Associative Learning Theory Research Articles

Extinction induced representational change.

Extinction may alter the representation of a cue (e.g., it becomes less salient). To assess that idea, three groups learned to suppress mouse clicking in a video game in negative-patterning (X+/Y+/XY-) and positive-patterning (Z+/W+/ZW++) discriminations followed by extinction of X and Z. The negative-patterning discrimination should depend on a configural cue that is dependent on the representation of X and Y. Removal of the excitatory influence of X should further reduce responding to XY. In contrast, if extinction alters the representation of X, the original XY configural cue supporting the discrimination should also be changed, affecting inhibitory control, increasing responding to XY. Following patterning, groups received extinction in the same context as training (Ext A), a different context (Ext B), or received no extinction (no extinction). All stimuli were tested in Context A. Group no extinction showed negative patterning; suppression to X and Y was greater than to XY while suppression to Z, W, and ZW was equally strong. In group Ext A extinction reduced suppression to X, increased suppression to XY, reversed the X/XY discrimination, and weakened the Y/XY discrimination. Extinction of Z reduced suppression to Z with no effect on W or ZW. Group Ext B showed renewal of X and a renewal of the X/XY and Y/XY discriminations. Results suggest some form of representational change in X occurred during extinction disrupting the original XY configural cue that was dependent on that representation. Findings are discussed with respect to theories of associative learning. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Learning motivation of college students in multimedia environment with machine learning models

As the main force of higher education, ensuring the learning status and quality of college students is undoubtedly an important task in the education industry. Analyzing their learning motivation can provide a good understanding of their learning status. Especially in the new educational environment supported by multimedia technology, efficient and convenient learning channels can eliminate students' concerns about educational facilities and instead strengthen the analysis of learning motivation in other aspects. As part of our comprehensive study of learning motivation, we draw on established learning theories, such as reinforcement theory, associative learning, and self-determination theory. Applying such learning theories encourages positive reinforcement, establishes constructive relationships with learning, and nurtures competence and autonomy. This article believed that using machine learning models to predict students' grades or behaviours and analyze their learning motivation is a good approach. Moreover, this article also tested the prediction accuracy by setting different improved random forest model runs, and concluded that the more runs, the higher the accuracy. Especially when the runs reached 100, the accuracy reached 99.98 %.

How Cause-Related Marketing Might Improve Purchase Intention in Emerging Countries: A Two-Lag Study in the Finance Service Sector

For businesses in emerging countries, often confronted with important social and development challenges, cause-related marketing (CRM) might help to improve their market share in demonstrating corporate social responsibility. This study explores the relationship between CRM bringing up the issue of COVID-19 and purchase intention among consumers of banking services in an emerging country. We collect data through two survey studies (303 and 506 respondents) using a 3-month time-lagged design. Results show the relevance of associative learning and signal theories in confirming (1) the positive sequential mediating effect of brand association and commitment on the relationships between CRM bringing up the issue of COVID-19 and purchase intention and (2) the moderating positive impact of corporate image on the relationships between CRM bringing up the issue of COVID-19 and consumer brand association. Our findings encourage firms in emerging countries to use CRM, but governments should also incentivize or support adopting socially responsible practices.

Beyond reconsolidation: The need for a broad theoretical approach in clinical translations of research on retrieval-induced plasticity.

Experimental findings showing that retrieved memories are labile and vulnerable to disruption have led to important theoretical ideas at a basic science level that have been applied to the clinic at a translational level. At a theoretical level, these findings suggest that retrieved memories can be modulated by behavioral or pharmacological treatments as they are reconsolidated and returned to storage. At a clinical level, these findings suggest that treatments that target reconsolidation may help dampen or even erase especially problematic memories, such as those associated with trauma. However, there are many caveats to these effects and issues that need to be considered when thinking broadly about retrieval-induced plasticity and extensions into the clinic. First, performance during a memory test often does not reflect the entirety of the animal's knowledge about a situation; asking questions in different ways may reveal the presence of a memory that was thought to be eliminated. Second, although reconsolidation and extinction are often treated as competing processes, there is abundant evidence that extinction can progress through associative and nonassociative changes in the original memory that are often described in terms of reconsolidation effects. Third, targeting a reconsolidation process as a therapeutic may not be helpful in disorders like posttraumatic stress disorder, in which traumatic experiences induce a cascade of symptoms that are self-perpetuating and may ultimately maintain themselves long after trauma. Underlying all of these challenges is the need for a rich theoretical framework focused on retrieval-induced plasticity that is informed by developments in associative learning theory. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

A psychological mechanism for the development of anxiety.

