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Associative Learning

Associative Learning. Psychology 3906. Introduction. Every species tested seems to show some form of associative learning There are many possible responses Are they all served by some overarching ‘associative learning system?’. Constraints.

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Associative Learning

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  1. Associative Learning Psychology 3906

  2. Introduction • Every species tested seems to show some form of associative learning • There are many possible responses • Are they all served by some overarching ‘associative learning system?’

  3. Constraints • Early on (meaning the 1960s….) people looked at so called constraints • Taste aversions • “Misbeahviour” • The whole notion of adaptive specializations of learning • Not really a clear research program

  4. More recently.. • The modular view has helped out here • Intelligence is modular • Memory, for example, has many subsystems, we accept that easily • Same with perception • So learning may as well

  5. What is learning? • Some event at time 1 affects behaviour at time 2 • Probably the best definition out there, though there are others • Bob Rescorla

  6. What are we interested in? • Conditions for learning • Contents of learning • Effects on behaviour

  7. Conditions for learning • Contingency • The “Rescorla control” vs conditioned inhibition • Compounding • Features and blocking • Surprisingness

  8. The Model: • ΔVi – Si(Aj-Vsum) • i = CS • j = US • S = Salience • A = Value of the US • V = amount of conditioning • These quantities are, of course, hypothetical

  9. An example • OK, say a food pellet = 100 • Say salience of a light CS = .2 • Vsum = 0 (at the start of the experiment, there is no conditioning yet

  10. OK, now for the numbers • Trial 1 • ΔVi – Si(Aj-Vsum) =.2(100 – 0) =20 • Trial 2 ΔVi = .2(100-20) =16

  11. Continued…. • Trial 3 ΔVi = Si(Aj-Vsum) ΔVi = .2(100-36) 12.8 • And so on…. • Less and less conditioning as time goes by • Cool eh

  12. More on conditions • Gallistel’s model is more to do with duration of events and number of pairings • Events have to “go together” • Preparedness • Belongingness • No model deals with that well at all

  13. I just want to belong to something…. • Spatial and temporal contiguity can be considered types of belongingness • Think about backwards conditioning, it never works • When you look at these two types of contiguity from a functional viewpoint it makes a great deal fo sense

  14. Prior learning affects new learning

  15. The contents of learning • Is it an association between stimuli? • Is it an association between a stimulus and a response? • It seems to depend on the preparation • How in the hell could you tell? • As usual, Bob Rescorla figured this out…

  16. UR US CS S-S and S-R

  17. If we could just get rid of that US – UR bond….. UR US CS

  18. Rescrola (1973) • So, how do you get rid of a response that is hard wired to a stimulus? • Well, if you use CER, then your response is startle right? • How do you get rid of a startle reflex? • Habituation!! • (Bob is a smart man)

  19. Design

  20. Results • Less suppression in Habituation group • (In other words, more responding) • Therefore, the connection MUST be S – S • WOW!

  21. But, after all of that…. • Need it be a connection? • Gallistel says that it is contingency itself that is learned • Different features of the CS and US are learned • Holland’s experiment

  22. Effects on Behaviour • Learning vs. performance • The Behaviour system approach • Are Pavlovian and Instrumental learning different? • Operationally of course yes • But, what about occasion setting and within event learning

  23. In sum • It may simply be that most types of what we call associative learning use many of the same modules • Cause effect realationships • Patterns • Predicting the future is pretty adaptive

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