PSYC 2060U Chapter Notes - Chapter 8: Spreading Activation, Nucleus Accumbens, Foodborne Illness
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Because not everything is useful to remember (cid:862)useful(cid:863) is perhaps the ke(cid:455) here: (cid:449)e re(cid:373)e(cid:373)(cid:271)er (cid:894)lear(cid:374)(cid:895) thi(cid:374)gs that are useful. Is there evidence to support this: evidence one: our brains appear to be particularly tuned to learn information relevant to survival, eg. Pop-out paradigm, food poisoning: evidence two: two of the primary ways we learn are through classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Both of which involve the learning to maximize reward/emotions and minimize punishment/emotions. The(cid:455) all eli(cid:272)it dopa(cid:373)i(cid:374)e, a(cid:374)d the amount elicited correlates with the intensity of the feeling: punishment: the amygdala responds to fear, and the anterior cingulate codes for errors and negative feedback. Again, the amount of activity in these regions correlates with the intensity of the feeling experienced: these systems interact, and the balance of activity in each often determines whether we approach reward or avoid punishment.
