OliviaKucan

3/3/15
Biology
Ms.Juavinett

RewardvsDisciplineinLearning

Therearethosewhothinkdisciplineisthewaytoteachandlearnandthosewhoare
opposedtodisciplineasaformoflearning.Ithasbeendebatedfordecades,withmanyanimal
modelsbeingused(miceinmazesordolphinswithimagesforexample)totesttheirtheories.
Myoverallresearchquestionissimple:Doespositivereinforcementordisciplineworkbetterto
trainmemory?
Thebrainlearnsbyconstructingknowledgethroughsequentialstages.Thefirstoneis
throughmotivation.Thismeansthatthesubjectorskillbeinglearnedbytheindividualhasto
havesomesortofmeaningorpurposetotheindividual.Thepersonhastowanttolearnandbe
interestedinthetopic,ortheywillhaveahardertimelearningit.Thesecondstageispractice
andtrialanderrortofurtherunderstand.Thethirdstageoflearningisadvancedpractice.The
brainwillstarttofurtherunderstandthetopicmoreandtheindividualwillhaveconfidenceto
learnandaccepttrialanderror.Afterthiscomesthefourthstage,whichisskillfulness.After
repetitivesuccessinthetopicofknowledge,therewillbeafurtherandmoreadvanced
understandingofthetopic.Thefifthstageisrefinement,whichmeansthatthebrainwillretain
theknowledgereceivevedandcometothefinalimprovementstage.Thesixthandfinalstageis
masteryafterthebrainhasretainedknowledgeitwillseekopportunitiestoteach.

Whenlearning,neurologicallyspeaking,yourbrainiscomposedofmanythingsthat
assistintheretainmentofinformation.Dendritesarelittlefibersthatgrowoutoftheneurons
whenyoulistenwrite,talkabout,orpracticesomething,butaccordingtoCatawbaValley
CommunityCollege,dendritescanonlygrowfromanotherdendritethathasalreadybeen
learnedfromaneuron.Essentially,learningjustthegrowthofmillionsofthesedendrites.Aside
fromeachdendritegrowingaswelearn,dendritescansometimesgrowclosetogether,forminga
contactpoint.Asmallgapinthecontactpointiscalledthesynapse,wheremessagesaresent
backandfourththroughneuronsaselectricalsignals.Themorewelearn,thelargerandmore
complexthenetworkofneurons,dendrites,andsynapsesget.
Themorewelearnandmoreinformationweintake,thesynapsesgrowsandgetsthicker
asitiscoveredinafattycoatingcalledmyelin.Thickerdendritesmeansfastersignals
throughoutthebrain.Themoreyouknow,andthemoreyoulearnaboutthetopicthatthe
dendritesarecreatedfor,thethickerthemyelingets.Althoughlearningincreasesthesizeofthe
dendrite,ittakesalongtimetogrow.Thatiswhyscientistsoftentellpeopletostudyovera
periodoftime,sothatyoucanlearnitbetter,andyourbrainactuallyhastimetoretainthe
information.
Dopamineisreleasedinthebrainandhelpscontrolandregulatethebrainsrewardand
pleasurecenters.Itcausesustotakeactionandmovetowardswhatwearebeingrewardedfor.
Also,informationwhichstipulatesthatyoudidsomethingwrongismorecomplicatedthan
informationstipulatingthatyoudidsomethingwell.Withthisinmind,aswellasitbeing
scientificallyproventhatthebrainishappierandmoremotivatedbyrewardsasopposedto
discipline,Ihavedevelopedanexperimenttotestinthemodelorganismofmice.Ichosethis

