1
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Chromatic, achromatic and bimodal negative patterning discrimination by free-flying bumble bees. Anim Behav 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2020.09.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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2
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Becker MC, Rössler W, Strube-Bloss MF. UV-light perception is modulated by the odour element of an olfactory-visual compound in restrained honeybees. J Exp Biol 2019; 222:jeb.201483. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.201483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2019] [Accepted: 05/02/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Honeybees use visual and olfactory cues to detect flowers during foraging trips. Hence, the reward association of a nectar source is a multimodal construct which has at least two major components – olfactory and visual cues. How both sensory modalities are integrated to form a common reward association and whether and how they may interfere, is an open question. The present study used stimulation with UV, blue and green light to evoke distinct photoreceptor activities in the compound eye and two odour components (Geraniol, Citronellol). To test if a compound of both modalities is perceived as the sum of its elements (elemental processing) or as a unique cue (configural processing) we combined monochromatic light with single odour components in positive (PP) and negative patterning (NP) experiments. During PP, the compound of two modalities was rewarded, whereas the single elements were not. For NP, stimuli comprising a single modality were rewarded, whereas the olfactory-visual compound was not. Furthermore, we compared the differentiation abilities between two light stimuli with and without being part of an olfactory-visual compound. Interestingly, the behavioural performances revealed a prominent case of configural processing, but only in those cases when UV light was an element of an olfactory-visual compound. Instead, learning with green- and blue-containing compounds rather supports elemental processing theory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mira C. Becker
- Behavioral Physiology & Sociobiology (Zoology II), Biozentrum, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Rössler
- Behavioral Physiology & Sociobiology (Zoology II), Biozentrum, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Martin Fritz Strube-Bloss
- Behavioral Physiology & Sociobiology (Zoology II), Biozentrum, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074, Würzburg, Germany
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3
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Pérez OD, San Martín R, Soto FA. Exploring the Effect of Stimulus Similarity on the Summation Effect in Causal Learning. Exp Psychol 2018; 65:183-200. [PMID: 30165807 DOI: 10.1027/1618-3169/a000406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Several contemporary models anticipate that the summation effect is modulated by the similarity between the cues forming a compound. Here, we explore this hypothesis in a series of causal learning experiments. Participants were presented with two visual cues that separately predicted a common outcome and later asked for the outcome predicted by the compound of the two cues. Similarity was varied between groups through changes in shape, spatial position, color, configuration, and rotation. In variance with the predictions of these models, we observed similar and strong levels of summation in both groups across all manipulations of similarity. The effect, however, was significantly reduced by manipulations intended to impact assumptions about the causal independence of the cues forming the compound, but this reduction was independent of stimulus similarity. These results are problematic for similarity-based models and can be more readily explained by rational approaches to causal learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Omar D Pérez
- 1 Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.,2 Nuffield College CESS Santiago, Facultad de Administración y Economía, Universidad de Santiago, Santiago de Chile, Chile
| | - René San Martín
- 3 Facultad de Economía y Empresa, Centro de Neuroeconomía, Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago de Chile, Chile
| | - Fabián A Soto
- 4 Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
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4
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Mansur BE, Rodrigues JRV, Mota T. Bimodal Patterning Discrimination in Harnessed Honey Bees. Front Psychol 2018; 9:1529. [PMID: 30197616 PMCID: PMC6117423 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01529] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2018] [Accepted: 08/02/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In natural environments, stimuli and events learned by animals usually occur in a combination of more than one sensory modality. An important problem in experimental psychology has been thus to understand how organisms learn about multimodal compounds and how they discriminate this compounds from their unimodal constituents. Here we tested the ability of honey bees to learn bimodal patterning discriminations in which a visual-olfactory compound (AB) should be differentiated from its visual (A) and olfactory (B) elements. We found that harnessed bees trained in classical conditioning of the proboscis extension reflex (PER) are able to solve bimodal positive and negative patterning (NP) tasks. In positive patterning (PP), bees learned to respond significantly more to a bimodal reinforced compound (AB+) than to non-reinforced presentations of single visual (A-) or olfactory (B-) elements. In NP, bees learned to suppress their responses to a non-reinforced compound (AB-) and increase their responses to reinforced presentations of visual (A+) or olfactory (B+) elements alone. We compared the effect of two different inter-trial intervals (ITI) in our conditioning approaches. Whereas an ITI of 8 min allowed solving both PP and NP, only PP could be solved with a shorter ITI of 3 min. In all successful cases of bimodal PP and NP, bees were still able to discriminate between reinforced and non-reinforced stimuli in memory tests performed one hour after conditioning. The analysis of individual performances in PP and NP revealed that different learning strategies emerged in distinct individuals. Both in PP and NP, high levels of generalization were found between elements and compound at the individual level, suggesting a similar difficulty for bees to solve these bimodal patterning tasks. We discuss our results in light of elemental and configural learning theories that may support the strategies adopted by honey bees to solve bimodal PP or NP discriminations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Breno E Mansur
