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Behavioural Processes Nov 2017Contemporary theories of associative learning are increasingly complex, which necessitates the use of computational methods to reveal predictions of these models. We... (Review)
Review
Contemporary theories of associative learning are increasingly complex, which necessitates the use of computational methods to reveal predictions of these models. We argue that comparisons across multiple models in terms of goodness of fit to empirical data from experiments often reveal more about the actual mechanisms of learning and behavior than do simulations of only a single model. Such comparisons are best made when the values of free parameters are discovered through some optimization procedure based on the specific data being fit (e.g., hill climbing), so that the comparisons hinge on the psychological mechanisms assumed by each model rather than being biased by using parameters that differ in quality across models with respect to the data being fit. Statistics like the Bayesian information criterion facilitate comparisons among models that have different numbers of free parameters. These issues are examined using retrospective revaluation data.
Topics: Association Learning; Bayes Theorem; Computer Simulation; Conditioning, Classical; Humans; Models, Psychological
PubMed: 28827119
DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2017.08.004 -
Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 1995In this paper, I have briefly explored metaphors shared by the immune and nervous systems and shown that this exercise can lead to the elucidation of common principles... (Review)
Review
In this paper, I have briefly explored metaphors shared by the immune and nervous systems and shown that this exercise can lead to the elucidation of common principles of organization, as well as to predictions concerning how the immune system functions. Metaphor itself undoubtedly reflects the way in which we categorize and retrieve information 44], so it is not surprising that the deep processes of language tend to sample information from related data categories. Although the nervous and immune systems are obviously not the same and metaphors are indeed just that, my primary goal has been to suggest that by virtue of their having evolved in parallel over millions of years, the nervous and immune systems currently use the same archetypal principles and strategies to address related challenges in information processing and retrieval. Ultimately, nature is conservative. One need only look at a tree, a river, the airways, or the vascular bed in order to see how a fractal pattern of repetitive dichotomous branching has been used by each, in order to optimize the transport of fluids over large distances [45]. While each system has had to adopt different materials in order to solve the problem, the shape of their solutions is remarkably alike. In the immune and nervous systems, the elements used to produce optimal functional responses are also quite different, but again the solutions have been achieved by comparable strategies. I am certain that these two great systems of information processing, each responding with vastly different kinetics, will prove to be far more integrally interdependent than has been previously recognized. For example, should a swift response by the immune system be required in an overwhelming invasion by microbial pathogens, the immune system may be able to cooperate with the rapidly reacting nervous system to rid the host of the invaders. In this regard, we have shown that the beta-adrenergic hormone epinephrine rapidly increases the traffic of memory T-cells to mucosal sites, presumably representing an immune component of the fight-or-flight response [46]. Neural evolution appears to have as its goal the development of more efficient information processing systems that lead to higher levels of consciousness. However, in modern times, technologic advances in information processing have rapidly outstripped the slower adaptations that can be made by evolution. In order to satisfy his compulsive quest for information, man has recently developed and recruited the aid of computers.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Topics: Association Learning; Humans; Immune System; Nervous System; Nervous System Physiological Phenomena
PubMed: 7659491
DOI: 10.1353/pbm.1995.0068 -
Journal of Experimental Psychology.... Apr 2022In summation experiments, responding to a compound stimulus is assessed after conditioning a response to each of its components. This simple experiment poses significant...
In summation experiments, responding to a compound stimulus is assessed after conditioning a response to each of its components. This simple experiment poses significant challenges to models of associative learning because of substantial variability in results. Here, I introduce a new method to quantify generalization from components to compound in summation experiments, which I apply to over 250 measurements of summation in rabbits, pigeons, rats, and humans. The analysis confirms that more summation occurs with stimuli from different rather than from the same sensory modality, although this is not the sole determinant of summation. A theoretical analysis shows that this finding is best accounted for by a model that includes both element sharing (Rescorla & Wagner, 1972) and element replacement (Brandon et al., 2000) in stimulus representations. I point out remaining gaps in our empirical and theoretical understanding of summation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
Topics: Animals; Association Learning; Columbidae; Conditioning, Classical; Generalization, Psychological; Rabbits; Rats
PubMed: 35533102
DOI: 10.1037/xan0000265 -
Psychological Review Nov 2022Whereas both human and animal lesion and human neuroimaging studies have implicated the hippocampus in memory for associations, some studies find preserved associative...
Whereas both human and animal lesion and human neuroimaging studies have implicated the hippocampus in memory for associations, some studies find preserved associative memory following hippocampal damage. Starting with a classic summed similarity model of item recognition, we can account for associative recognition without assuming a specific hippocampally-mediated associative process. We add one key assumption: that one item can influence activation of another item's features. Feature-strength patterns, evaluated for each probe item individually, are then diagnostic of whether an item was paired with one item versus another. We suggest that feature-level inference, without explicit storage of associations, may play a critical role in associative recognition tasks. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
Topics: Animals; Humans; Recognition, Psychology; Hippocampus; Association Learning
PubMed: 34968136
DOI: 10.1037/rev0000335 -
Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral... Jun 2024Associative memory refers to the ability to form and remember associations between individual pieces of information rather than memory for a single object or word.... (Review)
Review
Associative memory refers to the ability to form and remember associations between individual pieces of information rather than memory for a single object or word. Encoding associations in memory tends to be a more difficult task than item (only) encoding, because associative memory requires encoding multiple items as well as the specific links amongst the items. Accordingly, researchers have worked to identify interventions and strategies to reduce the effort and neural resources required for successful associative memory processing. Unitization is one such strategy that has traditionally been defined as the process by which two or more discrete items are processed, or encoded, such that they are perceived as a single ensemble. The current review explores the neural research on unitization while considering the behavioral benefits that accompany the process.
