lives
• Sleep walking most often occurs during non-REM sleep
• Sleep (stage 3 or 4)early in the night

Dreams

Freud's Theory of Dreams

• Dreams are a roadway into our unconscious
• Manifest Content (story-line)
• Latent Content (underlying meaning)

Activation Synthesis Theory

• Our cerebral cortex is trying to interpret random electrical activity we have while sleeping
• That is why dreams sometimes make no sense
• Biological Theory

Information-Processing Theory

• Dreams are a way to deal with the stresses of everyday life
• We tend to dream more when we are more stressed

Hypnosis

• Altered state of consciousness? 

Hypnotic Theories

• Role Theory
• Hypnosis is NOT an altered state of consciousness
• Different people have various states of hypnotic suggestibility
• A social phenomenon where people want to believe 
• Works better on people with richer fantasy lives
• State Theory
• Hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness
• Dramatic health benefits

Dissociation Theory

• By Ernest Hiilgard
• We voluntarily divide our consciousness up
• Ice Water Experiment
• We have a hidden observer, a level of us that is always aware

Drugs

• Our brain is protected by a layer of capillaries called the blood-brain barrier
• The drugs that are small enough to pass through are called psychoactive drugs

Drugs are either

• Agonist 
• Antagonists
• Reuptake inhibitors

• If a drug is used often, a tolerance is created for the drug
• Thus you need more of the drug to feel the same effect
• If you stop using the drug, you can develop withdrawal symptoms

Stimulant

• Speed up bodily processes
• More powerful ones (cocaine) give people feelings of invincibility

Depressants

• Slow down bodily processes
• Ex. Alcohol

Alcohol

• More than 86 billion spent annually
• It is involved in 60% of all crimes
• It is involved in 70% of all sexually related crimes

Opiates

• Hes depressive and hallucinogenic qualities
• Agonist for endorphines
• Derived from poppy plant
• Morphine, heroin, methadon, and codene
• All are teratogens

Economics: Unit 5 and 6

Short run

Time to short for wages to adjust to price level

Workers may not be aware of changes in their real wages due to inflation, therefore they have adjusted their labor supply decisions and wage demands accordingly

	Price level	Wage Level	Employment Level	Implications
Keynesian/Horizontal	Fixed	Fixed	Flexible	Output depends upon change in employment
Intermediate Range	Fixed	Fixed	Flexible	Output depends upon changes in the price level and employment
Vertical/Classical	Flexible	Flexible	Fixed	Output depends upon changes in price level

Long run

Time long enough for wages to adjust tot he Price Level 

Key assumptions

• Wage and price level
• Changes in price and wage outset one another
• Represented by a vertical line

graph of demand poll inflation; cost push inflation; Recession; economic

Recession Graph

Recession: Employment decreases

Demand Pull: Employment increases


Phillips Curve: Inverse relationship between inflation and unemployment

• Inflation expectation are held constant

If inflation persists and the expected inflation rises, then the entire SRPC (short-run Phillips curve) moves upward

• Stagflation is possible

If inflation expectations drops such as new technology, then the SRPC will move downward

• Graph of SRPC is moving

Increase in AD=Up/lift movement along SRPC (from a to b)

Decrease in AD=Down/right movement along SRPC (frm a to c, or b to c)

The long run Phillips curve can only change by the unemployment rate

Sources of long-run growth: 

• Productivity-Output per unit of worker
• Labor Productivity-Output per worker

Conditions for Growth

• Rule of Law
• Sound, legal and economic institutions
• Economic Freedom
• Respect for private property
• Political and economic stability
• Willingness to sacrifice current consumption in order to grow
• Saving 
• Trade

What leads to higher productivity?

• Stock of Physical Capital – buildings, machines, robots, etc.
• Human Capital – Knowledge, skills, educations, etc.
• Technology – technical means for producing goods and services
• Improved Resource Allocation – Trade allows us to shift labor services from low-productive jobs to high productive jobs.
• Economies of Scale – reductions in per-unit cost that result from increases in the size of markets and firms.