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Jean R V Rodrigues
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Theo Mota
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
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5
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Vogel EH, Ponce FP, Wagner AR. The development and present status of the SOP model of associative learning. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2018; 72:346-374. [PMID: 29741452 DOI: 10.1177/1747021818777074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The Sometimes Opponent Processes (SOP) model in its original form was especially calculated to address how expected unconditioned stimulus (US) and conditioned stimulus (CS) are rendered less effective than their novel counterparts in Pavlovian conditioning. Its several elaborations embracing the essential notion have extended the scope of the model to integrate a much greater number of phenomena of Pavlovian conditioning. Here, we trace the development of the model and add further thoughts about its extension and refinement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edgar H Vogel
- 1 Departamento de Psicología, Universidad de Talca, Talca, Chile
| | - Fernando P Ponce
- 1 Departamento de Psicología, Universidad de Talca, Talca, Chile
| | - Allan R Wagner
- 2 Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
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6
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Garcia-Retamero R. The Influence of Knowledge About Causal Mechanisms on Compound Processing. PSYCHOLOGICAL RECORD 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/bf03395578] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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7
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Thorwart A, Livesey EJ. Three Ways That Non-associative Knowledge May Affect Associative Learning Processes. Front Psychol 2016; 7:2024. [PMID: 28082943 PMCID: PMC5186804 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.02024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2016] [Accepted: 12/13/2016] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Associative learning theories offer one account of the way animals and humans assess the relationship between events and adapt their behavior according to resulting expectations. They assume knowledge about event relations is represented in associative networks, which consist of mental representations of cues and outcomes and the associative links that connect them. However, in human causal and contingency learning, many researchers have found that variance in standard learning effects is controlled by "non-associative" factors that are not easily captured by associative models. This has given rise to accounts of learning based on higher-order cognitive processes, some of which reject altogether the notion that humans learn in the manner described by associative networks. Despite the renewed focus on this debate in recent years, few efforts have been made to consider how the operations of associative networks and other cognitive operations could potentially interact in the course of learning. This paper thus explores possible ways in which non-associative knowledge may affect associative learning processes: (1) via changes to stimulus representations, (2) via changes to the translation of the associative expectation into behavior (3) via a shared source of expectation of the outcome that is sensitive to both the strength of associative retrieval and evaluation from non-associative influences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Thorwart
- Department of Psychology, Philipps-Universität MarburgMarburg, Germany
| | - Evan J. Livesey
- School of Psychology, The University of Sydney, SydneyNSW, Australia
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8
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Miniaci MC, Lippiello P, Monda M, Scotto P. Role of hippocampus in polymodal-cue guided tasks in rats. Brain Res 2016; 1646:426-432. [PMID: 27342815 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2016.06.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2015] [Revised: 05/08/2016] [Accepted: 06/20/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
To examine how signals from different sensory modalities are integrated to generate an appropriate goal-oriented behavior, we trained rats in an eight-arm radial maze to visit a cue arm provided with intramaze cues from different sensory modalities, i.e. visual, tactile and auditory, in order to obtain a reward. When the same rats were then examined on test trials in which the cue arm contained one of the stimuli that the animals were trained with (i.e. light, sound or rough sheet), they showed a significant impairment with respect to the performance on the polymodal-cue task. The contribution of the dorsal hippocampus to the acquisition and retention of polymodal-cue guided task was also examined. We found that rats with dorsal hippocampal lesions before training showed a significant deficit in the acquisition of polymodal-cue oriented task that improved with overtraining. The selective lesion of the dorsal hippocampus after training disrupted memory retention, but the animals' performance improved following retraining of the polymodal task. All hippocampal lesioned rats displayed an impaired performance on the unimodal test. These findings suggest that the dorsal hippocampus contributes to the processing of multimodal sensory information for the associative memory formation and consolidation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Marcellino Monda
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Second University of Naples, 80138 Naples, Italy
| | - Pietro Scotto
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples "Federico II", 80131 Naples, Italy
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9
