VCE Psychology Question Thread!

[Bri MT]

Could somebody explain to me the similarities between long term potentiation and long term depression? Cheers!

As peter.g15 has alluded to, both are elements of neuroplasticity which aid our memory and learning. They achieve this through tangible changes at the synapse which either increase (LTP) or decrease (LTD) the probability of the postsynaptic neuron firing as a result of the presynaptic neuron firing.

e.g to take peter's example of learning French, if you initially pronounced a word incorrectly, LTP would help you remember the new/correct pronunciation and LTD would help you lose the incorrect pronunciation. 

Does this answer your question?

[TheBamboozler]

Thanks peter and miniturtle!

If you don't mind, I'd appreciate an explanation of the role of the hippocampus and amygdala during heightened arousal, as well as the role of adrenaline in consolidation of emotionally arousing experiences.

[peter.g15]

Thanks peter and miniturtle!

If you don't mind, I'd appreciate an explanation of the role of the hippocampus and amygdala during heightened arousal, as well as the role of adrenaline in consolidation of emotionally arousing experiences.

No worries

I assume you're referring to the following vcaa DP: "The role of neurotransmitters and neurohormones in the neural basis of memory and learning (including the role of glutamate in synaptic plasticity and the role of adrenaline in the consolidation of emotionally arousing experiences".

So when an individual has heightened arousal, this is basically referring to when adrenaline is pumping through the body and you're in some sort of dangerous/scary situation. For example, going on a rollercoaster.

So, the hippocampus by itself is involved in the consolidation of long-term declarative memories while the amygdala is responsible for the emotional aspect of the memory. When you're emotionaly aroused, adrenaline triggers the release of noradrenaline in the amygdala. This activates the amygdala to send a signal to the hippocampus that the details of this event are significant and that the long term storage is to be strengthened. The amygdala also encodes emotion information into the memory.

Basically, adrenaline strengthens the storage of long term memories by making them more vivid and memorable.

Hope i helped

[rani_b]

Hi! I wanted to ask what the difference was between response cost and negative punishment? The book says response cost is when any stimulus valued by an organism is removed, whether or not it causes a response. What does that underlined bit mean? Are there examples where something is negative punishment but not response cost? Thank you!!

[sdfg]

Hi! I wanted to ask what the difference was between response cost and negative punishment? The book says response cost is when any stimulus valued by an organism is removed, whether or not it causes a response. What does that underlined bit mean? Are there examples where something is negative punishment but not response cost? Thank you!!

Response cost = stimulus taken away doesn't necessarily cause the response that is to be reduced (e.g speeding fines; money doesn't cause the speeding behaviour, but nevertheless reduces it when taken away due to perceived value).

It's just a more specific version of negative punishment. Study design only states response cost though, so you'll probably never be put in a situation where you'll have to distinguish between the two.

[rani_b]

Response cost = stimulus taken away doesn't necessarily cause the response that is to be reduced (e.g speeding fines; money doesn't cause the speeding behaviour, but nevertheless reduces it when taken away due to perceived value).

It's just a more specific version of negative punishment. Study design only states response cost though, so you'll probably never be put in a situation where you'll have to distinguish between the two.

Thank you!

[IsabellaBrown]

Hi,
I was wondering if somebody could please explain what an antecedent is. I have the jist of what it is, but I'm having difficulty in understanding it's role. 

[Bri MT]

Hi,
I was wondering if somebody could please explain what an antecedent is. I have the jist of what it is, but I'm having difficulty in understanding it's role. 

It's the prompt. 

Eg. If someone participating in a track starts running after hearing a bang so they receive positive reinforcement, the anecedant is the bang.

If a child asks their parents to buy a toy after seeing it,  the antecedent is seeing it.

If a student starts studying after receiving feedback, the feedback is the antecedent.

If the antecedent wasn't present,  the behaviour (and thus consequence) would not occur

[rani_b]

"Because taking exams in the past has always lead to failure and humiliation, Sam gets nervous and nauseous whenever the teacher announces they are going to take a quiz." Is this an example of classical or operant conditioning and why? Thank you!!
 

[KiNSKi01]

Classical Conditioning 

The behaviour in Classical is always involuntary (e.g salivating, fear, excitement, feeling nervous)

The behaviour in Operant is voluntary (e.g Doing more homework, Spending more money, Not distracting others in class) lol sorry for the bad examples

[rani_b]

Classical Conditioning 

The behaviour in Classical is always involuntary (e.g salivating, fear, excitement, feeling nervous)

The behaviour in Operant is voluntary (e.g Doing more homework, Spending more money, Not distracting others in class) lol sorry for the bad examples

Okay, thanks.

[rani_b]

I'm back again  Could someone help me with how to go about discerning the antecedent, behaviour and consequence from this scenario and any scenario in general? And what should I be putting in my answer to gain 6 marks?

Thank you!!

[Bri MT]

I'm back again  Could someone help me with how to go about discerning the antecedent, behaviour and consequence from this scenario and any scenario in general? And what should I be putting in my answer to gain 6 marks?

Thank you!!

Behaviour: what Jack does
Anecedant: why Jack does it / thing that Jack is reacting to
Consequence: what happens as a result of Jack's behaviour

In your answer you would get 2 marks for each stage that you correctly identified and described using appropriate psychological terminology with reference to the scenario.

[mingduytran1606]

Hi, I have a question on LTP and LTD. What is the relationship between LTP and LTD??? How do they support each other??
My teacher said that LTD help to utilize brain resource due to pruining the unused connection so there will be more resources available for LTP to strengthen the important connection. However, when I watch Edrolo, the lady mention something about how LTP just can strengthen the connection to a certain level. In other to maintain and further strengthen the connection, LTD need to weaken it first then LTP can take place. Which one is correct???

[sarangiya]

Hi, I have a question on LTP and LTD. What is the relationship between LTP and LTD??? How do they support each other??
My teacher said that LTD help to utilize brain resource due to pruining the unused connection so there will be more resources available for LTP to strengthen the important connection. However, when I watch Edrolo, the lady mention something about how LTP just can strengthen the connection to a certain level. In other to maintain and further strengthen the connection, LTD need to weaken it first then LTP can take place. Which one is correct???

I think your teacher has a good point, and Edrolo isn't wrong.
The effect of LTP is a "strengthening" of the synapse, which in effect makes that pathway easier to activate. (Edrolo is right)
The effect of LDP is a "weakening" of the synapse, which as your teacher says, 'prunes' unneeded synapses.
It could be that your teacher is right in that it frees up resources.
However, I would think about it like this:
Let's say I remember the quadratic formula as \begin{array}{*{20}c} {x = \frac{{ - b \pm \sqrt {a^2 - 4ac} }}{{2b}}} \end{array}
This is obviously incorrect, but I used it so much that LTP takes place and the semantic memory of the incorrect formula is strengthened.
My teacher notices, and tells me the actual formula is: \begin{array}{*{20}c} {x = \frac{{ - b \pm \sqrt {b^2 - 4ac} }}{{2a}}} \end{array}
So, if LTD did not exist, no matter how hard I tried, I will be stuck with always remembering the incorrect formula first, right?
Therefore, LTD is necessary to 'forget' a faulty or incorrect memory, and allows LTP to strengthen the new, correct memory.

Therefore, you might see that LTD and LTP work together to correct our mistakes, change the way we think, adapt to our changing environment and remove conflicting and competing information that hinders our potential growth.
Good luck!