Introduction
The study of memory in animals has a long history; this process is multifaceted and essential for modern science. Being unable to penetrate into the animal’s inner world, the zoopsychologist examines its memory using specific research methods. For example, an animal is given a task to find a way out of a maze and is somehow stimulated to complete it. Such stimulation can be positive when the fulfillment of a task leads to the satisfaction of one or another desire, such as the animal receiving food at the maze’s exit. The negative stimulation implies the failure to complete the task, entailing unpleasant or painful consequences, for example, an electric shock.
Learning and Memory Processes in Animals
Memory Processes
Under such an experiment, one can distinguish two active processes in animals, which manifest themselves externally and, therefore, can be objectively recorded and studied. The first is memorization or learning and recollection (Powell et al., 2017). Between these processes lies an internal operation called storage.
Memory, in this case, is not accessible to direct study; therefore, one can judge it indirectly by examining externally observable processes such as learning and remembering (Willingham & Riener, 2019). In this regard, one may understand learning as the process of acquiring experience, namely, the development of an altered reaction in an animal, and memory as the result of gaining knowledge. Finally, the memory formulates the manifestation of the experience, or modified response, sometimes after the initial learning.
Experience from a Physiological Perspective
From the point of view of physiology, the experience can be understood as any trace that leaves behind an external influence, expressed in any change in the structure and function of the animal organism. The nature of this trace can be varied. It may be a short-term change in the excitability of a unicellular organism in response to some external influence. Besides, it may formulate a more complex phenomenon, namely the emergence of new connections between neurons in the human brain, for example, after reading a book.
Learning Forms
There is a wide variety of forms of learning, ranging from the simple, like habituation, to the more complex, like insight or human cognition. These forms of knowledge can differ in many ways, such as the duration of the experience or the mechanism of this learning. Moreover, important factors are whether reinforcement is required, how active the body is, etc. Thus, today, there is no single theory of contemplation that would describe all known forms of learning from a unified position.
The Role of Memory in Learning
Personal reflection implies that animals’ memory is based on learning. The most important characteristic of a beast’s memory is its ability to learn. During their lives, animals acquire new forms of behavior and skills that help them adapt to a changing environment and appropriately respond to the phenomena of their surrounding life. Apparently, all animal species are susceptible to learning, regardless of the level of organization of their nervous system. This is evidenced by the significant amount of experimental material accumulated to date.
Conclusion
It is worth mentioning that natural memory is peculiar because it functions involuntarily and is always included in the subject’s current activity, being one of its subjective components. Like every mental process, natural memory must serve the activity, providing orientation and planning and, if necessary, managing and implementing individual actions and operations.
Such a memory should be preserved for future successful methods and skills of performing the behavior, as well as valuable guidelines. In this sense, the task of memory is to ensure the participation of the subject’s previous activities in the management and regulation of the present moment’s activity. For this, past experiences must be stored and used at the right time in a form suitable for participation in the implementation of activities.
Reference
Powell, R. A., Honey, P. L., & Symbaluk, D. G. (2017). Introduction to learning and behavior. (5th Ed.). Cengage.
Willingham, D. T., & Riener, C. (2019). Cognition: The thinking animal. Cambridge University Press.