The evolution of learning

Abstract

Most processes or forms of learning have been treated almost as special creations, each as an independent process unrelated to others. This review offers an evolutionary cladogram linking nearly one hundred forms of learning and showing the paths through which they evolved. Many processes have multiple forms. There are at least five imprinting processes, eleven varieties of Pavlovian conditioning, ten of instrumental conditioning, and eight forms of mimicry and imitation. Song learning evolved independently in at least six groups of animals, and movement imitation in three (great apes, cetaceans and psittacine birds). The cladogram also involves at least eight new processes: abstract concept formation, percussive mimicry, cross-modal imitation, apo-conditioning, hybrid conditioning, proto-pantomime, prosodic mimicry, and image-mediated learning. At least eight of the processes evolved from more than one source. Multiple sources are of course consistent with modern evolutionary theory, as seen in some obligate symbionts, and gene-swapping organisms. Song learning is believed to have evolved from two processes: auditory imprinting and skill learning. Many single words evolved from three sources: vocal mimicry, discrimination learning, and abstract concept formation.

Evolution of GluN2A/B cytoplasmic domains diversified vertebrate synaptic plasticity and behavior

“…How did genome evolution give rise to the many forms of learning, emotional behavior, or motor functions and generate the subtlety of synaptic regulation that is manifest in the mammalian brain? Although basic adaptive behaviors and underlying physiological mechanisms are conserved between invertebrates and vertebrates 3–5 , it is generally accepted that vertebrates have evolved greater behavioral repertoires and more complex nervous systems 6–8 . Prior to the origins of mammals, two whole genome duplication events occurred in the vertebrate lineage (550 million years ago) resulting in four paralogs of each gene, many of which have been retained to the present day 9–10 .…”

Learning and memory in Octopus vulgaris: a case of biological plasticity

“…Vertical lobe in octopus is considered comparable to limbic lobe [52 ,70] Various forms of learning have been demonstrated in cephalopods, from simple sensitization, to associative learning and problem solving, to more complex forms such as spatial and social learning and tool use (review in [6 ]). In essence, a large number of the entities proposed by Moore [53 ] in his cladogram of learning processes have been shown (e.g. habituation, classical and instrumental conditioning, associative and spatial learning, perceptual processes in visual learning [6 ]) in some cephalopod species.…”

Entornos interactivos en la educación. ¿Sólo cuestión de tecnología?

“…Por ende se parte de considerar que el aprendizaje requiere para su activación de ciertas condiciones y precondiciones de tal manera que el individuo lo perciba como válido en tanto mecanismo para propiciar su supervivencia [7].…”