Learning and Memory

Learning and Memory

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  Memory Dr. Manju Bhaskar AssistantProfessor Department of Zoology D. B. S. College (CSJM University) Kanpur 208006 email: drmanjubhaskar19@gmail.com
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   Animal behaviourincludes all the ways animals interact with other organisms and the physical environment.  Behaviour can also be defined as a change in the activity of an organism in response to a stimulus, an external or internal cue or combo of cues.  Some behaviours are innate, or genetically hardwired, while others are learned, or developed through experience. In many cases, behaviours have both an innate component and a learned component.  Behaviour is shaped by natural selection. Many behaviors directly increase an organism's fitness, that is, they help it
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  TYPES OF BEHAVIOUR  Innate Inherited, "instinctive”  Automatic & consistent.  Learned  Ability to learn inherited, but the behaviour develops during animal life time.  Variable and flexible.  Changes with experience and environment.
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  Learnin g  Learning isanimal’s ability to change behaviour based on the past experience. Leaning is divided into the following types, 1. Non-Associative Learning 2. Associative Learning  Non-Associative Learning  It is the animal’s ability to develop behaviour without developing a connection between the stimuli and response or by forming a connection between the two stimuli. It is further divided into, • Habituation • Imprinting • Sensitisation
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  Habituati on  It isthe common form of simple learning. It may be defined as the decline in response due to continuous repetition of the stimulus. Animals learn not to respond to the stimuli which do not have any significance.  For example, young birds learn that a butterfly is something to eat and not to be afraid of and that hawks prey upon the young birds. Tinbergen has shown that these young birds fly off when a hawk silhouette is displayed overhead. And the silhouettes of other shapes do not evoke this escape behaviour.  The characteristics that are important for the identification of hawks by the birds are the shape of the wings, the long tail and short
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  Associative Learning  It isthe animal’s ability to develop behaviour by developing a connection between the stimuli and response or by forming a connection between the two stimuli. It is further divided into the following types,  Classical Conditioning: Classical conditioning is the acquisition of a response to a new stimulus by association with an old stimulus. It involves coupling a stimulus with a behaviour or response. The most famous classical conditioning experiment is that of Pavlov and his dogs. Pavlov presented food to the dogs and measured their salivary response. Then, he began ringing a bell just before presenting food. At first the dogs did not salivate until food is presented to them.  After a while the dogs began to salivate when the sound of the bell was heard. Sound of bell became equivalent to presentation of food. Stimulus to which the animals react without any training are called unconditional stimulus. Pavlov won the Nobel Prize in 1904 for research in which he measured the saliva production of dogs in response to a variety of stimuli. Another useful example of this sort of learning is seen in cows that let release milk when they hear calves calling because they have formed an association between this sound and subsequent suckling of teats. Through classical conditioning involuntary responses are learned.
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  Operant Conditioning  This kindof conditioning forms an association between the behaviour and a consequence. It is also called as instrumental conditioning or response stimulus conditioning because it forms an association between animal response and stimulus that follows consequences. This type of conditioning is extensively studies by Thorndike.  He investigated the behaviour of the cat trying to escape from various homemade puzzle boxes. When first restricted in boxes the cat took longer time to escape. But with experience ineffective response occurred less frequently and successful response occurred quickly enabling the cat to escape in less time. Skinner extended the theories proposed by Thorndike. Skinner’s box consisted of a bar on the wall which when pressed released food pellet. Skinner believed that rewarding the animal when certain appropriate action is done increases the likelihood of the repetition of that behaviour.  When rats, placed in a box accidentally tapped on the bar on the wall, a food pellet was released. Skinner observed that each time the rat learned to find the pellet in lesser and lesser time. Rat learned to press the bar and find the food pellet. This type of training is called operant conditioning. Classical conditioning illustrates Stimulus Response learning where as operant conditioning illustrates Response Stimulus learning. Through operant conditioning voluntary responses are learned.
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  Insight Learning(Reasoning)  It isthe most advanced form of learning.  Responses produced by insight are those resulting from a rapid appreciation of relationships in which animals solve problems too quickly to have gone through a trial-and error processes.  The animal seems to arrive at a solution by reasoning.  Reasoning can be defined as the ability to combine spontaneously two or more separate /isolated experiences to form a new experiences, which is effective for obtaning a desired end
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   Memory, inits broadest sense, refers to an individual's ability to retain retain learned information.  The formation of memory is a complex task which all organisms appear appear to be able to do.  Fundamentally, such ability requires a series of distinct steps: • Information must be encoded as meaningful associations are assessed, assessed, • The resulting information must be recorded in some form, • The memory record must be decoded when needed. Memor y
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  From physiologic viewpoint memory is divided into the following forms: Explicit Memory  It is also called as declarative or recognition memory. It is associated with consciousness or awareness.  This type of memory is dependent for its retention on hippocampus and other parts of medial and temporal brain.  It is further divided into Episodic and Semantic Memory.  Episodic memory refers to the ability to recall information about a specific event occurred at a specific time and location. For example, something very significant like any life threatening event.  Semantic memory refers to the ability to recall information independent of time and place.
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  Implicit Memory  Itis also called as non declarative memory.  It does not involve awareness.  This kind of memory can be associative or non associative, skill or habit.  Skills and habits once acquired become unconscious and automatic.  Explicit memory and many forms of explicit memory involve the following types of of memories, • Short term memory: This memory lasts for several seconds to a minute. Its strength primarily depends on attention and not on rehearsal. It is highly vulnerable to disruption when the attention shifts elsewhere. The memory of this kind depends on the on the neural activity in the regions of frontal and parietal lobes. • Long term memory: This memory lasts for few hours to months. This memory depends on the transfer of memory from the short term memory using repeated rehearsal. The The memory of this kind depends on activity of hippocampus.
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  Referen ces  https://slideplayer.com/slide/6078966/  https://in.pinterest.com/lockchm/human-memory/ https://in.pinterest.com/pin/189573465550240711/  Learning and MemoryJohn H. Byrne, Ph.D., Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, McGovern Medical School  Rachael C. Shaw and Annette Harvey (2019). Long-term memory for a learned behaviour in a wild bird. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2019.0912