Part 2 - Cognitive Maps Introduction
Summary
TLDRThe video script discusses the influential work of psychologist Edward Tolman, who introduced the concept of cognitive maps in the 1940s. It highlights his ideas on multiple scales of mapping, different types of learning, latent learning, and the importance of expectation. The speaker, Lucy, connects Tolman's theories to subsequent research, including the discovery of place cells by John O'Keefe, which led to a deeper understanding of spatial memory and the brain's predictive capabilities. The script also touches on the relationship between Tolman's scientific ideas and his political beliefs, emphasizing the ongoing relevance of his work in cognitive science.
Takeaways
- đ Tolman's work on cognitive maps was foundational, coining the term and starting the field in the 1940s.
- đ The concept of cognitive maps includes multiple scales, from narrow strip maps to broad comprehensive maps.
- đ§ Tolman argued for different kinds of learning, each supporting different behavioral strategies.
- đ Tolman demonstrated latent learning, showing animals can learn through curiosity and exploration without external rewards.
- đ Tolman's ideas were ahead of their time, predicting modern concepts like the predictive brain and the role of the hippocampus in spatial memory.
- đ O'Keefe and Nadell's work built upon Tolman's, with the discovery of place cells being a key development.
- đ Nadell's academic journey included influential figures like Donald Hebb and Brenda Milner, and significant contributions to neuroscience.
- đïž The historical context of Tolman's work is highlighted, including his political activism and the influence of his environment on his scientific ideas.
- đ§ The importance of exploration in map-making was emphasized, with the suggestion that the reward for an animal is knowledge of the environment.
- đź Predictions made by O'Keefe and Nadell about the necessity of direction and distance information in cognitive maps were later confirmed by discoveries of head direction cells and grid cells.
- đ The script reflects on the evolution of ideas from Tolman's initial concepts to current neuroscience research, showing a continuum of scientific thought.
Q & A
Who is the speaker being introduced in the script?
-The speaker being introduced is Lynn Nadel.
What is the significance of the location where the event is taking place?
-The event is taking place in Tolman Hall and the Faculty Club, which is significant because Tolman led a revolt on the campus, and it's a poignant location for discussing his work on cognitive maps.
What is the connection between Lynn Nadel's early life and his academic career?
-Lynn Nadel grew up in New York City, did his degrees at McGill, and worked with notable figures like Donald Hebb and Brenda Milner. He then spent time in London, contributing to his academic development.
What was the main focus of Lynn Nadel's book-length manifesto on the hippocampus?
-The main focus was that the hippocampus functions as a cognitive map, addressing two significant problems in Neuroscience: how the brain makes a map and what the hippocampus actually does.
What are the four key concepts that Lynn Nadel discussed from Tolman's work?
-The four key concepts are: 1) Cognitive maps come in multiple scales, 2) There are different kinds of learning, 3) Latent learning can occur without reward, and 4) Animals have expectations and the brain acts as a predictor.
What was the place versus response controversy mentioned in the script?
-The controversy was about whether there were different kinds of learning, such as place learning and response learning. Tolman argued for different kinds of learning supporting different behavioral strategies, while Frank Westell's solution suggested they weren't fundamentally different.
What was the significance of Tolman's latent learning experiments?
-Tolman's latent learning experiments showed that animals could learn about their environment through curiosity and exploration without the need for external rewards, challenging the prevailing view that learning required reinforcement.
What was the 'Tinkle Paw' experiment mentioned in the script?
-The 'Tinkle Paw' experiment demonstrated that animals have expectations. In the experiment, a monkey was trained to expect a reward (bananas), and when it was given lettuce instead, it showed clear signs of disappointment, indicating an expectation of bananas.
How did Lynn Nadel's work with O'Keefe build upon Tolman's ideas?
-Nadel and O'Keefe built upon Tolman's ideas by developing a theory of cognitive maps that included the discovery of place cells by O'Keefe, and they emphasized the importance of exploration and the generation of expectations in animal behavior.
What predictions did Nadel and O'Keefe make in their book about the hippocampus?
