This has been addressed before. In the first season, they made the walkers much smarter than they obviously are now. I remember seeing somewhere along the line of them realizing this as a mistake and not along the lines of what Kirkman originally had in mind. (Maybe not how he wrote it in the comics? Someone correct me here, I have not yet read them)

They since corrected that and now we see the dumb walkers who can't do much else besides what we saw in season 2.

 

Smart walkers, which sometimes appear in it. This is definitely one of them.

 

I think the Teddy bear was what the girl was clutching in her hand before she died. It is only because possibly a faint memory that she still clings to it in my opinion.

 

That would also explain the walker trying the doorknob.

 

I just rewatched this episode and thought about this as well. To me, it's kinda sad because it reminds me of a child whose first instinct when they're scared is to grab a comfort object like a teddy bear or blanket. Poor little girl.

 

I don't think it's a question of intelligence or smarts, but one of instinct. The zombies still have visceral inclinations for the objects/places which were valuable to them during their 'old' lives. That was a key point in George Romero's "Dawn of the Dead" (1978) in which the zombies came to the Monroeville Mall because vestiges of their former lives remained embedded in their zombified selves. Zombies do seem to have something akin to "memory" considering Steven (in Dawn of the Dead) knew about the secret hideout in the roof of the mall, and led the other zombies to it, even after he had reanimated.

 

So then all we need is vegetarian walkers, or vegans and we are good to go lol!

Yeah I think it has to do with past faint memories, which was in turn makes them do things without knowing.

 

Summer just had lingering memories of her pre-dead form.

 

I kind of disagree about Morgan's wife. I think she just happened to keep lingering around there. I mean she likely turned somewhere near the house and as we saw in the last episode of season 2 they don't really move around alot unless prompted by something like noise. If you remember it was a quiet neighborhood, she may have kept doing that over and over. Just a thought.

 

I agree. And she's probably one of "the-smart-ones" walkers, lol.

She's totally different from other walkers from second or third season. Now they're much more realistic.

 

SHe e died in the bed where Morgan threats Rick's wounds

 

Yup, sure made for a powerful scene. I had no prob w/the z-girl picking up the item. Gives us that Romero edge, where some Zed may have a flickering of their past. This 'smart zombie concept' could make for some real creepy moments down TWD road. Hopefully for the sake of keeping the show real, not too smart.

 

I go with the instinct theory, in Atlanta there were zombies sitting down on a bus, and the zombies who were sitting in that church later on. instinct I dont mind, its when they ride horses or drive cars I get annoyed and disgusted then change channels.

 

We also had a walker in "Guts" that climbed right over that fenced to the other side. Rick and Glenn must have looked VERY tasty!

 

omgosh! i had the same exact q last night i started watching season 1 again on netflix and saw "days gone by" i saw that walker pick up the teddybear and it threw me off, i mean i knew she was dead since ive seen the episode several times, but i guess everytime i watch it again i notice things and i noticed that part and i was like, um why is she picking that up? she didnt try to eat it. it didnt move or make a noise, so whats w that? then i thought maybe it was a way to make rick believe that she was still alive since that scene is meant for his eyes, thats what i have to go w cause i see no ther reason for her to pick it up.

 

There are many inconsistencies on how walkers act as the series goes on. This is one of them. As the season progressed they simply went a different direction, without any "in series' explanation. Comparing the nuances of walker behavior from season 1 to 4 is not something your average viewer is going to do, it's just the small percent of die-hards (like us who would sign up for a forum exclusively dedicated to it!) that would really look for an explanation.

The teddy bear girl, Morgans wife, these sort of "faint" potential memories or human thought made for powerful viewing at the beginning of the series. Later on, they didn't need or simply didn't want those types of things anymore.

It's just writers, and ratings, there is no "in universe" explanation for it.

 

Just started watching season 1 again and I now remember why I got hooked!
As to why the Walkers are smarter in season 1, I like to think that they are "fresher" for lack of a better word. That is why the door knob turns with Morgan's wife and the little girl picks up the teddy bear and the walkers climb up stairs and over fences. As they don't eat they get weaker and become lurkers. Just my 2 cents!