The general plan in each instance has been to start with basic structural and functional considerations relative to the problem, usually the neuroanatomical and neurophysiological substrate, and then proceed to an elaboration of specific mechanisms determined in part by the substrate and in part by the environment and its special features of systematic stimulus control and influence. The recent success of biochemistry in establishing the elements of a genetic code utilized by biological memory, in the reduplication of the general features of morphology as expressed in inheritance, and in the specification of templates for cellular proliferation and immune reactions, has led to an interest in the extension of these approaches to the biochemical basis of learning and memory. It seemed, therefore, important to begin this conference with a survey of the present status of the neurochemical approaches to learning and memory. This led, inevitably, not only to a consideration of the specific chemical change to be sought and measured, but to a discussion of what had been learned and remembered. The plasticity and flexibility of the nervous system as manifested in the dynamics of behavior-change offers tremendous challenges to the investigator and calls for a variety of techniques for the elicitation, measurement and assessment of such changes. Accordingly, the next presentations are devoted to the electrophysiological, neurophysiological and behavioral indices and assessments of adaptation and change in the nervous system which might be correlated with biochemical transitions and transformations during conditioning and learning. This is followed by a résumé of the origins and present status of concepts and theories of conditioning and learning, and discussion of the methodological basis for differentiating and sharpening the psychological aspects of the problem. In this respect, the advances in computer facilities have led to the increased use of mathematical models and to the development of artificial intelligence as an extraneural parallel and as a basis for testing ideas and concepts relative to learning and memory. Following these basic and theoretically oriented approaches to an understanding of conditioning and learning, a second group of presentations sur- This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1968. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived
