Learning & Memory

by Howard Eichenbaum

Overview

In Learning & Memory, leading researcher Howard Eichenbaum provides a new-fashioned synthesis of the contemporary learning and memory fields.

Utilizing three key strategies, the book achieves this synthesis by first taking an interdisciplinary approach, integrating theories and research from the fields of animal learning, human memory, and neuroscience. Next, Eichenbaum incorporates animal and human research literature throughout to give the book a strong comparative dimension. Finally, Eichenbaum organizes the text around multiple memory systems, moving from simple to more complex forms of learning and memory. Complemented by a comprehensive art program featuring nearly 175 drawings and photos, Learning & Memory is a path-breaking text, thoroughly integrating neuroscience and behavioral research to clearly convey the contemporary science of the mind.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393924473
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	03/24/2008
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	494
Product dimensions:	7.70(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Howard Eichenbaum (Ph.D. University of Michigan) is a University Professor at Boston University, where he is also the Director of the Center for Memory and Brain and the chairman of the Department of Psychology. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in neuroscience at M.I.T, and he has held previous academic positions at Wellesley College, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. His research focuses on how memories are represented and organized in the brain to support our capacity for conscious recollection. He has published over 170 papers, reviews, and commentaries as well as two edited volumes and three monographs including Memory, Amnesia and the Hippocampal System (1993), From Conditioning to Conscious Recollection: Memory Systems of the Brain (2001), and The Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory: An Introduction (2002). He is editor-in-chief of the journal Hippocampus, and is a member of the editorial board of 10 research journals and encyclopedias.