Topics: Humans; Brain; Association Learning; Memory; Animals
PubMed: 38413465
DOI: 10.3758/s13415-024-01170-3 -
Nature Communications Aug 2019Associative memory is the main type of learning by which complex organisms endowed with evolved nervous systems respond efficiently to certain environmental stimuli. It...
Associative memory is the main type of learning by which complex organisms endowed with evolved nervous systems respond efficiently to certain environmental stimuli. It has been found in different multicellular species, from cephalopods to humans, but never in individual cells. Here we describe a motility pattern consistent with associative conditioned behavior in the microorganism Amoeba proteus. We use a controlled direct-current electric field as the conditioned stimulus, and a specific chemotactic peptide as the unconditioned stimulus. The amoebae are capable of linking two independent past events, generating persistent locomotion movements that can prevail for 44 min on average. We confirm a similar behavior in a related species, Metamoeba leningradensis. Thus, our results indicate that unicellular organisms can modify their behavior during migration by associative conditioning.
Topics: Amoeba; Association Learning; Conditioning, Classical; Locomotion
PubMed: 31417086
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-11677-w -
NeuroImage Jun 2010Mirror neurons have been hailed as the key to understanding social cognition. I argue that three currents of thought-relating to evolution, atomism and telepathy-have... (Review)
Review
Mirror neurons have been hailed as the key to understanding social cognition. I argue that three currents of thought-relating to evolution, atomism and telepathy-have magnified the perceived importance of mirror neurons. When they are understood to be a product of associative learning, rather than an adaptation for social cognition, mirror neurons are no longer mesmerising, but they continue to raise important questions about both the psychology of science and the neural bases of social cognition.
Topics: Animals; Association Learning; Biological Evolution; Brain; Humans; Neurons; Social Behavior
PubMed: 20167276
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.02.034 -
Behavioural Processes Oct 2014Learning to use a landmark as a beacon to locate resources is one of the simplest forms of spatial learning. We tested whether landmark learning occurs in a...
Learning to use a landmark as a beacon to locate resources is one of the simplest forms of spatial learning. We tested whether landmark learning occurs in a semifossorial salamander that migrates annually to breeding ponds as adults. Juvenile spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum) were tested in square containers with a plastic feeding dish in each corner, and a piece of earthworm was placed in one randomly-chosen dish. For landmark-trained salamanders, a rock was placed beside the dish containing the prey. For control salamanders, the rock was placed beside a randomly selected feeding dish. Each salamander was trained once every 2 days for 30 days. Significantly more landmark-trained salamanders than control salamanders entered the landmark area first, and landmark-trained individuals had faster latencies to enter the landmark area and longer stay-times. These results suggest that spotted salamanders are able to locate resources by associating their positions with landmarks.
Topics: Ambystoma; Animals; Association Learning; Behavior, Animal; Spatial Learning; Urodela
PubMed: 25444775
DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2014.10.015 -
Behavioural Processes Jan 2014Approaches to the study of associative learning and interval timing have traditionally diverged on methodological and theoretical levels of analysis. However, more... (Review)
Review
Approaches to the study of associative learning and interval timing have traditionally diverged on methodological and theoretical levels of analysis. However, more recent attempts have been made to explain one class of phenomena in terms of the other using various single-process approaches. In this paper we suggest that an interactive dual-process approach might more accurately reflect underlying behavioral and neural processes. We will argue that timing in Pavlovian conditioning is best understood in terms of an abstract temporal code that is not a feature of the predictive stimulus (i.e., the conditioned stimulus, CS), per se. Rather, we assume that the time between the CS and the unconditioned stimulus (US) is encoded in the form of an abstract representation of this temporal interval produced as an output of a central multiple-oscillator interval timing system. As such, associations can then develop between the CS and this abstract temporal code in much the same way that the CS develops associations with different features of the US. To support the dual-process approach, we first show that exposure to a Pavlovian zero contingency procedure results in a failure to acquire new associations, not a failure to express learning due to some temporally defined performance mask. We also consider evidence that supports the abstract temporal coding idea in a US preexposure task, and, finally, present some evidence to encourage the dissociation between basic associative and temporal learning processes by exploring reward devaluation effects in a peak timing task.
Topics: Animals; Association Learning; Conditioning, Classical; Learning; Reward
PubMed: 24076309
DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2013.09.004 -
Memory & Cognition Jan 2016Test-enhanced learning and transfer for triple-associate word stimuli was assessed in three experiments. In each experiment, training and final-test trials involved the...
Test-enhanced learning and transfer for triple-associate word stimuli was assessed in three experiments. In each experiment, training and final-test trials involved the presentation of two words per triple associate (triplet), with the third word having to be retrieved. In agreement with the prior literature on different stimuli, training through testing with feedback yielded markedly better final-test performance than did restudy. However, in contrast to the positive transfer reported for paired associate stimuli, minimal or no positive transfer was observed, relative to a restudy control, from a trained cue combination (e.g., A, B, ?) to other cue combinations from the same triplet that required a different response (e.g., B, C, ?). That result also held when two unique cue combinations per triplet were tested during training, and for triplets with low and high average associative strengths. Supplementary analyses provided insight into the overall transfer effect: An incorrect response during training appears to yield positive transfer relative to restudy, whereas a correct response appears to yield no, or even negative, transfer. Cross-experiment analyses indicated that test-enhanced learning is not diminished when two or three cue combinations are presented during training. Thus, even though learning through testing is highly specific, testing on all possible stimulus-response combinations remains the most efficient strategy for the learning of triple associates.
Topics: Adult; Association Learning; Humans; Mental Recall; Transfer, Psychology; Young Adult
PubMed: 26324093
DOI: 10.3758/s13421-015-0547-x