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Soto FA, Quintana GR, Pérez-Acosta AM, Ponce FP, Vogel EH. Why are some dimensions integral? Testing two hypotheses through causal learning experiments. Cognition 2015; 143:163-77. [PMID: 26163820 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2015.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2014] [Revised: 05/29/2015] [Accepted: 07/01/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Compound generalization and dimensional generalization are traditionally studied independently by different groups of researchers, who have proposed separate theories to explain results from each area. A recent extension of Shepard's rational theory of dimensional generalization allows an explanation of data from both areas within a single framework. However, the conceptualization of dimensional integrality in this theory (the direction hypothesis) is different from that favored by Shepard in his original theory (the correlation hypothesis). Here, we report two experiments that test differential predictions of these two notions of integrality. Each experiment takes a design from compound generalization and translates it into a design for dimensional generalization by replacing discrete stimulus components with dimensional values. Experiment 1 showed that an effect analogous to summation is found in dimensional generalization with separable dimensions, but the opposite effect is found with integral dimensions. Experiment 2 showed that the analogue of a biconditional discrimination is solved faster when stimuli vary in integral dimensions than when stimuli vary in separable dimensions. These results, which are analogous to more "non-linear" processing with integral than with separable dimensions, were predicted by the direction hypothesis, but not by the correlation hypothesis. This confirms the assumptions of the unified rational theory of stimulus generalization and reveals interesting links between compound and dimensional generalization phenomena.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabián A Soto
- Department of Psychology, Florida International University, United States
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10
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Sanderson DJ, Cuell SF, Bannerman DM. The effect of US signalling and the US-CS interval on backward conditioning in mice. LEARNING AND MOTIVATION 2014; 48:22-32. [PMID: 25512678 PMCID: PMC4261084 DOI: 10.1016/j.lmot.2014.08.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2013] [Revised: 08/17/2014] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The effect of US signalling and the US-CS interval in backward conditioning was assessed in mice. For one group of mice the presentation of food was signalled by a tone and for another group, food was unsignalled. For half of the mice, within each group, the presentation of food preceded a visual cue by 10 s. For the other half, food was presented at the start of the visual cue (0-s US-CS interval), resulting in simultaneous pairings of these events. A summation test and a subsequent retardation test were used to assess the inhibitory effects of backward conditioning in comparison to training with a non-reinforced visual cue that controlled for the possible effects of latent inhibition and conditioned inhibition caused as a consequence of differential conditioning. In the summation test unsignalled presentations of the US resulted in inhibition when the US-CS interval was 10 s, but not 0 s. Signalled presentations of the US resulted in inhibition, independent of the US-CS interval. In the retardation test, independent of US signalling, a US-CS interval of 10 s failed to result in inhibition, but an interval of 0 s resulted in greater conditioned responding to the backward CS than the control CS. A generalisation decrement account of the effect of signalling the US with a 0-s US-CS interval, which resulted in reduced responding in the summation test and faster acquisition in the retardation test, is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- David J Sanderson
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3UD, UK
| | - Steven F Cuell
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3UD, UK
| | - David M Bannerman
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3UD, UK
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11
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Collective learning and optimal consensus decisions in social animal groups. PLoS Comput Biol 2014; 10:e1003762. [PMID: 25101642 PMCID: PMC4125046 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003762] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2013] [Accepted: 06/18/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Learning has been studied extensively in the context of isolated individuals. However, many organisms are social and consequently make decisions both individually and as part of a collective. Reaching consensus necessarily means that a single option is chosen by the group, even when there are dissenting opinions. This decision-making process decouples the otherwise direct relationship between animals' preferences and their experiences (the outcomes of decisions). Instead, because an individual's learned preferences influence what others experience, and therefore learn about, collective decisions couple the learning processes between social organisms. This introduces a new, and previously unexplored, dynamical relationship between preference, action, experience and learning. Here we model collective learning within animal groups that make consensus decisions. We reveal how learning as part of a collective results in behavior that is fundamentally different from that learned in isolation, allowing grouping organisms to spontaneously (and indirectly) detect correlations between group members' observations of environmental cues, adjust strategy as a function of changing group size (even if that group size is not known to the individual), and achieve a decision accuracy that is very close to that which is provably optimal, regardless of environmental contingencies. Because these properties make minimal cognitive demands on individuals, collective learning, and the capabilities it affords, may be widespread among group-living organisms. Our work emphasizes the importance and need for theoretical and experimental work that considers the mechanism and consequences of learning in a social context. Learning is ubiquitous among animal species, allowing individuals to adjust their behavior in response to their environment to improve their chances of survival and reproduction. However, while many animals live and make decisions within social groups, it is not well understood how associative learning functions within a social context. We describe an empirically derived model of collective learning and compare the learned performance of animals within groups to the optimal behavior for a wide range of environmental conditions and group sizes. We find that the learning rules derived from experiments with individual animals readily generalize to a social context, and these relatively simple rules result in behavior that is close to optimal, even when individuals know neither the size of their group nor the properties of environmental cues. Individuals that learn in isolation and subsequently join together as a group make substantially worse decisions. These results demonstrate the importance of learning within a collective context and highlight the need for experimental work to investigate the role of collective learning in enhancing decision accuracy in animal groups.