Production Possibilities Curve and LRAS:

• Economic Growth = Shift in Production Possibilities Curve outward
• Economic Growth = Shift in the Long-Run Aggregate Supply Curve to the RIGHT

The natural rate of unemployment is held constant


Major LRPC assumption is that more worker benefits create higher natural rate and fewer benefits erase lower natural rights of unemployment


Why Growth Rates Differ among Countries:

• Rates of Savings
• Foreign Investment
• Education
• Infrastructure – roads, power lines, ports, and information networks, etc.
• Research and Development
• Political Stability
• Protection of Property Rights
• Economic Freedom versus Excessive Government Intervention

Hindrances to Growth:

• Economic and Political Instability
• High inflationary expectations
• Absence of the rule of law
• Diminished Private Property Rights
• Negative Incentives
• The welfare state
• Lack of Savings
• Excess current consumption
• Failure to maintain existing capital
• Crowding Out of Investment
• Government deficits & debt increasing long term interest rates!
• Increased income inequality  Populist policies
• Restrictions on Free International Trade

Misery Index: A combination of inflation and unemployment in any given year

• Single digit misery id good
• If double digit, considered miserable

Supply Shock: A rapid and significant increase in resource prices which causes SRAS curve to shift while producing a corresponding shift in the short-run fillips curve

Supply shock leads to stagflation

Stagflation: Where you have a simultaneous increase in inflation and unemployment

Disinflation: When inflation decreases

Real GDP and inflation are directly correlated



Supply-side Economics

• Tend to believe that the AS curve will determine levels of inflation, unemployment and economic growth
• Supports policies that promote GDP growth by arguing that high marginal tax rates along with the current system of transfer payments
• Ex. Unemployment, Social Security, and Welfare
• Provide disincentives to work, invest, innovate, and promote ventures. 

Marginal Tax Rates: The amount of tax made by an additional dollar income

• Changes from year to year

Laffer Curve

• As tax rates increase from 0, tax revenue increase from 0 to some maximum level and then they decline
• Direct correlation between tax rates (progressive) and government revenue
• Tax rates above or below the ideal rate will cause a decrease in tax revenue

3 Criticisms of Laffer Curve

1. Is where the economy is actually located on the Laffer curve is difficult to determine
2. Tax cuts also increase demand, which can fuel inflation therefore demand money may exceed supply
3. The impact of tax rates on incentives to work, sale, and invest are small

Economics: Unit 7

Balance of Payment

Balance of Payment: Sum of all transactions that take place between its residents and the residents of a foreign nation

3 Components:

1. Current account summarizes US trade in currently produced goods and services
2. Balance on goods
• Balance of trade on goods=the difference between its exports and its imports of goods
3. Balance on services

The capital account summarizes the purchase sale of real and financial assets and the corresponding flows of monetary payments that accompany them

The official reserves account

Central banks of nations that hold quantities of foreign currencies called official reserves

Comparative and Absolute Advantage

• The division of labor into specific tasks and roles intended to increase the productivity of workers is called  specialization
• Globalization is the process of increasing the connectivity and interdependence of the world's markets ad businesses
• Absolute advantage refers to a countries ability to produce a certain more of a good or service than another country
• Absolute advantage rule states that 2 countries should specialize and trade when each other partner has an output advantage over the other
• Comparative advantage refers to a country's ability to produce a particular good with lower opportunity cost then another country
• Comparative advantage rule states that 2 countries should specialize and trade, even if one produces more output of both products, as long as each partner has a cost advantage over the other
• Gains from trade are based on comparative advantage, not absolute advantage
• Comparative advantage is the basis for all trade between individuals, regions, and nations. 

