The Principle of Species Independent Learning Phenomena

Abstract

Learning theory provides an exceptionally successful framework to predict the behavior of humans and other animals in learning situations. Unfortunately research has concentrated mostly on the small number of conditions in which learning theory fails without devoting similar efforts to explain why predictions are successful in the vast majority of the remaining cases. Here, we will outline that the success of learning research is possibly related to the fact that learning implies modifications of synapses contingent on the temporal order of spikes. Spiking-time-dependent synaptic modifications reflect the temporal asymmetry of the physical world, a fundamental constraint common to all living beings which might have shaped the molecular architecture from very early on. Resource limitations might have led to additional constraints, producing deviations from general learning theory. As one example, we will discuss the apparent inability of pigeons to associate tones with visual cues. This case illustrates nicely that the specific constraints in pigeons are very likely related to an absence of a common synaptic territory of the auditory and the visual system in higher association areas. Hence, additional constraints might involve local architectural specializations of neural systems without corroborating the general framework of learning theory.