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12
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Lachnit H, Thorwart A, Schultheis H, Lotz A, Koenig S, Uengoer M. Indicators of early and late processing reveal the importance of within-trial-time for theories of associative learning. PLoS One 2013; 8:e66291. [PMID: 23826092 PMCID: PMC3691220 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0066291] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2012] [Accepted: 05/09/2013] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
In four human learning experiments (Pavlovian skin conductance, causal learning, speeded classification task), we evaluated several associative learning theories that assume either an elemental (modified unique cue model and Harris’ model) or a configural (Pearce’s configural theory and an extension of it) form of stimulus processing. The experiments used two modified patterning problems (A/B/C+, AB/BC/AC+ vs. ABC-; A+, BC+ vs. ABC-). Pearce’s configural theory successfully predicted all of our data reflecting early stimulus processing, while the predictions of the elemental theories were in accord with all of our data reflecting later stages of stimulus processing. Our results suggest that the form of stimulus representation depends on the amount of time available for stimulus processing. Our findings highlight the necessity to investigate stimulus processing during conditioning on a finer time scale than usually done in contemporary research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Harald Lachnit
- Fachbereich Psychologie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
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13
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Gómez-Sancho LE, Fernández-Serra F, Arias MF. Summation in autoshaping with compounds formed by the rapid alternation of elements. LEARNING AND MOTIVATION 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/j.lmot.2012.08.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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14
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Whitlow JW. A positive patterning advantage with complex but not simple patterning: a cue constellation approach. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2013; 66:2118-34. [PMID: 23506406 DOI: 10.1080/17470218.2013.773523] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Determinants of a positive patterning advantage (that is, an advantage for positive patterning over negative patterning) in human causal reasoning were examined in an experiment that compared simple patterning discriminations (A, B vs. AB) to complex patterning discriminations (AB, BC, AC vs. ABC). As predicted by a cue constellation analysis of complex discriminations, a positive patterning advantage was found with complex patterning but not with simple patterning discriminations. This result may explain why some recent studies have found a positive patterning advantage where earlier studies had failed to find one. The interaction of patterning complexity with the positive patterning advantage appears to pose problems for rule-based accounts of patterning. The results support the view that associative theories of human causal reasoning are more easily distinguished from rule-based approaches when applied to conditions that make simple rules difficult to identify or implement.
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Affiliation(s)
- J W Whitlow
- a Psychology Department , Rutgers University , Camden , NJ , USA
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15
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Redhead ES, Curtis C. Common elements enhance or retard negative patterning discrimination learning depending on modality of stimuli. LEARNING AND MOTIVATION 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/j.lmot.2012.05.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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16
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Special issue on computational models of classical conditioning guest editors' introduction. Learn Behav 2013; 40:231-40. [PMID: 22926998 DOI: 10.3758/s13420-012-0081-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
In the present special issue, the performance of current computational models of classical conditioning was evaluated under three requirements: (1) Models were to be tested against a list of previously agreed-upon phenomena; (2) the parameters were fixed across simulations; and (3) the simulations used to test the models had to be made available. These requirements resulted in three major products: (a) a list of fundamental classical-conditioning results for which there is a consensus about their reliability; (b) the necessary information to evaluate each of the models on the basis of its ordinal successes in accounting for the experimental data; and (c) a repository of computational models ready to generate simulations. We believe that the contents of this issue represent the 2012 state of the art in computational modeling of classical conditioning and provide a way to find promising avenues for future model development.
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Abstract
We present and test an instance model of associative learning. The model, Minerva-AL, treats associative learning as cued recall. Memory preserves the events of individual trials in separate traces. A probe presented to memory contacts all traces in parallel and retrieves a weighted sum of the traces, a structure called the echo. Learning of a cue-outcome relationship is measured by the cue's ability to retrieve a target outcome. The theory predicts a number of associative learning phenomena, including acquisition, extinction, reacquisition, conditioned inhibition, external inhibition, latent inhibition, discrimination, generalization, blocking, overshadowing, overexpectation, superconditioning, recovery from blocking, recovery from overshadowing, recovery from overexpectation, backward blocking, backward conditioned inhibition, and second-order retrospective revaluation. We argue that associative learning is consistent with an instance-based approach to learning and memory.