-They predicted that if the hippocampus was a cognitive map, it would need cells that conveyed information about direction and distance. This prediction was later supported by the discovery of head direction cells and grid cells.
What is the significance of the discovery of grid cells in relation to cognitive maps?
-The discovery of grid cells, which fire in a hexagonal pattern across an environment, provided a mechanism for the hippocampus to create a spatial map, supporting the idea that the hippocampus functions as a cognitive map.
Outlines
đ Introduction to Tolman's Cognitive Map Legacy
The speaker begins by setting the context of the event, celebrating Tolman's contributions to cognitive mapping. They highlight Tolman's leadership during the nonsigners Faculty movement and the significance of the event's location. The introduction continues with a warm welcome for the first speaker, Lynn Nadel, emphasizing his academic journey and contributions to cognitive science. Nadel's work on memory development in Down syndrome and the Multiple Trace Theory of human memory consolidation are acknowledged. The speaker also touches upon the importance of curiosity and exploration in learning, as championed by Tolman, and the idea that cognitive maps can exist at different scales.
đ§ Tolman's Theories on Learning and Cognitive Maps
This paragraph delves into Tolman's theories on learning, emphasizing the distinction between different types of learning, such as place learning and response learning. It discusses how Frank Westell's solution to these different learning types was not entirely in line with Tolman's view, which suggested that different learning types have distinct properties and are supported by different brain systems. The paragraph also covers Tolman's concept of latent learning, which challenged the notion that reward is necessary for learning, instead arguing that curiosity and exploration can be sufficient motivators. Lastly, it touches on Tolman's ideas about expectation and how animals anticipate outcomes, which was a precursor to modern concepts of the predictive brain.
đ Building on Tolman: O'Keefe and Nadel's Cognitive Map Book
The speaker discusses the foundational work of O'Keefe and Nadel on cognitive maps, which was heavily influenced by Tolman's ideas. They outline the key concepts from their book, including the role of cognitive maps as spatial systems, the existence of multiple memory systems supporting different behavioral strategies, and the importance of exploration in map formation. The speaker also highlights how cognitive maps enable flexible behavior by providing a rich information base. Additionally, they mention the predictive nature of the hippocampus and how it relates to Tolman's ideas about expectation and anticipation.
đ Advancing Cognitive Map Research
In the final paragraph, the speaker concludes their introduction by emphasizing the predictions made in O'Keefe and Nadel's book about the necessity of direction and distance information for cognitive maps to function effectively. They note the subsequent discovery of head direction cells and grid cells, which supported these predictions. The speaker then transitions the discussion to the next speaker, David Foster, who will delve into the role of the hippocampus in generating predictions, thus continuing the exploration of cognitive map research beyond the foundational work of Tolman.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄCognitive Maps
đĄPlace Learning
đĄResponse Learning
đĄLatent Learning
đĄHippocampus
đĄPlace Cells
đĄGrid Cells
đĄHead Direction Cells
đĄMultiple Memory Systems
đĄExploration
đĄFlexible Behavior
Highlights
Introduction to Tolman's celebration and his influence on cognitive mapping.
Lynn Nadel's introduction as the speaker and his background in cognitive science.
Tolman's concept of cognitive maps and their significance in neuroscience.
The idea that cognitive maps exist in multiple scales.
Tolman's view on different kinds of learning and their implications.
The historical controversy over place versus response learning.
Tolman's demonstration of latent learning and the role of curiosity in animal behavior.
The concept of expectation and how animals predict outcomes.
The connection between Tolman's scientific ideas and his political beliefs.
The discovery of place cells by O'Keefe and its impact on cognitive mapping theory.
The four key concepts in Nadel and O'Keefe's book about cognitive maps.
The role of exploration in creating cognitive maps.
The prediction of cells that convey direction and distance information.
The discovery of head direction cells and grid cells supporting the cognitive map theory.
The importance of cognitive maps in generating predictions and expectations.
The influence of stress and emotion on cognitive mapping and behavior.
Nadel's closing remarks and introduction of the next speaker, David Foster.