Although numerous behavioral constructs have been proposed to account for anxiety disorders, how these disorders develop within an individual has been difficult to predict. In this perspective, I selectively review clinical and experimental evidence suggesting that avoidance (i.e., safety) behavior increases beliefs of threat or fear. The experimental evidence has been replicated numerous times, with different parameters, and shows that when human participants emit avoidance responses in the presence of a neutral stimulus, they later show heightened expectations of threat in the presence of the neutral stimulus. I interpret these findings as resulting from prediction errors as anticipated by the Rescorla-Wagner model, although other animal learning theories can also predict the phenomenon. I discuss some implications and offer a few novel predictions. The analysis presented here sheds light on a phenomenon of theoretical and clinical relevance which is accommodated by basic associative learning theory. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Prediction, perception, and psychosis: Application of associative learning theories to schizophrenia research.

In recent years, there have been significant advances in our understanding of the positive symptoms of schizophrenia, such as hallucinations and delusions. This progress has been significantly aided by the use of associative learning-based approaches in human subjects and preclinical animal models. Here, we first review experimental research focusing on the abnormal processing of absent stimuli using three different conditioning phenomena: conditioned hallucinations, mediated conditioning, and trace conditioning. We then review studies investigating the ability to reduce focal processing of physically present but informationally redundant stimuli using habituation, latent inhibition, and blocking. The results of these different lines of research are then summarized within the framework of Wagner's (1981) standard operating procedures model, an associative learning model with explicit reference to the internal representations of both present and absent stimuli. Within this framework, the central deficit associated with positive symptoms can be described as a failure to suppress the focal processing of both absent stimuli and present but irrelevant stimuli. This can explain the wide range of results obtained in different experimental settings. Finally, we briefly discuss the role of the hippocampus and its interaction with dopaminergic transmission in the emergence of such abnormal stimulus representations and learning. Overall, we hope that the theoretical framework and empirical findings offered by the associative learning approach will continue to facilitate and integrate analyses of schizophrenia conducted at the psychological and behavioral levels on the one hand, and at the neural and molecular levels on the other, by serving as a useful interface between them. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Associative Visuomotor Learning Using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Induces Stimulus-Response Interference.

Classical conditioning states that the systematic co-occurrence of a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus can cause the neutral stimulus to, over time, evoke the same response as the unconditioned stimulus. On a neural level, Hebbian learning suggests that this type of learning occurs through changes in synaptic plasticity when two neurons are simultaneously active, resulting in increased connectivity between them. Inspired by associative learning theories, we here investigated whether the mere co-activation of visual stimuli and stimulation of the primary motor cortex using TMS would result in stimulus-response associations that can impact future behavior. During a learning phase, we repeatedly paired the presentation of a specific color (but not other colors) with a TMS pulse over the motor cortex. Next, participants performed a two-alternative forced-choice task where they had to categorize simple shapes and we studied whether the shapes' task-irrelevant color (and its potentially associated involuntary motor activity) affected the required motor response. Participants showed more errors on incongruent trials for stimuli that were previously paired with high intensity TMS pulses, but only when tested on the same day. Using a drift diffusion model for conflict tasks, we further demonstrate that this interference occurred early, and gradually increased as a function of associated TMS intensity. Taken together, our findings show that the human brain can learn stimulus-response associations using externally induced motor cortex stimulation. Although we were inspired by the Hebbian learning literature, future studies should investigate whether Hebbian or other learning processes were also what brought about this effect.

Disinhibition account of the conditioned response (DACR).

Pavlovian conditioning is widely used to study the substrates of learning and memory in the mammalian brain. In a standard protocol, subjects are exposed to pairings of a conditioned stimulus (CS; e.g., a tone) with an unconditioned stimulus (US; e.g., an electric shock). Subsequent presentations of the CS elicit a range of behaviors that relate to the US (e.g., freezing) showing that animals learned the CS-US relation. However, it is still unclear how neuronal activity pertaining to the CS comes to excite a representation of the US, and thereby, conditioned responses. The current analysis of this problem, based on neurophysiological evidence, views Pavlovian conditioning as a process of facilitating the disinhibition, rather than the excitation, of neuronal responses representing the US. Conversely, Pavlovian extinction is viewed as a process of relearning to inhibit neuronal responses representing the US. We propose a mathematical equation that confirms the predictions made by this novel perspective on Pavlovian conditioning when applied to conditioning phenomena that fall beyond classic associative learning theories. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The evolutionary origins ofthe Global Neuronal Workspace invertebrates.