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Soto FA, Vogel EH, Castillo RD, Wagner AR. Generality of the summation effect in human causal learning. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2008; 62:877-89. [PMID: 19048450 DOI: 10.1080/17470210802373688] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Considerable research has examined the contrasting predictions of the elemental and configural association theories proposed by Rescorla and Wagner (1972) and Pearce (1987), respectively. One simple method to distinguish between these approaches is the summation test, in which the associative strength attributed to a novel compound of two separately trained cues is examined. Under common assumptions, the configural view predicts that the strength of the compound will approximate to the average strength of its components, whereas the elemental approach predicts that the strength of the compound will be greater than the strength of either component. Different studies have produced mixed outcomes. In studies of human causal learning, Collins and Shanks (2006) suggested that the observation of summation is encouraged by training, in which different stimuli are associated with different submaximal outcomes, and by testing, in which the alternative outcomes can be scaled. The reported experiments further pursued this reasoning. In Experiment 1, summation was more substantial when the participants were trained with outcomes identified as submaximal than when trained with simple categorical (presence/absence) outcomes. Experiments 2 and 3 demonstrated that summation can also be obtained with categorical outcomes during training, if the participants are encouraged by instruction or the character of training to rate the separately trained components with submaximal ratings. The results are interpreted in terms of apparent performance constraints in evaluations of the contrasting theoretical predictions concerning summation.
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19
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Similarity and discrimination learning in humans. Behav Processes 2008; 79:114-9. [PMID: 18619526 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2008.05.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2007] [Revised: 05/27/2008] [Accepted: 05/29/2008] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
In an experiment involving a new behavioural preparation the role played by similarity in discrimination learning was examined using visual patterns (i.e., paintings) that might share common elements (specifically, A, BC, and ABC). A-C were small stars of three specific colours (target colours), which were intermixed with other stars of two different colours (distracting colours). The target colours were balanced through A-C. Students received discrimination training in which a fictitious painter was the author of paintings A and BC, while paintings ABC were assigned to a second fictitious painter. During training, the students had to make a choice, in the presence of each pattern, between two response keys, each of them indicating one of the painters. The time taken to respond was also measured. Feedback was always given after each key-press. The results showed that while at times the A+ ABC- discrimination was acquired more readily than was the BC+ ABC- discrimination, on other occasions the reverse was also true, the critical factor being the way in which the colours were combined.
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Melchers KG, Shanks DR, Lachnit H. Stimulus coding in human associative learning: Flexible representations of parts and wholes. Behav Processes 2008; 77:413-27; discussion 451-3. [PMID: 18031954 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2007.09.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2006] [Revised: 09/28/2007] [Accepted: 09/28/2007] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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21
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Redhead ES. Multimodal discrimination learning in humans: evidence for configural theory. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2007; 60:1477-95. [PMID: 17853209 DOI: 10.1080/17470210601154560] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Human contingency learning was used to compare the predictions of configural and elemental theories. In three experiments, participants were required to learn which indicators were associated with an increase in core temperature of a fictitious nuclear plant. Experiments 1 and 2 investigated the rate at which a triple-element stimulus (ABC) could be discriminated from either single-element stimuli (A, B, and C) or double-element stimuli (AB, BC, and AC). Experiment 1 used visual stimuli, whilst Experiment 2 used visual, auditory, and tactile stimuli. In both experiments the participants took longer to discriminate the triple-element stimulus from the more similar double-element stimuli than from the less similar single-element stimuli. Experiment 3 tested for summation with stimuli from either a single or multiple modalities, and summation was found only in the latter case. Thus, the pattern of results seen in Experiments 1 and 2 was not dependent on whether the stimuli were single modal or multimodal, nor was it dependent on whether the stimuli could elicit summation. This pattern of results is consistent with predictions derived from Pearce's (1987, 1994) configural theory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edward S Redhead
- School of Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
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22
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Abstract
In the three quarters of a century following Pavlov's work, the accumulation of factual information about classical conditioning has continued, but there has been little conceptual progress. The only thing we have now that approximates a workable general theory of conditioning was introduced more than 30 years ago and continues to receive a good deal of respectful consideration despite a variety of generally recognized shortcomings that little has been done to repair; nor does a systematic review of recent papers in leading journals give any good reason to think that a more satisfactory theory is in the making. A remedial strategy, recommended long ago by C. L. Hull and by E. R. Hilgard, is proposed and exemplified by some research with honeybees.
