define learning
a relatively permanent change in behaviour due to experience
general idea of cognition
incoming info processed by nervous system, info retreived and processed by memory
define habituation
reduction of response to a stimulus over time
define environmental stimulus
anything in the environment (abiotic or biotic) that an individual can perceive
- stimulus is anything the researcher is interested in learning a response to
define response
reaction to a stimulus
what did the video about green frog habituation show
Large size male frog – very very aggressive in mating season
Terriroties very important bc females gather and evaute to mate, territory is part of female evaluation
Shrubbry in territory – mating can occur w/o alerting predator, young produced will also be produced from predators
Size of territory – size tells aggressive level of male, will produce aggressive offspring that will benefit them
Makes sense for males to be aggressive w/eo
Males combat – strongest mates w/most females
Care for their young after birth
what is the deer enemy hypothesis in green frogs?
if male already set up territory close by to focal, doesn’t make sense to continue to fight w/all surrounding males
Costly to fight w/everyone, can also get hurt
Tolerate dear enemies
Ultimate goal – mate w/most females, if all time spent aggressing w/all males, defeats purpose of mating w/female
how does communication occur in neurons?
presynaptic neuron releases neurotransmitters that bind to post synaptic neuron
- spikes on post synaptic neuron allows pre and postsynaptic neurons to communicate through release, binding and docking of neurotransmitters
- can look at amnt of neurotransmitters being released, amnt binding to spines of post synaptic neuron - structural changes through increase or decrease in # of postsynaptic neurons
what is the synapse
the movement of neurotransmitters across the synapse. electrical signals transform into chemical signals that move across the synapse
what is imprinting
rapid learning that occurs in young animals during a short, intensive period and has long-lasting effects
- Very close to hatching or time of birth
- From evolutionary perspective, bc usually parent is first sensory experience for animal – imprinting means animal follows individual bc sees them as parent
what is memory
retention of a learned experience
- Some experience occurs, retention (animal acts different before and after experience) of experiences
Some retention of learned behaviour leading to behavioural change in animal
Sometimes retention happens later on
Some way we can observe whether memory was retained
what is neural plasticity
structural changes in the nervous system
what are dendritic spines?
small protuberances on a dendrite that receive synaptic inputs
- trusions receiving synaptic input, located on dendrities on neurons
what is information
neural transmitters binding to spines communicate some kind of info
examples of neurotransmitters
glutamate - sharing some code w/postsynaptic neuron to do smthing - excitation
GABA - inhibitor - communicates message to reduce
what happens during a seizure?
abnormal series of electrical activity in brain - too much excitation
what happens when there is too much GABA?
- unconscious or not collecting info
- need good balance btn excitation and inhibition
what did the video of mice experiment show?
rotation rod – horizontal, circular platform has ability for movement to occur
Padded area for soft landing
Machine allows for acceleration of movement of rod
Animal will fall off – can put on stick to get back up on rod
Fall off quickly when first put on rod
Speed w/which learn to balance themselves (quickly learn),
What is a strategy to study avian memory of stored food?
- depending on cache category of memory, can look at brain
- larger hippocampus of birds who heavily cache compared to those who rarely cache
- can naturally see behaviours of animals engage in and measure size of structure (suspected area) for animals
what is the area in the brain associated with avian memory?
HF - hippocampal formation - connected to hippocampus, important for memory and spatial memory
define pavlovian conditioning
Pavlovian conditioning, also known as classical conditioning, is a type of associative learning in which an initially neutral stimulus becomes associated with a meaningful or biologically significant event. This association leads to a change in behaviour, as the previously neutral stimulus comes to evoke a response similar to the one elicited by the significant event.
what did Pavlov study?
Pavlov – digestive physiology
Studied gastric discretions – measured through saliva production (digestion starts at level of mouth)
Measures amnt of saliva produced to see if digestive process are started
Discovered env. In which participants kept in – experiment coming to give good, lights, sound, etc,
PC – linking anticipatory response to physiological response, associative learning – 2 variables related to one another in some way
Light/bell – signal that food is on its way
When hear footsteps of person, food is presented, body produces saliva that food is on its way
how does extinction occur in Pavlov’s dogs experiment?
production of saliva goes down, signal is not accurate anymore
define social information
using information from the behaviour of other individuals
