In what ways are human learning and memory similar to learning and memory in other animals and in what ways do they differ?

Most early philosophers assumed that humans were quite distinct from and innately superior to animals, but the proponents of evolution, such as Erasmus and Charles Darwin, showed how similar we are. Behaviourists also emphasised the similarities between animal and human learning. In contrast, the early cofnitive psychologists chose to focus on computer-based models of lanuage and abstract reasoning - cognitive behavious that are not easily studied in nonhuman animals. More recent effots to reconcile the associationist theories of animal learning and the higher capabilities of human cognition are seen in the connectionist models of Rumelhart, McClelland and their intellectual descendants. Today, many researchers think of cognition as a continuum, with some anials perhaps processing only limited capability for abstract reasoning, but others capabale of a degree of communication, reasoning and use of symbol represenation approaching that of humans