The Global Neuronal Workspace theory of consciousness offers an explicit functional architecture that relates consciousness to cognitive abilities such as perception, attention, memory, and evaluation. We show that the functional architecture of the Global Neuronal Workspace, which is based mainly on human studies, corresponds to the cognitive-affective architecture proposed by the Unlimited Associative Learning theory that describes minimal consciousness. However, we suggest that when applied to basal vertebrates, both models require important modifications to accommodate what has been learned about the evolution of the vertebrate brain. Most importantly, comparative studies suggest that in basal vertebrates, the Global Neuronal Workspace is instantiated by the event memory system found in the hippocampal homolog. This proposal has testable predictions and implications for understanding hippocampal and cortical functions, the evolutionary relations between memory and consciousness, and the evolution of unified perception.

Landmark Distance Impacts the Overshadowing Effect in Spatial Learning Using a Virtual Water Maze Task with Healthy Adults.

Cue competition is a key element of many associative theories of learning. Overshadowing, an important aspect of cue competition, is a phenomenon in which learning about a cue is reduced when it is accompanied by a second cue. Overshadowing has been observed across many domains, but there has been limited investigation of overshadowing in human spatial learning. This experiment explored overshadowing using two landmarks/cues (at different distances to the goal) in a virtual water maze task with young, healthy adult participants. Experiment 1 initially examined whether the cues used were equally salient. Results indicated that both gained equal control over performance. In experiment 2, overshadowing was examined using the two cues from experiment 1. Results indicated that overshadowing occurred during spatial learning and that the near cue controlled searching significantly more than the far cue. Furthermore, the far cue appeared to have been completely ignored, suggesting that learning strategies requiring the least amount of effort were employed by participants. Evidence supporting an associative account of human spatial navigation and the influence of proximal cues was discussed.

Learning to Name Uppercase and Lowercase Letters in Preschoolers and Kindergarteners: An Investigation of the Effects of Child- and Letter-Related Factors

ABSTRACT Research Findings: Letter name knowledge (LNK) is essential for a good start in learning to read. However, the literature shows conflicting results. Using an associative learning theory framework, the present study examined the influence of child and letter characteristics on LNK in French-speaking children. Children aged 3 to 5–6 years were asked to name the 26 letters of the alphabet printed in uppercase (Study 1) or printed or cursive lowercase (Study 2). Several effects on their naming scores were tested: gender, letters in the first name, letter frequency in print, letter rank in the alphabet, shape similarity between letter cases, and phonological effects related to letter name type. Learning to name uppercase letters relied primarily on knowledge of the personal name letters, whereas learning to name lowercase letters relied heavily on the similarity in shape of these letters to their uppercase counterparts (or for cursive letters, to their lowercase printed analogs). Practice or Policy: Some practical consequences are drawn from the associative learning perspective, such as pairing uppercase and lowercase letters with their name and sound at the same time. In addition, grouping letters according to their shape stability through their case may be an advantageous strategy for teaching letter names.

Category relevance attenuates overshadowing in human predictive learning.

In situations in which multiple predictors anticipate the presence or absence of an outcome, cues compete to anticipate the outcome, resulting in a loss of associative strength compared to control conditions without additional cues. Critically, there are multiple factors modulating the magnitude and direction of such competition, although in some scenarios the effect of these factors remains unexplored. We sought to assess whether the relative salience of the elements in a compound of cues modulates the magnitude of the overshadowing effect in human predictive learning. Two separable categories (i.e., colors and symbols) were used in a predictive learning task. In Experiment 1, different groups of participants were granted with different time of exposure to a compound of cues belonging to different categories (color and symbol) to evaluate potential differences in the magnitude of overshadowing. Furthermore, we used posttest questionnaires to assess whether participants used either only one or both categories during training, and assessed if this impacted the magnitude of overshadowing. In general, overshadowing was not modulated by the time of exposition, except in the case of very short time of exposition with prominent learning about the most salient category. In Experiment 2, the relative salience of a category was biased via prior experience either with a biconditional discrimination or attending only the relevant category (either color or symbol). The previously relevant category was less prone to overshadowing, but not the alternative one. Results are discussed in light of attentional and configural theories of associative learning. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Blunted Expected Reward Value Signals in Binge Alcohol Drinkers.

