26.06.2019How pigeons help us to understand a complex learning behaviour: extinction learning

Dr. Roland Pusch, Faculty for Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum

We can easily put new information into our memories – and we can learn that past learning content is no longer valid. Once acquired contents are not forgotten, but temporarily overridden by a new learning process. The Collaborative Research Centre 1280 at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum deals with this so-called extinction learning. In my talk, I introduce this learning concept and use selected experiments from the Department of Biopsychology to explain how we explore the complex processes of extinction learning – with the help of domestic pigeons.