Foreign Exchange Market

• A foreign exchange market is a market in which various national currencies are exchanged for one another
• The equilibrium prices in these markets are called exchange rates.
• The rate at which the currency of one nation can be exchanged for the currency of another nation.
• Two things about the foreign exchange market are that it is:
• A Competitive market
• They are competitive markets characterized by large numbers of buyers and sellers dealing in standardized products such as the American dollar, the European euro, the Mexican peso, and the Japanese pound.
• Linkages to all domestic and foreign prices
• To translate prices of foreign goods into their own currency; multiply the foreign product price by the exchange rate
• If the US dollar-yen exchange rate is $.01 per yen, a Sony television set priced at 20,000 yen will cost $200 (=20,000 x $.01) in the US. 
• Dollar Yen Market
• U.S firms exporting goods to japan want payment in dollars, not yen, but the Japanese importers of those U.S goods possess yen. So the Japanese importers supply their yen in exchange for dollars in the foreign exchange market.  
• U.S. firms importing have the same problem and vice versa. 
• We then have a market in which the price is in dollars and the product is in yen. 

• Changing Rates: Depreciation and Appreciation
• An increase in the US demand for Japanese goods will increase the demand for yen and raise the dollar price of yen.
• Suppose the dollar of yen rises from $.01=1 yen to $.02=1 yen.
• When the dollar price of yen increases, we say a depreciation of the dollar relative to the yen has occurred. 
• What might cause the exchange rates to change? 
• Yen’s supply and demand determinants are similar to those of any products supply/demand determinants.
• Us imports from Japan yield a demand (Dy)
• Us exports to Japan create supply (Sy)
• Exchange rate is determined at the intersection of the curves 
• Depreciation of the dollar is a decrease in the value of the dollar relative to another currency, so a dollar buys a smaller amount of the foreign currency and therefore of foreign goods.
• Alternatively stated, the international value of the dollar has declined. 
• Because each yen buys more dollars, US goods become cheaper to people in Japan and US exports to Japan rise.
• If the opposite event occurred-if the Japanese demanded more US goods-then they would supply more yen to pay for these goods. 
• Change from $.01=1 yen to $.005=1 yen
• Appreciation of the dollar is a increase in the value of the dollar relative to another currency, so a dollar buys a larger amount of the foreign currency and therefore of foreign goods.
• The international of the dollar has increased. 
• It takes fewer dollars to buy a single yen; the dollar is worth more because it can purchase more yen.
• US imports rise, and because it takes more yen to get a  dollar, US exports to Japan fall.

	Assets (+) Demand for the $ “Inflows”	Debits/Liabilities (-) Supply of the $ “Outflows”
Current Account (CA)
·        Balance on Goods and Services ·        Net exports ·        Balance of Trade	·        Exports ·        Tourism Here	·        Imports ·        Tourism There
Net Investment	·        Interest/divided payments ·        Foreigners pay to the US for the use of exported capital	·        Interest divided payments ·        The US made for the use of foreign capital invested in the US
Net Transfers	·        Aid to the US ·        Includes our royalties	·        Aid to other countries ·        Includes their royalties
Financial Accounts (K) or (KA)-or- “Financial and Capital Accounts”-or- “Capital Accounts	·        Capital inflows ·        Stock/bonds/realestate ·        Direct investment in the US by foreigners ·        Purchase of stocks/bonds by foreigners	·        Capital outflows ·        Direct investment by US over there ·        Purchase of stocks/bonds by the US
Official Reserves or Official Settlements or Special Drawing Rights	·        Current account + capital account = official reserves	Currencies, gold, IMF

Specialization and Trade

• Specialization & International trade improve a producer's productivity and allow it to achieve greater output than it could otherwise
• Specialization occurs when productive agents (such as persons or nations) use their available resources to focus on producing one or a few products at which they are best suited
• Economic resources needed to efficiently produce goods are not evenly distributed among producers
• Thus, some producers are better suited to produce certain items than others
• International Trade occurs when buyers & sellers in two nations exchange with one another
• A nation has a closed economy when it neither imports nor exports products (this is the situation represented by the basic market model)
• A nation has a open economy when it both imports and exports products. By trading products they specialize in for those they don't, a nation with an open economy can obtain more of both
• Cost Ratios provide a method of comparing opportunity costs of producing certain items between producers
• The lower a nation's cost ratio, the lower its opportunity cost in producing certain items - in other words, the lower the cost ratio, the greater the cost advantage
• Like per-unit opportunity costs, cost ratios measure how much of one good must be surrendered for every unit of another good gained - opportunity costs compare different production possibilities within a single nation whereas cost ratios compare national production between nations
• Cost ratios can be compared between different nations for the same item OR between different items within the same nation
• Cost ratios can be calculated using output or input data - both approaches lead to the same results if done correctly
• In general, producers should specialize in making a product only when their cost ratio of doing so is less than that of their trading partners

