Associative Learning and Memory

Luque, D., Morís, J., Cobos, P. L., & López, F. J. (2009). Interference between cues of the same outcome in a non-causally framed scenario. Behavioural Processes, 81, 328-332

by David Luque Ruiz

Morís, J., Cobos, P. L., & Luque, D. (2010). What priming techniques can tell us about associative representations acquired during human contingency learning. Open Psychology Journal, 3, 97-104.

by David Luque Ruiz

Luque, D., López, F. J., & Cobos, P. L. (2007). Procesos de aprendizaje causal. In O. Pineño, M. A. Vadillo & H. Matute (Eds.), Psicología del Aprendizaje (pp. 323-345). Badajoz: Abecedario.

by David Luque Ruiz

Orgaz, C., Luque, D., Vadillo, M. A., López, F. J., & Matute, H. (2008). La interferencia retroactiva entre claves entrenadas por separado: Evidencia empírica y enfoques teóricos. Escritos de Psicología, 1-2, 83-94.

by David Luque Ruiz

Luque, D., Cobos, P. L., & López, F. J. (2008). Interference between cues requires a causal scenario: Favourable evidence for causal reasoning models in learning processes. Learning and Motivation, 39, 196–208.

by David Luque Ruiz

Luque, D., Morís, J., Orgaz, C., Cobos, P. L., & Matute, H. (2011). Backward Blocking and Interference between Cues are empirically equivalent in non-causally framed learning tasks. Psychological Record, 61, 141-152.

by David Luque Ruiz

In this paper we highlighted the methodological need for an interference control in backward blocking experiments.

Backward blocking (BB) and interference between cues (IbC) are cue competition effects produced by very similar... more Backward blocking (BB) and interference between cues (IbC) are cue competition effects produced by very similar manipulations. In a standard BB design both effects might occur simultaneously, which implies a potential problem to study BB. In the present study with humans, the magnitude of both effects was compared using a non causal scenario and a within subjects design. Previous studies have made this comparison using learning tasks framed within causal scenarios. This posits a limit to generalizing their findings to non-causal learning situations because there is ample evidence showing that participants engage in causal reasoning when tasks are causally framed. The results obtained showed BB and IbC effects of the same magnitude in a non causal framed task. This highlights the methodological need for an IbC control in BB experiments.

Luque, D., Morís, J., & Cobos, P. L. (2010). Spontaneous recovery from interference between cues but not from backward blocking. Behavioural Processes, 84, 521-525.

by David Luque Ruiz

I think that the title resumes very well the main contribution of the paper!

ABSTRACT. In the present study, we examined the differential effect on backward blocking (BB) and on interferencemore ABSTRACT. In the present study, we examined the differential effect on backward blocking (BB) and on interference
between cues (IbC) of including a delay right before the test phase vs. between training phases 1 and 2 in humans. While models of IbC predict a spontaneous recovery (SR) of responding if the delay is placed immediately before the test instead of between phases 1 and 2, BB models predict that no difference
should be observed due to the position of the delay. In our experiment, we obtained the SR from IbC but not from BB. These results suggest that backward blocking and interference between cues are likely to be the result of different processes.

Luque, D. & Vadillo, M. A. (2011). Backward versus forward blocking: evidence for performance-based models of human contingency learning. Psychological Reports, 109, 1001-1016.

by David Luque Ruiz

ABSTRACT. Two types of theories are usually invoked to account for cue-interaction effects in human-contingency... more ABSTRACT. Two types of theories are usually invoked to account for cue-interaction effects in human-contingency learning, performance-based theories, such as the comparator hypothesis and statistical models, and learning-based theories, such as associative models. Interestingly, the former models predict two important cue-interaction effects, forward and backward blocking, should affect responding in a similar manner, whereas learning-based models predict the effect of forward blocking should be larger than the effect of backward blocking. Previous experiments involved important methodological problems, and results have been contradictory. The present experiment was designed to explore potential asymmetries between forward and backward blocking. Analyses yielded similar effect sizes, thereby favoring the explanation by performance-based models.

Vadillo, M. A., Orgaz, C., Luque, D., Cobos, P. L., López, F. J., & Matute, H. (in press). The role of outcome inhibition in interference between outcomes: A contingency-learning analogue of retrieval-induced forgetting. British Journal of Psychology.

by David Luque Ruiz

Interference effect in human contingency learning shares properties with the retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) effect.

ABSTRACT. Current associative theories of contingency learning assume that inhibitory learning plays a part in the... more ABSTRACT. Current associative theories of contingency learning assume that inhibitory learning plays a part in the interference between outcomes. However, it is unclear whether this inhibitory learning results in the inhibition of the outcome representation or whether it simply counteracts previous excitatory learning so that the outcome representation is neither activated nor inhibited. Additionally, these models tend to conceptualise inhibition as a relatively transient and cue-dependent state. However, research on retrieval-induced forgetting suggests that the inhibition of representations is a real process that can be relatively independent of the retrieval cue used to access the inhibited information. Consistent with this alternative view, we found that interference between outcomes reduces the retrievability of the target outcome even when the outcome is associated with a novel (non-inhibitory) cue. This result has important theoretical implications for associative models of interference and shows that the empirical facts and theories developed in studies of retrieval-induced forgetting might be relevant in contingency learning and vice versa.