Transcripts
[Music]
welcome welcome to tolman's um
celebration in fact we heard this
morning how uh his um leading of the The
nonsigners Faculty nonsigners were met
in this building every Friday um during
during the fight so this is particularly
poignant that we're we were able to meet
in the morning in Tolman Hall and in the
afternoon in in The Faculty Club um so
it gives me great pleasure to introduce
the afternoon session now on the
cognitive map and where it has come
since Tolman coined the phrase and and
started the whole field um started the
ball rolling in the 19 uh 1940 um
7 um our first speaker is um ly nadell
and um Lynn is a a wonderful I'm so glad
he could come and and introduce um
this this session
today Lynn knows where to go get
educated he he first the first thing um
you need to do if you want to make a big
impact in this field is grow up in New
York City but then do all your degrees
Ma at um ba ma PhD at McGill hanging out
with the like of Donald Hebb and Brenda
Milner then go to swinging London for
seven years in the 1970s but while
you're there hang out with your um your
pal joh o Keef who is discovering
hippocampal play cells write a book
length Manifesto the hippocampus is a
cognitive map which for the first time
solves two huge problems in um
Neuroscience one how the brain makes a
map and two what the hippocampus
actually does continue on interesting
academic per paginations through Daly
Toronto San Diego Irvine and finally
settle down as regions Professor
psychology and cognitive science
director of the cognition and neural
systems program University of Arizona
while serving as department chair and
currently as chair of all University
faculty don't forget to collect more
awards for your work on the development
of memory on down syndrome and to knock
out another transformational theory this
time with Morris Mo mosovich on the
multiple Trace theory of human memory
consolidations please join me in
welcoming Linda
D thank you uh and I I have to call her
Lucy I mean apparently everyone calls
her Lu now but it's always been Lucy
thank you very much Lucy for inviting me
to this this is really a very meaningful
meeting for me uh and I was happy to be
able to come at this at at this point um
I teach the history of Psych and I teach
a variety of classes and every time I
introduce the issue of Tolman I start by
talking about his politics I mean it
doesn't start with what he said about
cognitive maps for me it starts with
what an amazing person this was so for
me this this really is a a personally
rewarding moment to be able to stand
here in this Faculty Club where he led
the Revolt uh on this campus and to be
able to contribute to this so thank you
for that so I'm going to be very brief
I'm just here to to do a brief
introduction and make a few small points
uh well maybe not so small but
smallish and I'm going to re be
repeating a few of the things that that
uh that Dr dubury mentioned earlier in
the day for those of you were at the at
the morning session but it starts with
this observation uh one of the
observations that Tolman made uh this is
a quote from that famous psych review
paper in
1948 uh but the point the few points I
want to make uh really are about the
fact that actually there was more than
just the notion that there are cognitive
maps in the brain and a bunch of those
ideas came out this morning but I want
to highlight a few of them because
they're very important for the theory
that O'Keefe and I then developed
and for the sort of the way the rest of
the field perhaps uh continued so one
point that that Tolman mentioned about
when he brought up the notion of
cognitive maps and this was already
mentioned earlier today can you hear me
back there good um was the notion that
these Maps may actually come in multiple
scales right there's narrow strip Map
There's a comprehensive broad map that
idea that there are kind of different
grains of mapping is a is an important
idea that actually we now know that
there's data to support that idea I
don't know if Edward's going to say
anything about that in particular but
but this general idea has survived and
it's an important idea not just that
there are maps but there are different
kind of kinds of maps
right second thing he also wrote a very
famous paper called there's more than
one kind of learning right and he
championed the idea and this came out in
the place versus response controversy
that we heard about today he championed
the idea that there were different kinds
of learning but what happened then
historically what happened then was that
Frank Westell came up with a solution to
the problem of that there are different
kinds of learning that placees place
learning and response learning according
to wrestle solution were not actually
that different it was just that the
animal was using different kinds of cues
there was nothing fundamentally
different about them they just depended
upon different cues that was not what
Tolman was saying what Tolman said was
that there were different kinds of
learning that supported different sorts
of Behavioral strategies andp hypotheses
and that these things might actually
have different properties that was an
important point that got lost with