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Willams DA, Gawel JD, Mehta R, Reimer S. Resistance to interference in complex negative patterning. Learn Behav 2006; 33:417-27. [PMID: 16573212 DOI: 10.3758/bf03193180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Resistance to interference was examined in rats that received a complex negative patterning discrimination in which XA and XB were followed by food reinforcement and XAB was not Retention of the discrimination was evident after separate reinforcement of both A and B (Experiment 3), but not after reinforcement of either AB (Experiments 1 and 3) or XAB (Experiments 2 and 3). These data suggest that complex negative patterning discriminations are acquired configurally and that the relative similarity of the original discrimination and subsequent interference trials dictates the final degree of retention observed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Douglas A Willams
- Psychology Department, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
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Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin A Harris
- School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
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25
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Beran MJ, Beran MM, Harris EH, Washburn DA. Ordinal judgments and summation of nonvisible sets of food items by two chimpanzees and a rhesus macaque. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2005; 31:351-62. [PMID: 16045389 DOI: 10.1037/0097-7403.31.3.351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Two chimpanzees and a rhesus macaque rapidly learned the ordinal relations between 5 colors of containers (plastic eggs) when all containers of a given color contained a specific number of identical food items. All 3 animals also performed at high levels when comparing sets of containers with sets of visible food items. This indicates that the animals learned the approximate quantity of food items in containers of a given color. However, all animals failed in a summation task, in which a single container was compared with a set of 2 containers of a lesser individual quantity but a greater combined quantity. This difficulty was not overcome by sequential presentation of containers into opaque receptacles, but performance improved if the quantitative difference between sizes was very large.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael J Beran
- Language Research Center, Georgia State University, Decatur, 30034, USA.
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26
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Melchers KG, Lachnit H, Üngör M, Shanks DR. Prior experience can influence whether the whole is different from the sum of its parts. LEARNING AND MOTIVATION 2005. [DOI: 10.1016/j.lmot.2004.06.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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27
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Abstract
Two experiments required volunteers to learn which of various "planes" caused high levels of pollution. Novel test items were then rated as causes of pollution. Items created by adding novel features were rated at the same level as that of the original training items but items created by removing features received reduced ratings. This asymmetry of generalization decrement was not predicted by a well-known configural model of stimulus representation (Pearce, 1987, 1994) but was predicted by a recently proposed model of stimulus representation, the replaced-elements model (Brandon, Vogel, & Wagner, 2000).
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28
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Past experience influences the processing of stimulus compounds in human Pavlovian conditioning. LEARNING AND MOTIVATION 2004. [DOI: 10.1016/s0023-9690(03)00044-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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29
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Vogel EH, Castro ME, Saavedra MA. Quantitative models of Pavlovian conditioning. Brain Res Bull 2004; 63:173-202. [PMID: 15145138 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2004.01.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2003] [Revised: 01/19/2004] [Accepted: 01/25/2004] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Over the last few years, research on learning and memory has become increasingly interdisciplinary. In the past, theories of learning, as a prerogative of psychologists, were generally formulated in purely verbal terms and evaluated exclusively at the behavioral level. At present, scientists are trying to build theories with a quantitative and biological flavor, seeking to embrace more complex behavioral phenomena. Pavlovian conditioning, one of the simplest and ubiquitous forms of learning, is especially suited for this multiple level analysis (i.e., quantitative, neurobiological, and behavioral), in part because of recent discoveries showing a correspondence between behavioral phenomena and associative properties at the cellular and systems levels, and in part because of its well established quantitative theoretical tradition. The present review, examines the mayor quantitative theories of Pavlovian conditioning and the phenomena to which they have been designed to account. In order to provide researchers from different disciplines with a simple guideline about the rationale of the different theoretical choices, all the models are described through a single formalism based on the neural network connectionist perspective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edgar H Vogel
- Departamento de Psicología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Católica del Maule, Avenida San Miguel, 3605 Talca, Chile.
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30
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Lachnit H, Giurfa M, Menzel R. Odor Processing in Honeybees: Is the Whole Equal to, More Than, or Different from the Sum of Its Parts? ADVANCES IN THE STUDY OF BEHAVIOR 2004. [DOI: 10.1016/s0065-3454(04)34006-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/24/2023]
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31
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Bonney KR, Wynne CDL. Configural learning in two species of marsupial (Setonix brachyurus and Sminthopsis crassicaudata). J Comp Psychol 2003; 117:188-99. [PMID: 12856789 DOI: 10.1037/0735-7036.117.2.188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Four experiments examined the ability of quokkas (Setonix brachyurus) and fat-tailed dunnarts (Sminthopsis crassicaudata) to solve 2 configural tasks: transverse and negative patterning. Transverse patterning requires the simultaneous solution of 3 overlapping discrimination problems (A+ B-, B+ C-, C+ A-). Both species could solve the nonoverlapping (elemental) version of this task (U+ V-, W+ X-, Y+ Z-), but only dunnarts solved the transverse patterning task. Negative patterning requires conditioned responses to 2 stimuli when presented separately but not together (A+, B+, AB-). Both species formed a selective conditioned response to A+ and B+ stimuli and inhibited responding to a simple nonreinforced stimulus (C-), but only dunnarts successfully inhibited responding to the AB- compound to solve the negative patterning task. These experiments are the first to demonstrate configural learning in a marsupial.
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Affiliation(s)
- K R Bonney
- Department of Psychology, Nedlands, Australia.
