STUDIES OF CEREBRAL FUNCTION IN LEARNING 



K. S. LASHLEY 



The Department of Psychology of the University of Minnesota 



CONTENTS 



I. The problem of nervous function in learning 55 



General questions 55 



Program of experiments 65 



General methods 66 



II. The relation of cerebral injury to the general activity of the rat 68 



III. The effects of cerebral injury upon learning ability 73 



Problems and methods 73 



Experimental data 76 



Summary of data 90 



The formation of a visual habit 94 



The effects of destruction of deep-lying structures 97 



IV. The relation of the rate of learning to the amount of cerebral injury. . 98 



Bearing of the experiments on cerebral function in learning 101 



V. The function of the cerebrum hi the retention of a habit of visual dis- 

 crimination 103 



Apparatus and methods 104 



Records of experiments 106 



Summary of data Ill 



VI. The stimulable cortex and the corpus striatum in relation to disturb- 

 ances of motor coordination and to learning 115 



The electro-stimulable cortex of the rat. , 116 



The character of lesions in paretic animals 117 



The function of the motor area in learning 122 



VII. The significance of the general results for the cerebral mechanism of 



learning 123 



General summary 126 



I. THE PROBLEM OF NERVOUS FUNCTION IN LEARNING 



General questions 



We are, most of us, accustomed to think of learning in terms 

 of nerve cells, synapses, changes in conduction of nerve impulses, 

 etc., but it must be borne in mind that some recent writers deny 



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