wrestle solution but wrestle solution I
think it was a 57 paper is that right
you might remember it was something in
the in the 50s that kind of put the
story to bed for a while so people
stopped arguing about is it Place
Learning versus response learning and
they sort of decided that doesn't matter
it's just a question of what kind of
cues they're learning now we know that's
absolutely wrong that those two kinds of
learning depend upon very different
brain systems with rather different
properties they interact of course
they're all part of the same brain they
may compete with each other they may
they may uh cooperate with each other
but they're different and they have
different properties so that was a very
important Insight on tolman's point on
tolman's part wrestle so-called solution
another point that came up this morning
so so Tolman was very interested and and
was one of the first to demonstrate this
notion of latent learning and here the
key Point here was the big debate in the
1950s about the role of reward in
learning and whether or not learning
could happen in the absence of reward
and reinforcement and the discovery in
the late 40s early 50s Not discoveries
is the wrong word but the demonstration
that Curiosity and exploration can
motivate animals to do stuff you don't
have to give them rewards you can just
give them access to something novel and
and Tolman then focused on the fact that
animals will learn about the environment
in the absence of any extrinsic
motivation in the absence of any or
sorry intrinsic motivation no they don't
have to be hungry they don't have to be
thirsty they do need to be those things
perhaps to show you that they've learned
but they don't need be they don't need
to be like that to actually learn and
and this came out this morning in some
of the experiments on Laden learning so
here again Tolman was focusing on the
role of curiosity and exploration which
most psychologists at that point were
saying was
unimportant finally there was this point
about means and Readiness the sort of
sici significant the notion but what
what what was buried in this idea was
that Tolman was trying to get to the to
the to to the concept of expectation how
do anim anim animals seem to show you
that they are expecting something when
they and the tinkle paaw experiment love
that name I always tell my students
about that it's one of the great
experiments simply because of the name
of the experimenter um that tinkle paaw
experiment showed quite profoundly that
those and it was talked about this
morning but basically chimp is trained
I'm I'm going to give you a very short
version of it uh a monkey is trained uh
for a reward of bananas and then after
getting these bananas is suddenly given
some Lett and is pretty upset right
there was it was a better controlled
experiment than that but that's the
point showing that that animal was
expecting bananas right it wasn't just
good enough to give it some food it
actually had a specific expectation of
something so those expectations mean
that the brain is a kind of a predictor
it's predicting what is going to be
happening that of course we now you
can't open up a neuroscience book now
without seeing the predictive brain all
over the place but Tolman was one of the
first to point out how important this
was that animals are engaging in
constant predictions and expectations
being generated out of these maps that
they have built up right so those four
ideas are what leads to what
essentially before before I say two
words about how those ideas became the
basis of uh of the book that O'Keefe and
I
wrote I just wanted to again point out
and this came out this this morning that
there was in Tolman this clear
connection between science and politics
so when he talked about these narrow
strip maps and Broad comprehensive Maps
this was almost shorthand for him I
think to say narrow-minded people versus
broad-minded people right and that there
are circumstances you know brain damage
being one thing and and you know drugs
and all that other being another but
stress emotion frustration the things
that Lucy was pointing out all of those
things can actually shift the brain so
that it is you might say behaving more
on the basis of a narrow strip map than
on the basis of a comprehensive broad
map and that and we now know there's now
good data to show exactly how that
happens that stress that the hippocampus
is loaded with stress receptors and
stress can kind of selectively
downregulate the hippocampus and leave
other structures in in in charge of
behavior and those other structures are
more you might say survival oriented and
less exploration curiosity oriented
narrow your focus stay alive and so on
so again Tolman was on to something very
important here onto the differences
between the sort of brain states that
leg legitimate different forms of
behavior right so all four of those kind
of Notions including this one and one
thing I do want to point out this right
here see this by an overdose of
repetitions on the original this what
he's saying here is that when you
overtrain an animal it starts it becomes
a Hulan stimulus response animal and we
now know that that's true and we now
know the the the Neuroscience behind
that when you overtrain animals that the
striatum begins to Take Over Control of
the behavior there's a whole r of of
experiments buried in that idea so this
quote alone probably has six or seven
PhD dissertations you know buried in it
or could have probably
did all right so this was the book that
o'keef and I wrote in 78 which sort of
built on and it had a couple of key
Concepts amongst the key Concepts was
this one of course this book was was was
written based on the Discovery by o'keef
of play cells right it was that
discovery that sort of triggered you
know our thinking about this theory that
led to all of the other work and
everything that's come since then I
would say well not everything but you
know the spatial story so to speak so
the four key Concepts in the book the
first one in the title is that it's all
about cognitive maps and these are a
special kind of spatial system right
second key thing that the mapping system
was one kind of memory system
responsible for one specific kind of
information and that multiple memory
Systems Support various behaviors that's
a misprint there various behavioral
strategies so this again Builds on
tolman's idea that there was more than
one kind of learning and we really
insisted on this notion that these
different kinds of learning have
different properties and that those
different properties help us understand
what you see when an animal has damaged
to the hippocampus or when a person has
damaged to the
hippocampus third point we said very
very explicitly maps are created during
exploration so we bought completely into
woman's insistence that these cognitive
maps that what is the reward for an
animal in generating a cognitive map was
finding out about the world it was not
food it was not water it was not safety
although all of those things you might
find out about in exploring the world
but those were not the motivations in
any simple sense it was simple curiosity
to map the environment and exploration
was a key so in the book a chapter on
exploration was the first chapter in in
discussing the actual data of about the
effects of hippocampal lesions all right
and finally that Maps enable flexible
Behavior we made the argument that if
you have a map just like if you have a
map of San Francisco it doesn't tell you
you know where you are it simply tells
you if you're here and you want to get
there this is what you do right so a map
is a map sort of enables flexibility and
behavior because it's such a rich
information base rather than just if I'm
here turn left at the corner that was
going to get you to where you'd get to
if you turned left but it's not going to
tell you anything anything more than
that so those were the four ideas or
some of the main ideas conceptually in
the book I'm leaving us I mean I'm not
talking now about the physiology the
play cells these were the sort of
theoretical conceptual ideas and the
point is each one of those is one of the
ideas that here's tolman's idea and how
here's how it maps on to the things that
we said so this really we really did
build extensively on tolman's thinking
not only about the idea of a cognitive
map but about the property of cognitive
maps about the properties of Place
Learning and how that informs
Behavior so I will close I'm staying on
time I think we made a variety of
predictions in the book uh one of those
predictions was if this thing was really
a cognitive map then Not only would it
need the play cells that o'keef and dski
had described but it would also need
something that conveyed information
about direction and distance at a
minimum if it was going to function like
a map so there was built into this the
prediction that sooner or later
somebody's going to find cells that
provide direction information and those
the head Direction cells came when did
Ron discover the head Direction cells 80
the mid 80s and then the final and in
many ways the cement piece the grid
cells that uh that Edvard and my Brit M
had discovered and and so you're going
to hear about those and hear that aspect
of the story from Edvard as soon as I
get out of well not as soon as I get out
of the way because the first talk by
David Foster will be about this issue
about the hippocampus generating
predictions uh and we talked about that
in the book for the reasons I described
and but again we didn't know anything
about the mechanisms even though
actually John was I believe the first
person to notice the ripples uh and I
think there was a there's a mention in
the book about the ripples uh but we had
no idea what they were right and now we
understand that there are mechanisms in
hippocampal activity that have to do
with what's actually going on when an
animal is predicting what if I go down
this road what am I going to see and so
on and so forth so that talk now let's
finish this so David Foster will tell
you more about that particular part of
the story so with that introduction to
kind of where sort of how O'Keefe and I
built on the cognitive map story and
then lots of other really exciting
things happen and we're going to hear
about those exciting things now from
people who have actually done the work
so I'm going to get out of the way and
let you introduce
David
[Music]
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