In 1951 at the Burden Neurological Institute in Bristol, W. Grey Walter constructed Cora (Conditioned Reflex Analyser). Following his autonomous tortoises Elmer & Elsie, Walter added an analog capacitive memory circuit to simulate Pavlovian classical conditioning.
Cora demonstrates how a machine can learn to associate a neutral stimulus (an auditory tone) with a physical impact (a bump). Once conditioned, Cora anticipates collision and turns away upon hearing the sound alone—proving that associative learning requires no digital microprocessors, only capacitive memory and feedback loops.
Cora (1951)
Capacitive Synapse (Cmem)0%
Synaptic charge increase per paired Tone + Collision trial.
Memory decay rate when Tone sounds without collision.
Capacitive threshold required to trigger Conditioned Avoidance.
EXPERIMENTAL GOAL:
1. Emit Tone [T]: Observe that Cora does not react.
2. Allow Cora to Bump obstacles or click Pair Tone + Collision [P] 3-4 times.
3. Observe the Synapse Gauge reaching the yellow threshold.
4. Emit Tone [T] alone: Cora now turns away before touching obstacles!