Alcohol-related morbidities and mortality are highly prevalent, increasing the burden to societies and health systems with 3 million deaths globally each year in young adults directly attributable to alcohol. Cue-induced alcohol craving has been formulated as a type of aberrant associative learning, modeled using temporal difference theory with an expected reward value (ERV) linked to craving. Clinically, although harmful use of alcohol is associated with increased time spent obtaining and using alcohol, it is also associated with self-neglect. The latter implies that the motivational aspects of nonalcohol stimuli are blunted. Using an instrumental learning task with non-alcohol-related stimuli, here, we tested hypotheses that the encoding of cue signals (ERV) predicting reward delivery would be blunted in binge alcohol drinkers in both sexes. We also predicted that for the binge drinking group alone, ratings of problematic alcohol use would correlate with abnormal ERV signals consistent with between groups (i.e., binge drinkers vs controls) abnormalities. Our results support our hypotheses with the ERV (nonalcohol cue) signal blunted in binge drinkers and with the magnitude of the abnormality correlating with ratings of problematic alcohol use. This implies that consistent with hypotheses, the motivational aspects of non-alcohol-related stimuli are blunted in binge drinkers. A better understanding of the mechanisms of harmful alcohol use will, in time, facilitate the development of more effective interventions, which should aim to decrease the motivational value of alcohol and increase the motivational value of non-alcohol-related stimuli.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Allostasis theory predicts specific abnormalities in brain function and subjective experiences that occur when people develop drug problems including addiction. Cue-induced alcohol craving has been formulated as a type of aberrant associative learning, modeled using temporal difference theory with ERV linked to craving. Here, we used an instrumental learning task with non-alcohol-associated stimuli to test hypotheses that the encoding of nonalcohol cue signals (ERV) and reward prediction error signals showed blunting in binge alcohol drinkers. We conclude that fMRI can be used to noninvasively test allostasis and associative learning theory predictions in binge drinkers.

Negative patterning in the spatial domain

In three experiments, animals were required to learn about the presence or absence of a hidden platform in a swimming pool. This was determined with reference to different patterned landmarks. In Experiment 1, the presence of a spotted or a striped cue indicated the position of the platform, while the combination of patterns, a half-spotted and half-striped cue, predicted the absence of the goal (i.e., negative patterning). In Experiment 2 the task was redesigned to better represent a locale navigation task. Rats received the same discrimination task, but it took place in an equilateral triangle with landmarks positioned on the walls of the arena. The hidden platform (if present) was located in one corner of the triangle. Experiment 3 used a more complex negative patterning discrimination in the triangular swimming pool to help dissociate between the unique cue and configural associative learning theories. Experiment 1 and 2 provides the first instance of negative patterning in a spatial task, while Experiment 3 provides initial evidence that some rats may represent compound stimuli in a way explained by the unique cue theory of associative learning. This begins to elucidate the underlying of associate principles that guide learning in the spatial domain.

Contextual effects in sensorimotor adaptation adhere to associative learning rules.

Traditional associative learning tasks focus on the formation of associations between salient events and arbitrary stimuli that predict those events. This is exemplified in cerebellar-dependent delay eyeblink conditioning, where arbitrary cues such as a tone or light act as conditioned stimuli (CSs) that predict aversive sensations at the cornea (unconditioned stimulus [US]). Here, we ask if a similar framework could be applied to another type of cerebellar-dependent sensorimotor learning - sensorimotor adaptation. Models of sensorimotor adaptation posit that the introduction of an environmental perturbation results in an error signal that is used to update an internal model of a sensorimotor map for motor planning. Here, we take a step toward an integrative account of these two forms of cerebellar-dependent learning, examining the relevance of core concepts from associative learning for sensorimotor adaptation. Using a visuomotor adaptation reaching task, we paired movement-related feedback (US) with neutral auditory or visual contextual cues that served as CSs. Trial-by-trial changes in feedforward movement kinematics exhibited three key signatures of associative learning: differential conditioning, sensitivity to the CS-US interval, and compound conditioning. Moreover, after compound conditioning, a robust negative correlation was observed between responses to the two elemental CSs of the compound (i.e. overshadowing), consistent with the additivity principle posited by theories of associative learning. The existence of associative learning effects in sensorimotor adaptation provides a proof-of-concept for linking cerebellar-dependent learning paradigms within a common theoretical framework.

