VCE Psychology Question Thread!

[persistent_insomniac]

Qs on operant conditioning:
Say for example you are grounded for doing something. Is the consequence positive punishment b/c your getting something unpleasant to decrease the negative behaviour OR is it negaitve punishement b/c your taken away something pleasant (freedom)?

[cfalzon]

Hey guys,
I've got two questions.

Firstly, how does neural plasticity enable learning and memory?

Secondly, explain whether any learning or memory would be possible without neural plasticity.

[Bri MT]

Hey guys,
I've got two questions.

Firstly, how does neural plasticity enable learning and memory?

Secondly, explain whether any learning or memory would be possible without neural plasticity.

You might find the responses to this useful

[MB_]

Qs on operant conditioning:
Say for example you are grounded for doing something. Is the consequence positive punishment b/c your getting something unpleasant to decrease the negative behaviour OR is it negaitve punishement b/c your taken away something pleasant (freedom)?

I don't think you'd get a question like this without any other context as I think it can go both ways. For example, if your phone was confiscated, then it would be negative punishment as something has been taken away. If the grounding was accompanied by some form of disapproval such as a scolding then it would be positive punishment as you're getting something unpleasant.
 

[whys]

A question I forgot to ask my teacher when we were learning this topic (oops):
- Does the parasympathetic nervous system first begin to assert dominance in the resistance stage of the GAS? (and is this why resistance to the stressor begins to decrease?)

[MB_]

A question I forgot to ask my teacher when we were learning this topic (oops):
- Does the parasympathetic nervous system first begin to assert dominance in the resistance stage of the GAS? (and is this why resistance to the stressor begins to decrease?)

I'm not completely sure but I think it makes sense for the PNS to do that during the resistance stage. If you look at the GAS graph, it flattens out before decreasing and I would suggest that's largely due to the PNS becoming dominant (as it reduces heart rate etc). And yes, I think that's why resistance to the stressor begins to decrease.

[cfalzon]

Hey guys!
I've got a question from my textbook that I'm stuck on:

How may reconsolidation be manipulated to change someone’s memory of an event?

Thanks!

[whys]

Hey guys!
I've got a question from my textbook that I'm stuck on:

How may reconsolidation be manipulated to change someone’s memory of an event?

Thanks!

Reconsolidation is the process in which a memory is retrieved and is open to further consolidation and has to be re-stabilised. The reconsolidation process is believed to repeat itself each time a memory is retrieved and placed back in storage, which is why memories can change over time. A memory can then be intentionally changed or manipulated during the reconsolidation process, and will be stored according to what is placed back in long-term storage. For example, when you are a (young) child, you may learn through experience that kicking a ball makes it move forward. However, through experience, you then learn that kicking a ball can also make it go backwards if you kick it a different way. When this occurs, the memory of kicking a ball is retrieved and is then changed to say that kicking a ball can also make it go backwards, not just forwards. The memory has now changed due to reconsolidation. (Sorry for the poor example, I can't think of anything else right now).

In this way, reconsolidation can be maniuplated to change someone's memory of an event. For example, if you remember the inflatable pool in the backyard to be yellow, but then your dad tells you it was green, the memory is retrieved and then changed to state that the inflatable pool is actually green. However, when your mum takes the inflatable pool out in summer, you realise it's actually purple, so the memory is retrieved and changed to state that the inflatable pool is purple. Another form of manipulation could be in eye-witnesses. If a witness remembers seeing a man wearing a black jacket, but then they see CCTV footage and realise the man is actually wearing a white jacket, then their memory of this could be changed through reconsolidation. The CCTV footage could be manipulated to show the man wearing a different coloured jacket to make the eye-witness change their memory by retrieving it and making the according changes.

[cfalzon]

Reconsolidation is the process in which a memory is retrieved and is open to further consolidation and has to be re-stabilised. The reconsolidation process is believed to repeat itself each time a memory is retrieved and placed back in storage, which is why memories can change over time. A memory can then be intentionally changed or manipulated during the reconsolidation process, and will be stored according to what is placed back in long-term storage. For example, when you are a (young) child, you may learn through experience that kicking a ball makes it move forward. However, through experience, you then learn that kicking a ball can also make it go backwards if you kick it a different way. When this occurs, the memory of kicking a ball is retrieved and is then changed to say that kicking a ball can also make it go backwards, not just forwards. The memory has now changed due to reconsolidation. (Sorry for the poor example, I can't think of anything else right now).