Table of Contents

Preface     xiii
Foundations
The Nature of Learning and Memory     2
Memory Defines Our Individuality     4
Memory Plays a Pervasive Role in Daily Life     7
Amazing Cases of Amnesia     8
The Study of Learning and Memory Has a Long History     12
Modern Scientific Approaches to the Study of Learning and Memory     20
Themes of This Book     23
Chapter Summary     35
The Neural Bases of Learning and Memory     38
Cells, Circuits, and Systems     40
Neurons: The Cellular Units of Information Processing     41
Learning & Memory in Action: What Happens to the Brain When We Age?     45
Interconnected Neurons in Brain Circuits Serve Specific Functions     53
Learning & Memory in Action: Can Genetic Alterations Improve Memory?     62
Brain Systems Serve Psychological Functions     63
Chapter Summary     81
Unconscious Forms of Learning and Memory
Simple Forms of Learning and Memory     86
Habituation and Sensitization Are Nonassociative Forms of Learning     88
Habituation Occurs within Brain Circuits     89
Habituation Helps Us Study Recognition Memory     91
Learning & Memory in Action: How Do Advertisers UseDishabituation to Direct Attention to Their Products?     96
Primitive Nervous Systems Reveal the Biology of Habituation     97
Sensitization Increases Responsiveness     100
Learning & Memory in Action: Why Do Horror Movies Heighten Our Responses to Benign Events?     102
Chapter Summary     105
Perceptual Learning and Memory     108
Characteristics of Perceptual Learning and Memory     110
Perceptual Skill Learning: Identifying Stimuli     112
Learning & Memory in Action: Can Someone Really Be a "Born Expert"?     113
Learning & Memory in Action: How Can Farmers Distinguish between Male and Female Baby Chicks?     118
Perceptual Memories     130
Chapter Summary     140
Procedural Learning I: Classical Conditioning     142
Pavlov Began the Study of Classical Conditioning     144
Classical Conditioning Provides Protocols for Studying Simple Motor Responses     147
Variations in Conditioning Reveal Its Basic Properties     151
Learning & Memory in Action: How Do Clinicians Treat Phobias?     158
Complex Associations in Classical Conditioning     158
The Nature of the Association in Classical Conditioning     162
Neural Circuits Build Reflex Arcs to Support Classical Conditioning     166
Classical Conditioning Can Illuminate Other Memory Systems     172
Learning & Memory in Action: Can Coyotes Be Trained Not to Prey on Sheep?     176
Chapter Summary     178
Procedural Learning II: Habits and Instrumental Learning     182
Instrumental Learning Changes Reinforced Behavior to Reflect Memory     184
Reinforcers Modify the Predictive Relationship between Stimulus and Response     185
Learning & Memory in Action: What Is the Basis of Losing Streaks?     189
Animals Learn about the Environment and Expect Reinforcers     191
Humans' Habits and Skills Combine Cognitive Memory and Instrumental Learning of Motor Programs     201
Striatal Cortical Pathways Support Instrumental Learning and Skill Acquisition     203
Learning & Memory in Action: Why Does Stress Often Cause Forgetting?     207
Chapter Summary     216
Emotional Learning and Memory     218
Emotion and Memory Mix at Multiple Levels     220
Emotional Learning Can Occur without Conscious Recollection     221
Learning & Memory in Action: Why Do Advertisers Bombard Us with Product Names and Images?     228
Emotions Influence the Strength of Cognitive Memories     229
Neural Circuitry for Expressing Emotions Supports Emotional Learning and Memory     233
Brain Circuits That Support Emotional Arousal and Attention Modulate Cognitive Memory     244
Learning & Memory in Action: Why Are Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Anxiety So Difficult to Treat?     250
Chapter Summary     252
Conscious Forms of Learning and Memory
Cognitive Memory     256
Cognitive Memory Is Declarative; Behavioral Memory Is Procedural     260
Cognitive Memory Is Flexible and Inferential     261
Learning & Memory in Action: How Do People Make Creative Leaps?     263
Human Cognitive Memory: Distinct Encoding and Retrieval Strategies     264
Learning & Memory in Action: How Do Mnemonists Perform Their Tricks?     276
Cognitive Memory Uses a Circuit of Cortical Structures and the Hippocampus     277
Animal Models Identify the Role of the Hippocampus in Cognitive Memory     281
Chapter Summary     292
Episodic Memory     294
Defining Episodic Memory     296
Fundamental Properties of Episodic Memory     300
Learning & Memory in Action: Eyewitness Testimony     302
The Hippocampus Supports Episodic Memory     306
Learning & Memory in Action: Aging and Memory Loss     310
Episodic Memory May Exist in Animals      314
Hippocampal Neurons Represent Episodic Memories     324
Chapter Summary     330
Semantic Memory     332
Defining Semantic Memory     334
Learning & Memory in Action: How Can Computers Learn to Recognize Speech?     340
Spatial Memories May Be Organized as Routes or Surveys     341
Learning & Memory in Action: Designing Cities     344
The Organization of Semantic Information Processing     345
Episodic Memory Contributes to Semantic Memory     352
Chapter Summary     360
Memory Consolidation     362
Studies of Retrograde Amnesia Characterized Memory Consolidation     365
Memory Consolidation Has Two Distinct Stages     370
Cellular Events Are the First Stage of Memory Consolidation     371
Learning & Memory in Action: Blocking Consolidation of Traumatic Memories     375
The Hippocampal-Cortical System Supports Prolonged Memory Reorganization     376
Learning & Memory in Action: Does Sleep Aid Memory Consolidation?     386
Models of Cortical-Hippocampal Interactions Illuminate Memory Reorganization     388
Chapter Summary     394
Short-Term Memory and Working Memory     396
Defining Short-Term Memory      400
Working Memory Is Short-Term Memory with Several Components     408
Learning & Memory in Action: How Do Waitresses and Waiters Remember So Much?     412
Working Memory Is Controlled by the Prefrontal Cortex     415
Learning & Memory in Action: What Is It Like to Have Prefrontal Cortex Damage?     419
A Network of Cortical Areas Orchestrates Working Memory     432
Chapter Summary     436
Glossary     G-1
References     R-1
Credits     C-1
Name Index     N-1
Subject Index     S-1