ANIMAL LEARNING AND COGNITION

1
ANIMAL LEARNING AND COGNITION
2
Learning

• Behavioural neuroscience has, so far, looked at
  the manner in which the brain influences
  behaviour
• Much of our behavioural repertoire is learned,
  however
• Learning can take place at a number of levels
• Learning can change physiology
• most recently the taxi drivers brain

3
Reflexes

• Automatic response to stimuli
• Afferent (input)
• Efferent (output)
• Interneuron

4
Classical Conditioning

• Conditioned reflex
• Pavlovian conditioning

5
The Procedure

6
What is the Relationship between the CR and the
UCR?

• The CR and UCR are similar, but rarely identical
• UCR (salivation) is richer in enzymes and more
  copious than the CR
• In CER the UCR and CR are very different
• UCR jumps and increased HR
• CR stops responding, HR slow, tense

7
Contingent and Contiguous

• Contingent
• that one predicts the other
• Contiguous
• related in time

8
(No Transcript)
9
Operant Conditioning

• Instrumental conditioning
• reward or reinforcement depends on the organism
  providing the correct response
• in classical conditioning there is no appropriate
  response
• e.g. training a dog

10
The Learning Curve

• Show gradual learning
• No sudden drop of gradient
• Indicative of some insight
• No Eureka! moment

11
Response Selection
12
The Instrumental Response

• Called an operant
• Operate on the environment to bring about some
  change that leads to reward

13
The Skinner Box

• Or operant chamber
• Animals work for reinforcement
• e.g. food or drugs
• A rat will press a lever and a pigeon will press
  a lighted key to get food
• Food is an appetitive stimulus
• They will also perform to avoid aversive stimuli
  such as shock

14
Reinforcement

• Positive reinforcement
• For appetitive stimuli
• Negative reinforcement
• To avoid aversive stimuli
• This is not punishment

15
Reinforcement
16
Delay of Reinforcement

• The reward must follow the response within a
  short space of time (contiguous)
• Increase the delay and there is a corresponding
  decrease in response latency

17
Partial Reinforcement

• So far we have dealt with CRF(continuous
  reinforcement)
• There are other schedules that provide partial
  reinforcement
• Not every response results in reinforcement

18
Schedules of Reinforcement
19
Tolman

• In both classical and instrumental conditioning
  an animal gains knowledge, or cognitions
• Passenger rats develop cognitive maps
• Knowledge without behaviour

20
Neural Learning

• Long term potentiation
• LTP
• Hebb
• Changes in synaptic transmission underlying
  learning

21
LTP Method of Induction
22
LTP Receptor Changes