• Output problem approach is based on the most of an item each producer could make if it specializes using a set amount of resources (generally, all its resources) - these problem are stated in terms of output per resource unit (applies per acre, widgets per hour, etc.)
• Determine the maximum amount of each item each producers can make if they use all their resources & arrange the data in a table with the producers as rows & the products as columns
• Divide each producer's output data in the following manner: Divide its output data of the OTHER item OVER the data for one whose cost ratio you wish to find

Cost Ratio	Formula	Interpretation
Item A	Maximum output of item B /Maximum output of item A	How much of item B must be lost for every unit of item A gained by this producer
Item B	Maximum output of item A /Maximum output of item B	How much of item A must be lost for every unit of item B gained by this producer

• Input problem approach is based on the least resources each producer needs to make a certain amount of an item (generally one unit)-these problems are stated in terms of resources per output unit
• Determine the minimum amount of resources each producer needs to make one unit of an item if they specialize and list the data in a table with the producers as rows and the products as columns
• Divide each producers input data in the following manner: Divide the INPUT data of the other item INTO the data of the item whose cost ration you INTENDED to find

Cost Ratio	Formula	Interpretation
Item A	Maximum output of item A /Maximum output of item B	How much of item A must be lost for every unit of item B gained by this producer
Item B	Maximum output of item B /Maximum output of item A	How much of item B must be lost for every unit of item A gained by this producer

• Rules of specialization-these hold true for both input and output problems
• In general, producers should specialize in making a product only when their cost ratio of doing so is less than that of their trading partners
• The no advantage rule states that nations should not specialize or trade if neither trading partner possesses a cost advantage in producing either product
• The absolute advantage rule states that 2 countries should specialize and trade when each partner has an output advantage over the other
• The comparative advantage rule states that 3 countries should specialize and trade, even if one produces more output of both products, as  long as each partner has a cost advantage over the other

• Trade possibilities curve provide an alternative way of solving output problems
• The trade possibilities curve (TPC) shows the amount of 2 items a country can trade-offs must be made in how a nation uses its own resources
• THE PPC assumes a closed economy where trade-offs must be made in how a nation uses its own resources
• The TPC assumes an open economy where a nation is free to specialize its own production and trade with other nations
• Comparing the TPCs of different economies reveals their absolute and comparative advantage
• The slope of the trade possibilities curve, which may be found using the slope formula (y2-y1)/(x2-x1), provides opportunity cost of producing one more unit of a particular good
• The nation with the lower opportunity cost has a comparative advantage in that particular item

Terms of Trade

• Terms of Trade determine the rate at which one country is willing to trade one item for another item on the world market
• Trade terms may be expressed in either monetary or bartering vocabulary 
• As a monetary expression, terms of trade are stated as a world price, the subject of upcoming discussions
• When viewed from a bartering standpoint, trade terms refer tot he amount of certain items 2 countries are willing to exchange with one another
• Trade terms are influenced by economic and non-economic factors and must be negotiated through a political process
• There is no unique set of optimal trade terms between countries
• A range of acceptable trade solution exists from which the countries must select through trade agreements
• Knowing how a country benefits from specializing can help us determine how it may benefit from trade-shits PPC outward
• Solving terms of trade problems
• IF necessary, construct an output table using the data for 2 nations-this represents their production possibilities before trade
• Determine the cost ratios and comparative advantage of each nation
• Select one product as a reference and use its cost ration to determine its per-unit opportunity cost for each nation
• Set a term of trade somewhere between the 2 boundaries
• Calculate the maximum amount of each nation can gain through trade
• Nation whose cost advantage is item A should MULTIPLY its output of that item by the term of trade
• Nation whose cost advantage is item B should DIVIDE its output of that item by the term of trade