MIDTERM

NAME (1 point) ________________________

Pledge

1. Part 1. Fill in the blank ( 3 points each)
2. One of the pathways that processes light information, as discussed for heart rate conditioning in the pigeon, involves the retina, ______________________, Nucleus Rotundus, and the ______________________.
3. Conditioned inhibitors can be produced by ______________________ (give only one).
4. If reinforcement in an instrumental conditioning paradigm is always given to the first response that is made 2 minutes after the last reinforced trial this is referred to as a ______________________schedule.
5. Mossy fiber inputs synapse on ______________________.
6. ______________________ proposed that memories were formed by changes in synaptic strength.
7. When a response to a frequently repeated stimulus diminishes over time it is said that the animal has ______________________ to the stimulus.
8. Memory that is not spared in amnesics is called ______________________memory.
9. Psychologists cite the recency and primacy effects to suggest that memory systems can be divided into ______________________ and ______________________ components.
10. Sechenov and ______________________ were the pioneers with respect to studies in classical condtioning.
11. ______________________memory is able to store information from each modality separately.
12. Activity induced changes have been seen in the ______________________ and the ______________________. Both regions involved in the acquisition of the nictitating membrane response.

Part 2. T/F (2 points each)

1. Direct stimulation of the pericruciate cortex can substitute for a UCS in the cat eyeblink paradigm.
2. It has been reported, by some labs, that unilateral lesions of the cerebellar cortex abolish and prevent reacquisition of a conditioned eyelid response in the cat.
3. Climbing fibers release GABA onto the dorsal cochlear nuclei.
4. The Rescorla-Wagner theory does not, in its present form take into account any changes that may be occurring in the salience of the CS or US during conditioning.
5. The IV cranial nerve controls the extension of the nictitating membrane in the rabbit.
6. The medial geniculate nucleus receives auditory information from the inferior olive.
7. Learning related changes have been seen in the coclear nuclei after a CR has been established in the rabbit.
8. Thorndike proposed the 'Law of Effect' which says that whether a behavior will continue or extinquish depends on the consequences of that behavior.
9. Amnesics have shed no light on the understanding of how we store information.
10. The current microscopic (neurobiological) approach to learning presumes that changes in the flow of fluid in the ventricles occur during learning and that these changes represent memories.
11. Lashely demonstrated that the memory for running a maze could not be localized to a any specific region of the neocortex.
12. Volta was one of those responsible for demonstrating that nerves used electricity to propogate information.
13. One of the characteristics of habituation is that the response will recover if preceeded by a novel stimulus..
14. Trace conditioning is the most powerful and quickest way to get a CS to elicit a CR.
15. The conditioned increases in heart rate (CR) to a tone (CS) in pigeons will not occur if the suprasylvian cortex has been lesioned.

Part 3. Choose the best answer (2 points each) (only one answer per question)

1. One of the first proponents of an associationist mechanism for storing information was_________________.

2. When simultaneously conditioning with two novel CSs the fact that, after training, a CR can only be elicited by one of the two CSs is called ___________.

3. If the P(US/CS)>0 it can be said that ________________ exists.

4. What types of tasks are impaired in humans who have damage to their temporal lobes?

5. Instrumental conditioning is a paradigm where the _________________ .

6. Habituation is an example of _____________________.

Part 4. Short answer -use complete sentences and state the question in your answer
(5 points each) (choose only 1 from each group)

Memory Systems

1. What neurological problem occurs when a protein synthesis blocker is injected into an animal before training it to run a maze for food? What does this experiment suggest?
2. List the structures that seem to be involved in declarative learning? Also, list those that do not seem to play a role in such learning? Cite one piece of evidence that supports any part of your answer.

Habituation

1. Explain the "dual process" theory of habituation.
2. What are two problems that must be controlled for when performing habituation experiments? Are these problems relevant to other experimental paradigms? Why or Why not?

Conditioning

1. Some have speculated on the fact that instrumental conditioning is a special case of classical conditioning. If this is so then what is the CS and US for an instrumental task where an animal must bar press for food?
2. What are the necessary conditions for classical conditioning to occur? Address 1) occurence of the CS relative to the US (temporally- within one trial); 2) occurence of CS, US (across trials); and 3) intervals used between trials.

The engram

1. Discuss cell firing in either the Nucleus Rotundus or ectostriatum as it relates to heart rate conditioning in the pigeon. What does this pattern of cell firing suggest about the role of the nucleus in conditioning?
2. Discuss cell firing in deep cerebellar nuclei as it relates to the conditioning of the nictitating membrane response (NMR). What does this pattern of cell firing suggest about the role of the nucleus in conditioning?
3. Discuss cell data suggesting that the pericruciate cortex is involved with eyeblink conditioning in the cat. What does this pattern of cell firing suggest about the role of the nucleus in conditioning?

Miscellaneous I

1. What is the theory that tries to explain childhood amnesia?
2. Discuss the prevailing theory on why the firing of deep cerebellar nuclei increases after conditioning.

Miscellaneous II

1. Both eyeblink conditioning in the cat and the rabbit seem to be similar. What empirical evidence suggests the engram underlying these two phenomena may differ? What might explain this discrepency?
2. Write a plausible legend for this graph and interprete the data in this graph.