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32
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Mason CR, Idrobo F, Early SJ, Abibi A, Zheng L, Harrison JM, Carney LH. CS-dependent response probability in an auditory masked-detection task: considerations based on models of Pavlovian conditioning. THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY. B, COMPARATIVE AND PHYSIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY 2003; 56:193-205. [PMID: 12791568 DOI: 10.1080/02724990244000052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/20/2023]
Abstract
Experimental studies were performed using a Pavlovian-conditioned eyeblink response to measure detection of a variable-sound-level tone (T) in a fixed-sound-level masking noise (N) in rabbits. Results showed an increase in the asymptotic probability of conditioned responses (CRs) to the reinforced TN trials and a decrease in the asymptotic rate of eyeblink responses to the non-reinforced N presentations as a function of the sound level of the T. These observations are consistent with expected behaviour in an auditory masked detection task, but they are not consistent with predictions from a traditional application of the Rescorla-Wagner or Pearce models of associative learning. To implement these models, one typically considers only the actual stimuli and reinforcement on each trial. We found that by considering perceptual interactions and concepts from signal detection theory, these models could predict the CS dependence on the sound level of the T. In these alternative implementations, the animals response probabilities were used as a guide in making assumptions about the "effective stimuli".
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Deisig N, Lachnit H, Sandoz JC, Lober K, Giurfa M. A modified version of the unique cue theory accounts for olfactory compound processing in honeybees. Learn Mem 2003; 10:199-208. [PMID: 12773584 PMCID: PMC202310 DOI: 10.1101/lm.55803] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2002] [Accepted: 03/13/2003] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
We investigated the capability of honeybees to discriminate between single odorants, binary olfactory mixtures, and ternary olfactory mixtures in olfactory conditioning of the proboscis extension reflex. In Experiment 1, three single odorants (A+, B+, and C+) and three binary mixtures of these odors (AB+, AC+, and BC+) were reinforced while the ternary compound, consisting of all three odors (ABC-), was nonreinforced. In Experiment 2, only one single odorant (A+) and one binary olfactory compound (BC+) were reinforced while the ternary compound (ABC-) consisting of the single odor and the binary compound was nonreinforced. We studied whether bees can solve these problems and whether the course of differentiation can be predicted by the unique cue theory, a modified unique cue theory, or Pearce's configural theory. Honeybees were not able to differentiate reinforced from nonreinforced stimuli in Experiment 1. However, summation to ABC observed at the beginning of training contradicts the predictions of Pearce's configural theory. In Experiment 2, differentiation between the single odorant A and the ternary compound developed more easily than between the binary compound BC and ABC. This pattern of differentiation is in line with a modified unique cue theory and Pearce's configural theory. Summation to ABC at the beginning of training, however, again was at odds with Pearce's configural theory. Thus, olfactory compound processing in honeybees can best be explained by a modified unique cue theory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nina Deisig
- Neurobiology, Institute of Biology, Free University of Berlin, D-14195 Berlin, Germany
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34
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Abstract
We report three Pavlovian eyelid conditioning experiments with humans, designed to experimentally decide between elemental and configural learning theories. We used two different designs originally proposed by Redhead and Pearce (1995). In Experiments 1 and 2, three stimulus elements, A, B, and C, were presented in all possible combinations. All patterns were reinforced except for pattern ABC (A/B/C+, AB/AC/BC+, ABC-). According to elemental learning theories, response proportions on A/B/C+ trials should be smaller than on AB/AC/BC+ trials, whereas configural learning theory makes the opposite prediction. The results confirmed neither prediction. In Experiment 3, the A/B/C+, AB/AC/BC+, and ABC- trials were interspersed by D/E/F-, DE/DF/EF-, DEF+ trials. Again, neither prediction was confirmed. We suggest a modification of configural learning theory as a possible explanation of our results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annette Kinder
- Department of Psychology, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
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35
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Wagner AR. Context-sensitive elemental theory. THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY. B, COMPARATIVE AND PHYSIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY 2003; 56:7-29. [PMID: 12623534 DOI: 10.1080/02724990244000133] [Citation(s) in RCA: 111] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
My theories of associative learning, like those of N. J. Mackintosh and almost all learning theorists, have employed elemental representations of the stimuli involved. We must take notice when two important contributors to elemental theory, J. M. Pearce and W. K. Estes, find sufficient problems with the theory type to cause them to defect from it. I will describe some of the essential problems, concerning the substantial influence of context on learning and retrieval, characterize the different responses of Pearce and Estes, and, then, propose a variation on a recently developed elemental model that was similarly inspired. The resulting elemental theory has a close quantitative relationship to the product-rule of Estes and D. L. Medin, and may help us to rationalize how the same formal experimental design can sometimes produce results that favour the configural interpretation of Pearce and at other times the elemental interpretation of R. A. Rescorla and A. R. Wagner, as these have often been pitted against each other.