In this way, reconsolidation can be maniuplated to change someone's memory of an event. For example, if you remember the inflatable pool in the backyard to be yellow, but then your dad tells you it was green, the memory is retrieved and then changed to state that the inflatable pool is actually green. However, when your mum takes the inflatable pool out in summer, you realise it's actually purple, so the memory is retrieved and changed to state that the inflatable pool is purple. Another form of manipulation could be in eye-witnesses. If a witness remembers seeing a man wearing a black jacket, but then they see CCTV footage and realise the man is actually wearing a white jacket, then their memory of this could be changed through reconsolidation. The CCTV footage could be manipulated to show the man wearing a different coloured jacket to make the eye-witness change their memory by retrieving it and making the according changes.

Wow thanks for the great answer! Super helpful - I totally get it now 

[Ionic Doc]

Hey, I'm back with another confusing  question ( at least for me )

Explain the role of long term potentiation in the development if Albert's conditioned fear response to the white rat.

Thanks
 

[Erutepa]

Hey, I'm back with another confusing  question ( at least for me )

Explain the role of long term potentiation in the development if Albert's conditioned fear response to the white rat.

Thanks
 

I'm not the greatest to give advice, but since noone else has, I'll give it a crack.

Long-term potentiation (LTP) is the enduring (long-term) strengething/enhancement of glutamere synapses as resulting from repeated stimulation and release of glutamate. As albert is conditioned to associate a fear response with the white rat, synapses that carry that association message are stimulated. As this occurs overtime, this repeated stiumation  illicits these enduring enhancements to those synapses of the synapses attributring to the association of fear and the rat. As a result, this LTP means albert to learn (or be conditioned) to experience a fear response when exposed to the rat.

This is probably not perfect, but I hope it will point you in the right direction.

[Bri MT]

I'm not the greatest to give advice, but since noone else has, I'll give it a crack.

Long-term potentiation (LTP) is the enduring (long-term) strengething/enhancement of glutamere synapses as resulting from repeated stimulation and release of glutamate. As albert is conditioned to associate a fear response with the white rat, synapses that carry that association message are stimulated. As this occurs overtime, this repeated stiumation  illicits these enduring enhancements to those synapses of the synapses attributring to the association of fear and the rat. As a result, this LTP means albert to learn (or be conditioned) to experience a fear response when exposed to the rat.

This is probably not perfect, but I hope it will point you in the right direction.

Even though glutamate is important to LTP I wouldn't define LTP in terms of glutamate, but your thought process around the question is good.

As you've identified, increase in strength of connections between synaptic pathways links to association - and that's a key point to address in this question + linking it specifically to Little Albert scenario 

[cfalzon]

Hey, I'm back with another confusing  question ( at least for me )

Explain the role of long term potentiation in the development if Albert's conditioned fear response to the white rat.

Thanks
 

Long term potentiation (LTP) enables long-lasting strengthening of synaptic connections involved in Albert's conditioned fear response to the white rat. LTP enhances storage of the conditioned response through repeated activation of the pathway, which is done through the repeated pairings of the neutral stimulus (white rat) and the unconditioned stimulus (loud noise).

Hope this is okay!

[Ionic Doc]

hello
this question may seem silly to some, but I just need to desperately clear my doubts.
What is the difference between the axon terminals and terminal buttons. I know terminal buttons secrete neurotransmitters but what else do they do . . . and what's even the role of axon terminals?
Thanks 

[lm21074]

hello
this question may seem silly to some, but I just need to desperately clear my doubts.
What is the difference between the axon terminals and terminal buttons. I know terminal buttons secrete neurotransmitters but what else do they do . . . and what's even the role of axon terminals?
Thanks 

Hi Ionic Doc,

To my understanding, axon terminals are extensions of the axon where information is transmitted to other neurons whereas axon terminal buttons are located at the ends of axon terminals and secrete neurotransmitters once the action potential reaches them. Besides being a key component of neurotransmission through the synapse, the axon terminal buttons are also involved in synaptogenesis (the creation of new synapses).

As I don't do biology atm, I only have a VCE psych understanding of the difference between the two structures. If there were to be a more technical explanation, it would probably be beyond the study design.

Hope this helps