modelorganismbecauseover95%ofthemousegenomeissimilartothatofahuman,making
themmoreeasilysusceptibletostudyandhumandisease.Theyreproducerelativelyquicklyand
havealifespanofafewyears,makingthemabletodevelophabitsandlearnfaster.
Theexperimentbeginswithtwomiceofthesamelitter(sameage,DNA,etc)andare
keptinthesamelivingandfeedingconditions.Eachmouseisgivenavarietyoftestssuchas
beingputinamaze.Anothertestthatcanbegivenisthemousecanbeexposedtotwoobjects
thatareidenticalinsize,shape,andcolor.Theyarethenplacedinaspacewithtwoobjectsone
thesameonethatitwaspreviouslyexposedtoandthesecondanewobject.Thenextstepis
identifyingandrecordedeachthingtheydowrongaswellaseachthingtheydocorrectly.For
themazethisworks,butfortheboxandobjecttest,itworksalittledifferently.Wewillassociate
theunknownobjectasbad.Themorethemouseinspectstheunknownobject,theyreceive
Nothingisgivenortakenfromthesubjectforrightorwrongdoings.Afterthisistested,the
experimentmovesontorewardsanddiscipline.Eachmouseissubjectedtoonlyonewayof
learning.MouseAwillrecieveonlyrewardsforpropermovements:foodorabreakfromthe
test,andwhenperforminganythingwrong,theywillrecievenothing.Everytimethemouse
makesaturnintherightdirection,theyaregivenareward.MouseBwillrecievenothingbut
disciplinewhentheyperformawrongdoing:aplacementbackaspaceinthemaze,oralight
shocktostartlethem.Soonthesethingsbecomeassociatedwiththegoodthingsorthebadthings
thattheyaredoing.Thisisoftenhowpeopletraindogs,inwhichtheyassociateonethingwith
another.Whileeachmouseissubjectedtoonlyonelearningstyle,afteracertainamountoftests,
itwillbegintoshowwhichwayofdisciplineisthebestwaytolearn.Asmentionedbefore,
dopamineisreleasedinthebrainwhengivenarewardforanactiontheyperformedcorrectly.

Thisistrueforallanimals.Itcreatesasortofaction/reactioneffectinthebrain,wantingto
performinthesamewaytoreceivethesamepraiseorreward.Onthesubjectofdopamine,
whichcontrolsmotions,butmainlyhappiness,whengivenarewardorinsentive,orevenwith
discipline,theystarttoassociatethosethingstogether.Dogtrainershavetestedthatwhenadog
seesfooditsalivates.Whentheyseeorhearabellsoundthereisnoreaction.Whentheyringthe
bellasthedogseesthefood,soonenough,theyassociatethebellsoundwithfood.Thisistrue
formostpets.
Thesocietalissuesarenottoomuchofaproblem,asitdoesnotdirectlyeffectthe
subjectsmentallyorphysically,itsimplymakesthesubjectlearninanalternativestyle.Because
thereisnopermenant,physicalormentalharm,thesetbacksforthisisfairfromnone.

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http://teacher.scholastic.com/professional/bruceperry/brainlearns.htm

RewardsareBetterThanPunishments:HeresWhy
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"UnderstandingHowTheBrainNaturallyLearns."
CatawbaValleyCommunityCollege.
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http://www.cvcc.edu/Resources/Learning_Assistance_Center/pdf/Understanding_How_the_Brai
n_Naturally_Learns.pdf

DopamineandLearning:WhatTheBrainsRewardCenterCanTeachEducators
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Learning.
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http://www.scilearn.com/blog/dopaminelearningbrainsrewardcenterteacheducators

Dopamine'seffectsonlearningandmemory
TEDxTalks
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n706_qp20Mk

RememberingwithGainsandLosses:EffectsofMonetaryRewardandPunishmenton
SuccessfulEncodingActivationofSourceMemories
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YayoiShigemune
TakashiTsukiura
ToshimuneKambara

RyutaKawashima
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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3977621/

Dopamine,LearningandMotivation
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Web.5Mar.2015
http://www.ohsu.edu/nod/documents/2007/0430/Wise%202004.pdf

TheRoleofDopamineinLearning,Memory,andPerformanceofaWaterEscapeTask.
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