Learning, Memory, Amnesia, and Brain Functioning

• in which pairing two stimuli changes the response to one of them

  classical conditioning
• which initially elicits no response of note

  conditioned stimulus(CS)
• which automatically elicits the unconditioned response (UCR).

  unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
• the individual begins making a new, learned response to the CS, called a

  conditioned response (CR)
• also known as operant conditioning, an individual’s response leads to a reinforcer or punishment

  instrumental conditioning
• is any event that increases the future probability of the response.

  reinforcer
• is an event that suppresses the frequency of the response.

  punishment
• the physical representation of what has been learned.

  engram
• —all parts of the cortex contribute equally to complex behaviors such as learning, and any part of the cortex can substitute for any other.

  equipotentiality
• the cortex works as a whole, and more cortex is better.

  mass action
• one nucleus of the cerebellum, as essential for learning

  lateral interpositus nucleus (LIP)
• the auditory portion of the thalamus

  medial geniculate nucleus
• events that have just occurred

  short-term memory
• events from further back

  long-term memory
• strengthened again—by a process that requires protein synthesis.

  reconsolidated
• to refer to the way we store information while we are working with it.

  working memory
• which requires responding to something that you saw or heard a short while ago.

  delayed response task
• A memory loss

  Amnesia
• inability to form memories for events that happened after brain damage

  anterograde amnesia
• loss of memory for events that occurred before the brain damage

  retrograde amnesia
• memories of single personal events.

  episodic memories
• deliberate recall of information that one recognizes as a memory, also known as declarative memory.


  Explicit memory
• an influence of experience on behavior, even if you do not recognize that influence.

  Implicit memory
• the development of motor skills and habits, is a special kind of implicit memory.

  Procedural memory
• an animal sees an object (the sample) and then, after a delay, gets a choice between two objects, from which it must choose the one that matches the sample.

  delayed matching-to-sample task
• the procedure is the same except that the animal must choose the object that is different from the sample (Figure 13.7). In both cases, the animal must remember which

  delayed nonmatching-to-sample task
• has several arms—typically eight—some or all of which have a bit of food at the end

  radial maze
• in which a rat swims through murky water to find a rest platform that is just under the surface

  Morris water maze
• have a temporary dysfunction of the hippocampus.

  acute transient global amnesia