LEARNING & MEMORY

LEARNING & MEMORY

1. LEARNING

   • LASTING CHANGE IN BEHAVIOUR DUE TO EXPERIENCE
   • ACQUIRING NEW INFO & SKILLS
     • 1) CLASSICAL CONDITIONING = U.S. PAIRED WITH C.S. RESULTING IN U.R.
     • 2) OPERANT CONDITIONING = RESPONSE FOLLOWED BY REINFORCEMENT OR PUNISHMENT TO STRENGTHEN/WEAKEN THE BEHAVIOUR
   • MECHANISMS
     • PAVLOV
       • CONDITIONING STRENGTHENED CONNECTIONS BETWEEN U.S. CENTRE & C.S CENTRE IN BRAIN
     • KARL LASHLEY
       • ENGRAMS, PHYSICAL REPRESENTATIONS OF WHAT WAS LEARNED
         • KNIFE CUT: ABOLISHED NEWLY LEARNED RESPONSE (RATS)
           • LEARNING & MEMORY NOT ENTIRELY DEPENDENT ON CONNECTIONS ACROSS CORTEX
       • 2 PRINCIPLES ABOUT N.S.
         • 1) EQUIPOTENTAILITY = ALL PARTS OF CORTEX CONTRIBUTE EQUALLY TO LEARNING
         • 2) MASS ACTION = CORTEX WORKS AS WHOLE, NOT SOLITARY UNITS
         • BUT MAY BE WRONG!
           • ENGRAMS MAY NOT BE IN CORTEX, & MEMORIES ARE DIVERSE & HAVE MULTIPLE PHYSIOLOGICAL SOURCES
       • RICHARD THOMSPON = ENGRAMS IN CEREBELLUM
         • C.C. LEARNING IN RABBITS!
           • STOP RED NUCLEUS : LEARNING SUPPRESSED
           • SUPPRESSED LIP : NO PREVIOUS LEARNING
           • RED NUCLEUS &LIP IMPORTANT FOR LEARNING!
     • OTHER!
       • DELAYED RESPONSES: FOOD AVERSION AFTER FOOD POSIONING
       • INSIGHTFUL BEHAVIOUR: KOHLER - MONKEYS USE TOOLS TO SEARCH FOR FOOD
       • IMITATION: BIRDS IMITATE SONGS EVEN WITH NO PAIRED STIMULUS

2. WHAT IS MEMORY?

   • ACQUIRING NEW SKILLS & KNOWLEDGE, BEHAVIOURAL CHANGES, ABILITY TO RETAIN WHAT WAS LEARNT!
   • NOT UNITARY!
   • ENCODING: RECEIVING, PROCESSING, COMBINING OF INFO
   • STORAGE: CREATING PERMANENT RECORD OF ENCODED INFO
   • RETRIEVAL: CALLING BACK STORED INFO IN RESPONSE TO A CUE
   • 3 KEY DIVISIONS!
     • STM: EVENTS JUST OCCURRED, LIMITED CAPACTYT (20-20S)
       • LTM: UNLIMITED, RECALLING INFO FROM YEARS BACK