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Affiliation(s)
- Allan R Wagner
- Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA.
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36
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Pearce JM, George DN. The effects of using stimuli from three different dimensions on autoshaping with a complex negative patterning discrimination. THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY. B, COMPARATIVE AND PHYSIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY 2002; 55:349-64. [PMID: 12350286 DOI: 10.1080/02724990244000061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
In two experiments pigeons received a complex negative patterning discrimination, using autoshaping, in which food was made available after three stimuli if they were presented alone (A, B, C), or in pairs (AB, AC, BC), but not when they were all presented together (ABC). Subjects also received a positive patterning discrimination in which three additional stimuli were not followed by food when presented alone (D, E, F), or in pairs (DE, DF, EF), but they were followed by food when presented together (DEF). Stimuli A and D belonged to one dimension, B and E to a second dimension, and D and F to a third dimension. For both problems, the discrimination between the individual stimuli and the triple-element compounds developed more readily than that between the pairs of stimuli and the triple-element compound. The results are consistent with predictions that can be derived from a configural theory of conditioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- John M Pearce
- School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF10 3YG Wales, UK.
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37
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McLaren IPL, Mackintosh NJ. Associative learning and elemental representation: II. Generalization and discrimination. ANIMAL LEARNING & BEHAVIOR 2002; 30:177-200. [PMID: 12391785 DOI: 10.3758/bf03192828] [Citation(s) in RCA: 167] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
This paper follows on from an earlier companion paper (McLaren & Mackintosh, 2000), in which we further developed the elemental associative theory put forward in McLaren, Kaye, and Mackintosh (1989). Here, we begin by explicating the idea that stimuli can be represented as patterns of activation distributed across a set of units and that different stimuli activate partially overlapping sets (the degree of overlap being proportional to the similarity of the stimuli). A consequence of this view is that the overall level of activity of some of the units representing a stimulus may be dependent on the nature of the other stimuli present at the same time. This allows an elemental analysis in which provision for the representation of configurations of stimuli is made. A selective review of studies of generalization and discrimination learning, including peak shift, transfer along a continuum, configural discrimination, and summation, suggests that the principles embodied in this class of theory deserve careful consideration and will form part of any successful model of associative learning in humans or animals. There are some phenomena that require an elemental/associative explanation.
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38
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Pearce JM. Evaluation and development of a connectionist theory of configural learning. ANIMAL LEARNING & BEHAVIOR 2002; 30:73-95. [PMID: 12141138 DOI: 10.3758/bf03192911] [Citation(s) in RCA: 141] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
A configural theory of associative learning is described that is based on the assumption that conditioning results in associations between the unconditioned stimulus and a representation of the entire pattern of stimulation that was present prior to its delivery. Configural theory was formulated originally to account for generalization and discrimination in Pavlovian conditioning. The first part of the article demonstrates how this theory can be used to explain results from studies of overshadowing, blocking, summation, and discrimination learning. The second part of the article shows how the theory can be developed to explain a broader range of phenomena, including mediated conditioning, reinforcer devaluation effects, the differential outcomes effect, acquired equivalence, sensory preconditioning, and structural discriminations.
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Affiliation(s)
- John M Pearce
- Institute for Advanced Study, University of Indiana, Bloomington, USA.
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39
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Lachnit H, Lober K. What is learned in patterning discriminations? Further tests of configural accounts of associative learning in human electrodermal conditioning. Biol Psychol 2001; 56:45-61. [PMID: 11240314 DOI: 10.1016/s0301-0511(00)00087-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Two Pavlovian SCR conditioning experiments investigated positive and negative patterning discriminations in humans by means of transfer tests. In Experiment 1, positive patterning (A-,B-,AB+) was trained interleaved with non-reinforced presentations of an additional stimulus (C-). Then responding to new compounds consisting of either already trained elements (AC,BC) or new elements (DE) was examined. In Experiment 2, negative patterning (A+,B+,AB-) was trained interleaved with reinforced presentations of an additional stimulus (C+). Again, we examined responding to new compounds consisting of either already trained elements (AC,BC) or new elements (DE). In both experiments the initial patterning discrimination was solved successfully. The response patterns to the test compounds in both experiments were in contradiction to configural accounts of associative learning. In positive patterning human participants seemed to utilize 'number' or some other abstract feature in preference to available concrete stimuli. In negative patterning the abstract dimension of 'separate-versus-together' or 'opposite' was used.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Lachnit
- Department of Psychology, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Gutenbergstr. 18, D-35039, Marburg, Germany.
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