1. Associative Learning
Psychology 3926

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) Trial 2 =.2(100 – 0)
=20
Trial 2
ΔVi = .2(100-20)
=16

11. Continued…. Trial 3 And so on….
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 of sense

14. Prior learning affects new learning
Group
Phase 1
Phase 2
Test
Result
Control
Nothing
LT+ T CR
Blocking L+
No CR

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. S-S and S-R US CS UR

17. If we could just get rid of that US – UR bond…..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 Group Phase 1 Phase 2 Test Habituation L -> N Noise Light
Control
Nothing

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