PSY260: - L9

Reading §

1. The relationship between a US and a UR does/does not involve learning¹
2. In eyeblink conditioning, the blink is both a(n) () and a(n) () , although they differ in their ().²
3. In most conditioning paradigms, extinction is faster/slower than the original acquisition of the conditioned response.³

• [?] 4. () conditioned responses in the body are most often the result of a biological mechanism called ()⁴

5. Evidence that extinction is more than just unlearning comes primarily from studies that look at shifts in () between learning and testing.⁵
6. When two cues compete to predict a US or other outcome, the one that is most strongly learned is usually the cue that is learned (), as revealed in studies of blocking.⁶
7. Latent inhibition cannot be explained by the Rescorla–Wagner model because during pre-exposure, there is no ().⁷
8. Beneath the () cells of the cerebellar cortex lie the cerebellar deep nuclei, including the () nucleus. ⁸
9. CS information travels up to the deep nuclei of the cerebellum along axon tracts called the ()⁹
10. An airpuff US to the eye activates neurons in the () a structure in the lower part of the brainstem¹⁰
11. Purkinje cells (inhibit/excite) the interpositus nucleus, the major output pathway driving the conditioned motor response. ¹¹
12. Animals with lesions to the cerebellum show CRs, but they are ()¹²
13. Latent inhibition and other expressions of CS modulation are impaired or eliminated by lesions to the . ()¹³
14. The neural mechanism for habituation is thought to be a progressive decrease in the number of vesicles containing the neurotransmitter () neuron’s axon.¹⁴
15. The () of the sensory neuron’s release of glutamate onto the motor neuron is a presynaptic form of ()¹⁵
16. Two proteins found inside neurons play critical regulatory roles in the synapse-creation process. The first protein, CREB-1, activates genes in the neuron’s nucleus that () the growth of new synapses. The second protein, CREB-2, () the actions of CREB-1. ¹⁶
17. Rats can be protected from overdose by the () they acquired through the administration of lower doses of heroin in the same setting¹⁷
18. Appealing because of its simplicity, the () model has served as a starting point for many promising models of learning¹⁸
19. The learning that takes place in order to avoid or minimize the consequences of expected aversive events is known as ¹⁹

Lecture §

• PDF:
  • Class9.pdf
• Classical Conditioning
• Models
  • How does Rescorla-Wagner Model explain learning
    • US modulation theory: focus on feedback
    • Error-Correction Learning: uses the errors on each trial to make small changes in performance as he seeks to reduce the error on the next trial
  • How does Mackintosh Model explains learning
    • CS modulation theory: focus on attention
• Brain Substrates
  • Eyeblink conditioning depends on the Cerebellum
  • Motor Reflex
    • What happens to classical conditioning when the hippocampus is removed?
      • Does not alter basic classical conditioning paradigms
      • Eliminate Latent inhibition
    • Which brain region is most relevant in Rescorla-Wagner Model
      • Cerebellum
    • Which brain region is most relevant in Mackintosh models
      • Hippocampus and the memdial Temporal Lobe
  • Classical conditioning in Aplysia Withdrawal Reflex
    • Classical Conditioning
    • Classical Conditioning Result
  • Basis of Learning
    • Amount of Training Matters
      • Small amount of training -> short-term memory
      • Repeated CS-US pairings -> long-term memory lasting weeks, days
    • With repeated training, proteins are activated and return to the nucleus to alter which genes are activated, resulting in the release of different proteins:
      • CREB-1, activated and promotes growth of new synapses
      • CREB-2, deactivated, as it inhibits growth of new synapses
      • Long-term learning depends on activation of genes to promote brain re-wiring

Questions §

• Possible office hour discussion
  • Professor in 290 explained that behaviours are mostly innate and experience contribute to how genes are expressed
  • In his opinion, free will is the spontaneous sparks of random events in life, but from what I seem in his class, we seem to make the assumptions that most behaviours are learned, and genes just determines the threshold of how fast/strong the behaviour will be learned
  • How do you view these views

Footnotes §

1. Does not ↩

2. US, CS, timing ↩

3. Faster ↩

4. Compensatory, homeostasis ↩

5. Context or timing ↩

6. First ↩

7. prediction error ↩

8. Purkinje, interpositus ↩

9. Mossy fibres ↩

10. inferior olive ↩

11. inhibit ↩

12. poorly timed ↩

13. hippocampus ↩

14. Glutamate ↩

15. Activity-dependent enhancement, synaptic plasticity ↩

16. Initiate, inhibits ↩

17. Conditioned tolerance ↩

18. Rescorla-Wagner ↩

19. Aversive conditioning ↩