Zombie Research Society
A recent study at Carnegie Mellon University showed that humans and other animals use real and hypothetical memory to help make basic decisions. When applied to zombie research, this fact suggests that the undead must have some developmental ability in order to effectively hunt their human prey. In layman’s terms: zombies can learn.
The study found that rats navigating a maze not only used replays of recent or frequent paths through the maze, but also paths that they’d rarely taken or even 
never taken at all. The rats were trying to build maps to help them make navigation decisions, proving that memory is an integral part of the decision-making process. And this is true even if the goal is something as simple as sniffing out a piece of cheese.
Study participant, Anoopum Gupta, had this to add:
“Our work provides clues into how animals must construct a complete, fully navigable representation of their environment in order to move around, even if they’ve only partially explored that environment.”
Memory and learning are so tied to our ability to make simple choices, without them a zombie wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a door and a wall, let alone find its way out of a dead end alley.
Even if zombies retain memory from the human they once were (a highly unlikely, yet popular theory), a zombie unable to learn and remember would fail to overcome any obsticle it hadn’t specifically seen before in life. A front door covered in paper or tape would be enough to confuse this type of zombie, rendering the door virtually invisible.
It is a theory of mine that I`ve been working on that zombies, or more specifically, the zombie virus opens portions of the brain to what some refer to as `hive mind`. and I further theorize that zombies may retain some memory, but not from it`s previous existance. With it`s newly infected brain and the onset of a hive mind mentality, it may retain as much memory as the common goldfish or even a bee. goldfish can navigate simple obsticles and has a memory of about three seconds. just enough time to remember to eat. bees can travel vast distances and still return to the same hive. (which in itself is frightening. zombie hive…) in short, I don`t know how a zombie physically functions, but I know there`s something going on besides the obvious. Stay low, keep moving, always be alert. -Z.E.R.O.
+Zombie Eradication and Rescue Operations+
my facts must be out dated, but out of all the research i’ve done, none of the zombie memory tests have shown any prove of zombie learning. I hope that they cannot learn. If they can though, I pray god have mercy on our souls.
No, I think you’re right on. The article is only saying that there is some minimal level of learning, because without the ability to learn on a very basic level, a creature can’t make any choices at all. So even walking across the street wouldn’t be possible for a zombie if it couldn’t learn. Same with people. If you lost your ability to learn you would never be able to go anywhere that you hadn’t been before, because you are learning all the time.
too bad its not i hope there that DA