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Related Concept Videos

Associative Learning01:27

Associative Learning

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Associative learning is a fundamental concept in behavioral psychology, wherein a connection is established between two stimuli or events, leading to a learned response. This process is critical in understanding how behaviors are acquired and modified. Conditioning, the mechanism through which associations are formed, can be divided into two main types: classical conditioning and operant conditioning, each elucidating different aspects of associative learning.
Classical conditioning, also known...
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Psychological Responses to Stress01:20

Psychological Responses to Stress

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Psychological responses to stress encompass the various cognitive and emotional reactions individuals experience when faced with challenging or threatening situations, such as a job loss. Prolonged exposure to stressors can disturb emotional balance, increasing negative emotions (e.g., anxiety and sadness) and diminishing positive emotions (e.g., joy and satisfaction). These persistent emotional shifts are associated with an increased risk of both physical illness and mental health issues, such...
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Real-World Application of Classical Conditioning01:15

Real-World Application of Classical Conditioning

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Classical conditioning not only includes the initial pairing of stimuli but also extends to more complex forms, such as higher-order conditioning. Higher-order conditioning involves creating associations beyond the primary conditioned stimulus, resulting in a chain of conditioned responses.
Higher-order, or second-order, conditioning occurs when a neutral stimulus becomes associated with an already established conditioned stimulus through repeated pairings. For instance, if a dog has been...
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Cognitive Learning01:21

Cognitive Learning

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Cognitive learning is based on purposive behavior, incidental learning, and insight learning.
E. C. Tolman's theory of purposive behavior emphasizes that much behavior is goal-directed. He argued that to understand behavior, we must look at the entire sequence of actions leading to a goal. For instance, high school students study hard, not just due to past reinforcement but also to achieve the goal of getting into a good college.
Tolman introduced the idea that behavior is influenced by...
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Higher Mental Functions of Brain: Learning and Memory01:26

Higher Mental Functions of Brain: Learning and Memory

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Memory is one of the most vital higher mental functions of the brain. Memory is closely related to learning because it enables us to retain information and experiences from our past to use them in our present life. It also helps us to remember facts, events, and skills, such as riding a bike or swimming. There are two types of memory — declarative memory, which involves memorizing facts or events, and procedural memory, which enables us to remember how to do something like writing or...
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Physiological Foundation of Stress01:24

Physiological Foundation of Stress

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Stress triggers a coordinated physiological response involving the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. This dual activation ensures that the body is prepared for both immediate and prolonged stress management. The process begins with the perception of a stressor. This initial phase activates the SNS, leading to the rapid release of adrenaline (epinephrine) from the adrenal glands.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 18, 2025

Assessment of Stress Effects on Cognitive Flexibility using an Operant Strategy Shifting Paradigm
07:26

Assessment of Stress Effects on Cognitive Flexibility using an Operant Strategy Shifting Paradigm

Published on: May 4, 2020

3.4K

Stress, associative learning, and decision-making.

Jacqueline Giovanniello1, Christian Bravo-Rivera2, Amiel Rosenkranz3

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles, United States.

Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
|August 20, 2023
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Stress impacts associative learning and memory, sometimes impairing it and other times enhancing it. This can lead to maladaptive behaviors seen in psychiatric disorders, highlighting the need to understand stress

Keywords:
ActionsAvoidanceBehavioral flexibilityHabitsLearningMemorySocial behaviorStress

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Behavioral Psychology
  • Psychiatry

Background:

  • Stress significantly affects associative learning and memory mechanisms.
  • Stress-induced behavioral changes can underlie psychiatric conditions like anxiety and substance use disorders.
  • Understanding stress's dual role in adaptive vs. maladaptive behavior is crucial.

Approach:

  • This review synthesizes findings on how stress impacts associative learning and decision-making in humans and non-human subjects.
  • It examines the relationship between these stress-affected processes.
  • The review considers how factors like sex and prior experience modulate these effects.

Key Points:

  • Stress can impair or enhance associative learning based on various factors including stressor type, intensity, duration, subject's sex, context, and learning type.
  • Stress often biases behavior towards less flexible strategies, indicating a reduced sensitivity to changing environmental conditions.
  • Observed inflexibility in associative learning procedures warrants further investigation into modulating factors.

Conclusions:

  • Stress-induced behavioral inflexibility is a key theme linking associative learning and decision-making.
  • Clarifying the influence of sex and previous experience on this inflexibility is a critical future research goal.
  • Understanding these mechanisms is vital for addressing stress-related psychiatric conditions.