BIO SCI 38 Lecture 7: Bio Sci 38
10 Jan 2020
School
Department
Course
Professor
Professor Guzowski
Bio sci department
Bio Sci 38
Mind, Memory, and Brain
Course no. 05040
tues/thurs 1-3:50 pm
Location sspa 1170
Professor’s email: [email protected]du
4 units
Office hours by appointment
Summer Session (5 week) 2018
Notes
● Contributions of Edward Tolman (1886-1959) to the study of learning and memory
○ Champion of idea that non-human animals are also capable of using cognitive
strategies to solve problems.
○ Not all behaviors can be described by S-R responses exclusively. q
○ Intervening variables, unobservable constructs (e.g, thirst), strongly influence
behavior. Today such variables are often thought of as internal states.
○ Animals learn many things in behavioral tasks. Much of the learning is not
observed until the animal is motivated to reveal it.
○ Reinforcers are not necessary for learning, but strongly influence behavior.
Rewards are essential for translating learning—or knowledge—into performance.
○ Learning is not the same as performance– the learning/performance distinction.
● Rats Can Learn Much More than a Sequence of Stimulus-Response Associations
○ Rats trained in the maze in A, but tested in the maze in B, which they never
experienced before. Rats went to arm 5 (to the home box location) at a rate much
higher than chance. What did they learn when training in the maze in A?
○ Tolman concluded that rats learn much more than simple S-R associations during
train, and that behavior is flexible and goal oriented.
● Inferences about Memory are Complicated by Other Factors
○ Rats learned to navigate this complex maze over days for food reward (or no
reward) and the experimenter monitored errors the rats made on each trial
● Inferences about Memory are Complicated by Other Factors
○ The behavior of the NR-R group suggests that despite no behavioral evidence in
their performance up to day 11, they were learning as much about the maze
solution as the Rewarded rats. Learning and memory did not require reward, but
reward enforced behavior to show that learning was in fact occurring
● The Legacies of Edward Tolman:
○ Cognitive Maps and The Learning Vs Performance Distinction
■ Tolman stressed that behavioral performance does not necessarily equate
with learning. Intervening variables, such as hunger, influence behavior
(the learning versus performance distinction).
Document Summary
Contributions of edward tolman (1886-1959) to the study of learning and memory. Champion of idea that non-human animals are also capable of using cognitive strategies to solve problems. Not all behaviors can be described by s-r responses exclusively. q. Intervening variables, unobservable constructs (e. g, thirst), strongly influence behavior. Today such variables are often thought of as internal states. Animals learn many things in behavioral tasks. Much of the learning is not observed until the animal is motivated to reveal it. Reinforcers are not necessary for learning, but strongly influence behavior. Rewards are essential for translating learning or knowledge into performance. Learning is not the same as performance the learning/performance distinction. Rats can learn much more than a sequence of stimulus-response associations. Rats trained in the maze in a, but tested in the maze in b, which they never experienced before. Rats went to arm 5 (to the home box location) at a rate much higher than chance.
