8. Learning & Individual Differences

8. Learning & Individual Differences

1. Learning

   • Perceptual Learning
     • Ability to learn and recognise stimuli previously perceieved
     • identify and categorise objects
     • changes in neural circuits, detect and discriminate stimuli = leads to behvaiour chnage
   • Stimulus-Response learning
     • Ability to learn to perform behvaiours in response to stimuli being presented
     • Classical conditioning = learning to associate 2 events with each other to prodcue a response, e.g. Hebb (1949) and pavlovs dogs
     • Instrumental (operatn) conditioning = positive and negative reinforcements
   • Motor Learning
     • Different to other forms of learning = the more novel to behvaiour, the more neural circuits in the motor system must be modified
     • Changes in neural circuits that control behaviour
     • changes within the motor cortex
     • Type of stimulus-response learning
   • Relational Learning
     • Relationship between individual stimuli
     • e.g. Becoming familiar with the contents of a room involves spatial and perceptual abilites
   • Learning = the process by which experiences chnage our nervous system and hence, behvaiour
   • Changes from learning are memories = skills and abilites
   • Experiences arent stored = they chnage the way we perform, percieve and think by changing the strucutre of our nervous sytem

2. Perceptual Learning

   • Investigating perceptual learning
     • most simple effects are specific to trained task = stimulus difficult to generalise
     • E.g. Performance on tasks = improves slighly from 1st to 2nd task go, consolidation helps
     • Vernier acuity task = configuration of 2/3 lines presented quickly when they get it right, gets harder
     • texture discrimination task = respond left/right when focusing on centre and indicate whether oreintation if horizontal or vertical.
   • Learn and reognise stimuli percieved beofre
   • Seitz (2017) perceptual learning in radiology
   • Learning involving recognising new stimuli and chnages in familair stimuli
   • 1st part involves learning to percieve stimuli or appreciate differences in stimuli
   • Provides us with ability to perform appropriate behvaiour in appropirate situations

3. Individual differences in perceptual learning

   • Tactile frequency discimination
     • Task = stimuli of different frequency presented to fingertip, p's must differentiate between the 2. GABA may control this ability
     • Neruons in S1 respond to vibrotactile stimuli and GABA shapes the neuronal response of S! (may be different between people)
     • Puts et al (2001) measured individual differences in tactile discimination. Found a correltion between GABA and perfomance. The more GABA the better discimination between sitmuli was in S1, but not visual cortex
     • McLaughlin & Juliano (2005) suggests GABA controls individual differences. But GABA i a complex neurotransmtter
   • Overall trend in perfromance may be similar = but baseline variability
   • We are only at the beginning of research in enruoscience and individual differences
     • Brain derived neurotrophic factor (BNDF) = a protein that acts on neurons in the CNS/PNS, important for the growth and differentiation of neurons in children and learning/memory of adults = high concentrations in the basal forebrain (NBM) = linked to acetylcholine
     • Critical period may be reversible
       • plasticity in neurons
       • if perinerounal net is dissolved = it recovers the critical period plasticity
       • perineuronal net = scaffold that holds plasticity in place
       • GABA-ergic neurons control primary somatosensory (S1), which after the critical period, undergo a chnage that surrounds the perineuronal net
   • Nerual mechanisms
     • COntroversial topic and ideas
     • == GABA-ergic inter-neuronal function is important for individual on perceptual tasks
     • GABA may play a role in ID
       • GABA is an inhibitory neuron
       • can shape the size and selectivity of receptive fields