Assessing complex odor discrimination in mice using a novel instrumental patterning task.

Negative patterning tasks are a key tool to unveil the mechanisms by which stimulus representations are acquired-a central concern in Robert Rescorla's research. In these tasks, target stimuli are reinforced when presented individually (A+/B+) but not when presented in compound (AB-). The discrimination of single stimuli from their compound presentation is a challenge for theories of associative learning, because it cannot be explained by the simple accrual of associative strength. The present study examined the conditions under which mice learn this part-whole discrimination in olfactory stimuli using a novel instrumental methodology. In two experiments, reinforcement was contingent on distinct responses depending on whether a set of odor mixtures were presented in isolation or as a compound. Using C57BL/6 mice, Experiment 1 showed a mutual interference between learning a response to individual odors and learning a different response to those odors presented in compound. Using wild-type APP/PS1 mice (a control strain for a murine model of Alzheimer's disease), Experiment 2 replicated this interference and showed that it is stimulus-specific. These experiments show that the instrumental patterning task may not only complement Pavlovian negative patterning tasks but may also motivate its own questions on the representation of complex stimuli. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The Rescorla-Wagner Model: The culmination of Hume’s theory of causation.

The associative learning theory of Robert Rescorla and Allan Wagner has been duly celebrated for its 50-year reign as the predominant model in learning science. One special recognition is warranted: its close correspondence with David Hume's associative theory of causality judgment. Hume's rules by which causes come to suggest effects are not only embraced by the Rescorla-Wagner model, but their mechanistic account makes precise quantitative predictions that can be assessed by empirical evidence rather than by speculation and argumentation. Framed in this way, the Rescorla-Wagner model truly represents the scientific culmination of Hume's philosophical theory of causation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Developments in associative theory: A tribute to the contributions of Robert A. Rescorla.

The field of associative learning theory was forever changed by the contributions of Robert A. Rescorla. He created an organizational structure that gave us a framework for thinking about the key questions surrounding learning theory: what are the conditions that produce learning?, what is the content of that learning?, and how is that learning expressed in performance? He gave us beautifully sophisticated experimental designs that tackled deep theoretical problems in experimentally clever and elegant ways. And he left us with a collection of work that fundamentally altered the way we as a field think about basic learning processes. Few scientists have impacted their field in the way that Rescorla impacted animal learning theory. In this paper, we introduce this special issue (Developments in Associative Theory: A Tribute to Robert A. Rescorla) by considering some of the many ways in which Rescorla's empirical and theoretical contributions impacted learning theory over his almost 50-year career. We conclude by identifying multiple fundamental issues we think he would have found especially fruitful to pursue as we continue to move forward. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Extinction of conditioned flavor preferences.

Although noted as a proponent of associative learning theory, Bob Rescorla acknowledged that other mechanisms might be responsible for the within-event learning produced when two stimuli co-occur. To investigate this possibility, he conducted experiments in which rats experienced a compound of a novel flavor and a palatable nutrient, and demonstrated that a preference for the flavor established by this training did not show the pattern of extinction that might be expected of a preference based on a flavor-nutrient association. A review is presented of subsequent work on the extinction of such conditioned flavor preferences in rats. The results are found to depend on the motivational state of the rat in training and on test, on the match between the procedures on training and test, and on the details of the test procedure (the nature of the choice offered to the rat). When conditions are arranged appropriately, the extinction effect (a loss of the conditioned response) expected by standard associative theory can be obtained. What remains a problem for this theory is the observation (made originally by Rescorla himself) is that the effects of extinguishing a conditioned flavor preference are remarkably persistent. The failure to obtain recovery from the effects of the extinction procedure remains as a signal that this form of learning may involve processes other than the association formation used to explain many other forms of learning. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

A response function that maps associative strengths to probabilities.

Bridging associative and normative theories of animal learning, I show that an associative system can behave as if performing probabilistic inference by using the function f(V) = 1 - e-cV to transform associative strengths (V) into response probabilities. For example, using this function, an associative system can respond normatively to a compound stimulus AB, given previous separate experiences with the components A and B. The CR probability formulae that result from the proposed function have a normative interpretation in terms of statistical decision theory. The formulae also suggest a normative interpretation of stimulus generalization as a heuristic to infer whether different stimuli are likely to convey redundant or independent information about reinforcement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).