Elemental representations of stimuli in associative learning.
نویسنده
چکیده
This article reviews evidence and theories concerning the nature of stimulus representations in Pavlovian conditioning. It focuses on the elemental approach developed in stimulus sampling theory (R. C. Atkinson & W. K. Estes, 1963; R. R. Bush & F. Mosteller, 1951b) and extended by I. P. L. McLaren and N. J. Mackintosh (2000, 2002) and contrasts this with models that invoke notions of configural representations that uniquely code for different patterns of stimulus inputs (e.g., J. M. Pearce, 1987, 1994; R. A. Rescorla & A. R. Wagner, 1972; A. R. Wagner & S. E. Brandon, 2001). The article then presents a new elemental model that emphasizes interactions between stimulus elements. This model is shown to explain a range of behavioral findings, including those (e.g., negative patterning and biconditional discriminations) traditionally thought to be beyond the explanatory capabilities of elemental models. Moreover, the model offers a ready explanation for recent findings reported by R. A. Rescorla (2000, 2001, 2002b) concerning the way that stimuli with different conditioning histories acquire associative strength when conditioned in compound.
منابع مشابه
Configural learning in contextual cuing of visual search.
Two experiments were conducted to explore the role of configural representations in contextual cuing of visual search. Repeating patterns of distractors (contexts) were trained incidentally as predictive of the target location. Training participants with repeating contexts of consistent configurations led to stronger contextual cuing than when participants were trained with contexts of inconsis...
متن کاملThe Role of the Hippocampus in Configural Learning
Contemporary theories of animal learning propose that memory for a specific event can be based upon either an elemental network of associations, a configural associative network or a hybrid of these possibilities. The two aims of this thesis were (1) to assess whether rats form configural representations of the spatiotemporal features of specific cues, and (2) to test the hypothesis that the hi...
متن کاملAssociative learning and perceptual style: Are associated events perceived analytically or as a whole?
The present study examined whether the formation of associations is affected by individual differences in perceptual style (analytic vs. holistic). Ninety undergraduate students were tested on their ability to associate concurrent events (i.e. word—colour) and were assessed on measures of field dependence and intelligence. The analysis revealed that analytic perceptual style (field independence...
متن کاملGender Concept “Woman” in the Minds of the Russian People (Taking the Chinese as Reference) According to an Associative Experiment
The article is devoted to the study of language representations of the concept of “woman” in the minds of the Russian and Chinese people based on a comparison of associative experiments of two languages, identifying the dynamics of the concept in the language consciousness of the people, establishing the specificity of the concept in the Russian language picture of the world referring to the Ch...
متن کاملSpatial Variability and Peak Shift: A Challenge for Elemental Associative Learning?
Recent evidence from animal research suggests that peak shift effects produced with complex pattern stimuli are influenced by the level of spatial variability over successive presentations of the stimuli. Initial attempts to explain this have relied on postulating a shift between elemental and configural representations supporting learning. Here we outline an elemental model based on contempora...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید
ثبت ناماگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید
ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- Psychological review
دوره 113 3 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2006