The Presence of Memory in Animals Albeit - Essay Example

Animal Memory Whenever the existence and extent of memory of animals is being assessed, learning and rationality is always included since memory isthe basic and initial step of these brain activities in organisms. In order for an animal to learn or be able to assess its environment, it needs to make use of past information gathered in the form of memory. Learning is an essential part of every organism since it is through this process wherein the animal can identify changes or consequences in the environment that is relevant to the survival and reproduction of a particular species. Instinct is the primary survival tool of most animals but the question is whether instinct can be considered a form of memory or a product of conscious effort to learn. Short-term memory, as the term implies, is information retention in the brain that can be retrieved from recent events whereas long-term memory is retention of information from events that transpired many months or years before. Long-term memory is characteristic of human thinking whereas this cannot be said of animals. In terms of short-term memory, there are several literatures that can be used to assess its occurrence in animals and the following are some examples that can be considered in the category. The earliest forms of animal memory studies were conducted by Pavlov with his research on conditioning. In his experiment, he found that dogs salivate even in the presence of the laboratory technician who regularly feeds the dogs. Pavlov suggested that the dogs were able to associate the presence of the laboratory technician with dog food. In associative conditioning, animals are given a stimulus such as sound of a bell and a consequence such as pain. This is repeated many times. Recently, scientists have discovered evidence of memory trace in living animal. They were able to analyze the occurrence of a short-term memory trace during a single new stimulus in honeybees. Honeybees were found to produce neural activity after recognizing a new odor signal which activates a neural network and leaves a pattern after the stimulus is removed. The scientists concluded that this served as an evidence of short-term memory in animals (Physorg.com). This experiment can serve as a starting point for more researches on neural networks that enable animals to learn from the environment. This effort requires neuroscientists to look into the brain functions of live animals. Scrub jays are known to store or cache foods for their consumption. An experiment by Clayton et al. showed a resemblance of rationality in the part of the scrub jays regarding their food caching behavior. Scrub jays were made to cache perishable and non-perishable foods in distinct trays. Upon retrieval of these food types, scrub jays appeared to display rationality by picking first perishable food over non-perishable ones. A behavior like this, according to the researchers, requires memory of past experiences with types of food in order to make a decision of effectively using his stored food. In another experiment, scrub jays were found to retain memories of pilferage of their cached food and thus resorted to caching food in private or retrieving food in private. These two experiments illustrate the complex behavior of scrub jays which are not witnessed in other animals. Dolphins were found to demonstrate memory of complex commands (Mercado et al. 210). In their experiment, a bottlenosed dolphin was able to replicate 36 behaviors it was tested on. It was also able to perform simultaneous and self-selected activities which signified, according to the researchers, the ability of dolphins to flexibly utilize recent behavior for the replication of complex activities. Pigeons were found to demonstrate ability to remember events with particular level analogy and retrospection. An experiment by Spetch and Sinha (347) explored the effect of short and long intervals on the pigeon’s accuracy in performing learning tasks. Their result showed that pigeons performed across these durations indicating a degree of memory retention with some resemblance of analogy and retrospection. The above evidences suggest the presence of memory in animals albeit at the short-term level only. Early experiments in dogs, pigeons and honeybees establish the basic proofs of memory while those on the scrub jays and dolphins demonstrate a more complex brain activity bordering in advance learning or rationality. These evidences indicate that the extent of memory of animals is still in the rage of short-term memory. There is still much work needed to further establish whether animals are capable of long-term memory or higher rational behavior as indicated in the scrub jay experiment. Whenever the existence and extent of memory of animals is being assessed, learning and rationality is always included since memory is the basic and initial step of these brain activities in organisms. In order for an animal to learn or be able to assess its environment, it needs to make use of past information gathered in the form of memory. Short-term memory, as the term implies, is information retention in the brain that can be retrieved from recent events whereas long-term memory is retention of information from events that transpired many months or years before. Long-term memory is characteristic of human thinking whereas this cannot be said of animals. In terms of short-term memory, there are several literatures that can be used to assess its occurrence in animals. The earliest forms of animal memory studies were conducted by Pavlov with his research on conditioning. In his experiment, he found that dogs salivate even in the presence of the laboratory technician who regularly feeds the dogs. Pavlov suggested that the dogs were able to associate the presence of the laboratory technician with dog food (Ludlow 1). Pigeons were found to demonstrate ability to remember events with particular level of analogy and retrospection in an experiment by Spetch and Sinha (347) where they explored the effect of short and long intervals on the pigeon’s accuracy in performing learning tasks. An experiment by Clayton et al. showed a resemblance of rationality in the part of the scrub jays regarding their food caching behavior. Scrub jays were made to cache perishable and non-perishable foods in distinct trays. Upon retrieval of these food types, scrub jays appeared to display rationality by picking first perishable food over non-perishable ones. In another experiment, scrub jays were found to retain memories of pilferage of their cached food and thus resorted to caching food in private or retrieving food in private. Dolphins were found to demonstrate memory of complex commands (Mercado et al. 210). In their experiment, a bottlenosed dolphin was able to replicate 36 behaviors it was tested on. It was also able to perform simultaneous and self-selected activities which signified, according to the researchers, the ability of dolphins to flexibly utilize recent behavior for the replication of complex activities. In conclusion, above evidences suggest the presence of memory in animals albeit at the short-term level only. Early experiments in dogs, pigeons and honeybees establish the basic proofs of memory while those on the scrub jays and dolphins demonstrate a more complex brain activity bordering in advance learning or rationality. These evidences indicate that the extent of memory of animals is still in the rage of short-term memory. Works Cited Clayton, N., Emery, N. and A. Dickinson. The rationality of animal memory: Complex caching strategies of western scrub jays. 22 September 2007 . Ludlow, T. Studies in animal learning. 13 February 2003. Model Research. 22 September 2007 . Mercado, E., Murray, S., Uyeyama, R. Pack, A. and L. Herman. “Memory for recent actions in the bottlenosed dolphin (Tursiops truncates): Repetition of arbitrary behaviors using an abstract rule.” Animal Learning and Behavior (1998) 26(2), 210-218. Physorg.com. Scientists find first evidence of a living memory trace. Physorg. 22 September 2007 . Spetch, M.L. and S.S. Sinha. “Proactive effects in pigeon’s memory for event duration: Evidence for analogical retention.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes (1989). Vol. 15. No. 4, 347-357. Read More