Biology of Learning in Nonhuman Mammals

Given the uncertainty about what was to be reconciled with what, our first order of business was to outline various notions of learning theory and of natural behavior, and then to consider questions of reconciliation or interaction. Subsequent discussions a) distinguished between learning as a general process and as a set of particular specialized adaptations, b) examined the study of cognitive processes and complex learning, c) considered the role of neurobiology in providing a common ground for learning theory and natural behavior approaches and in providing reasonable working mechanisms for learning and memory phenomena, and d) compared plasticity in development and learning.