Abstract
The present article provides a historical review of the place and response learning plus-maze tasks with a focus on the behavioral and neurobiological findings. The article begins by reviewing the conflict between Edward C. Tolman’s cognitive view and Clark L. Hull’s stimulus-response (S-R) view of learning and how the place and response learning plus-maze tasks were designed to resolve this debate. Cognitive learning theorists predicted that place learning would be acquired faster than response learning, indicating the dominance of cognitive learning, whereas S-R learning theorists predicted that response learning would be acquired faster, indicating the dominance of S-R learning. Here, the evidence is reviewed demonstrating that either place or response learning may be dominant in a given learning situation and that the relative dominance of place and response learning depends on various parametric factors (i.e., amount of training, visual aspects of the learning environment, emotional arousal, et cetera). Next, the neurobiology underlying place and response learning is reviewed, providing strong evidence for the existence of multiple memory systems in the mammalian brain. Research has indicated that place learning is principally mediated by the hippocampus, whereas response learning is mediated by the dorsolateral striatum. Other brain regions implicated in place and response learning are also discussed in this section, including the dorsomedial striatum, amygdala, and medial prefrontal cortex. An exhaustive review of the neurotransmitter systems underlying place and response learning is subsequently provided, indicating important roles for glutamate, dopamine, acetylcholine, cannabinoids, and estrogen. Closing remarks are made emphasizing the historical importance of the place and response learning tasks in resolving problems in learning theory, as well as for examining the behavioral and neurobiological mechanisms of multiple memory systems. How the place and response learning tasks may be employed in the future for examining extinction, neural circuits of memory, and human psychopathology is also briefly considered.
Highlights
Learning theory in the first half of the 20th century was dominated by two broad opposing views regarding the mechanisms of animal learning and memory
The 75 years that have transpired since the original conception of the place and response learning plus-maze tasks (Tolman et al, 1946a; Blodgett and McCutchan, 1947, 1948) have instantiated their remarkable utility for examining behavioral and neurobiological mechanisms of learning and memory
Proponents of the S-R view hypothesized that response learning would be the dominant form of learning expressed in these tasks, whereas proponents of the cognitive view hypothesized that place learning would be dominant
Summary
Learning theory in the first half of the 20th century was dominated by two broad opposing views regarding the mechanisms of animal learning and memory. According to the stimulus-response (S-R) view, animals acquire associations between stimuli (S) and responses (R) in the learning environment. As interest in the place vs response controversy and the debate between cognitive and S-R learning theories waned, the use of these plus-maze tasks declined as well. The review begins by briefly describing the learning theories espoused by Tolman and Hull, as well as some of the historical factors that motivated their ideas This is followed by a description of the place and response learning plus-maze tasks. Tolman used a variety of mazes to show that animals can acquire cognitive maps of a learning environment, and they could use these maps to guide running behavior toward a palatable food reinforcer. Just as Tolman’s cognitive expectancy theory was gaining traction in the field, another investigator took the stage and touted an impressive rejuvenation of the S-R view that could not be ignored
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