Vadillo, M. A. & Luque, D. (in press). Dissociations among judgments do not reflect cognitive priority: An associative explanation of memory for frequency information in contingency learning. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology.

by David Luque Ruiz

Episodic-like memories in human contingency learning can rise from simple associative links (e.g., Rescorla & Wagner).

ABSTRACT. Previous research on causal learning has usually made strong claims about the relative complexity and... more ABSTRACT. Previous research on causal learning has usually made strong claims about the relative complexity and temporal priority of some processes over others based on evidence about dissociations between several types of judgments. Specifically, it has been argued that the dissociation between causal judgments and trial-type frequency information is incompatible with the general cognitive architecture proposed by associative models. In contrast with this view, we conduct an associative analysis of this process showing that this need not be the case. We conclude that any attempt to gain a better insight on the cognitive architecture involved in contingency learning cannot rely solely on data about these dissociations.

Luque D., López, F. J., Marco-Pallares, J., Càmara, E. & Rodríguez-Fornells, A. (2012). Feedback-related brain potential activity complies with basic assumptions of associative learning theory. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 24, 794-808.

by David Luque Ruiz

First demonstration of a (Kamin) blocking effect in the feedback-related negativity (FRN).

ABSTRACT. Feedback-related negativity (FRN) is an event-related potential (ERP) component that distinguishes positive... more ABSTRACT. Feedback-related negativity (FRN) is an event-related potential (ERP) component that distinguishes positive from negative feedback. FRN has been hypothesized to be the product of an error signal that may be used to adjust future behavior. In addition, associative learning models assume that the trial-to-trial learning of cue-outcome mappings involves the minimization of an error term. The present study evaluated whether FRN is a possible electrophysiological correlate of this error term in a predictive learning task where human subjects were asked to learn different cue-outcome relationships. Specifically, we evaluated the sensitivity of the FRN to the course of learning when different stimuli interact or compete to become a predictor of certain outcomes. Importantly, some of these cues were blocked by more informative or predictive cues (i.e., the blocking effect). Interestingly, the present results show that both learning and blocking affect the amplitude of the FRN component. Furthermore, independent analyses of positive and negative feedback event-related signals showed that the learning effect was restricted to the ERP component elicited by positive feedback. The blocking test showed differences in the FRN magnitude between a predictive and a blocked cue. Overall, the present results show that ERPs that are related to feedback processing correspond to the main predictions of associative learning models.

Embodied Semantics - Associative Learning and Mirror-Neuron Theory

by Dimitri Mollo

The fate of redundant cues during blocking and a simple discrimination

by Mark Haselgrove

In each of three experiments animals received blocking, A+ AX+, in which food was always presented after one stimulus,... more In each of three experiments animals received blocking, A+ AX+, in which food was always presented after one stimulus, A, that was occasionally accompanied by another stimulus, X. They also received a simple discrimination, AX+ BX-, in which the presence and absence of food was signaled by two compounds that contained one unique cue, A or B, and one common cue, X. In each of these designs, X can be said to be redundant relative to A as a signal for food. Test trials at the end of training revealed that responding during X was stronger after blocking than after the simple discrimination. These results contradict predictions from theories of learning that assume changes in associative strength of a stimulus are determined by a global error term based on the outcome predicted by all the stimuli that are present for a conditioning trial. The results are interpreted, instead, by assuming either that animals store a memory of every trial to which they have been exposed, or that learning is governed by an error term based on the significance of individual stimuli.

Goal-Proximity Decision Making: Who needs reward anyway?

by Vladislav "Dan" Veksler

An Integrated Model of Associative and Reinforcement Learning

by Vladislav "Dan" Veksler

Any successful attempt at explaining and replicating the complexity and generality of human and animal learning will... more Any successful attempt at explaining and replicating the complexity and generality of human and animal learning will require the integration of a variety of learning mechanisms. Here we introduce a computational model which integrates associative learning and reinforcement learning. We contrast the integrated model with associative learning and reinforcement learning models in two simulation studies. The first simulation demonstrates performance advantages for the integrated model in an environment with a dynamic and complex reward structure. The second simulation contrasts the performances of the three models in a classic latent learning experiment (Blodgett, 1929), demonstrating advantages for the integrated model in predicting and explaining the behavioral data.

Reversal Without Remapping: What We Can (and Cannot) Conclude About Learned Associations From Training-Induced Behavior Changes

by Marc Coutanche

Coutanche, M. N., & Thompson-Schill, S. L. (2012) - Perspectives on Psychological Science

The “cognitive revolution” in psychology is often framed as a departure from associationist principles rooted in... more The “cognitive revolution” in psychology is often framed as a departure from associationist principles rooted in animal learning research, yet it is clear that these principles have immediate relevance for contemporary questions in cognitive and social psychology. Intuitions about the consequences of learning procedures can easily be misleading, making these principles particularly important. To illustrate this point, we identified recent examples of studies applying a particular learning paradigm—response-reversal training—to the study of three different psychological problems (e.g., why objects in the right side of space are preferred to those in the left in right-handed people). The strategy of each study was to alter a typically encountered contingency once in the laboratory, in order to reverse a hypothesized learned response. Yet, contrary to intuitions, we demonstrate that behavior changes can be observed without the reversal of a prior association. Further, many different associative changes can underlie response reversals. We focus on these examples of response-reversal training, but our broader aim is to help connect the animal learning literature to problems in cognitive and social psychology in an effort to strengthen the inferences that might be drawn about learned associations in these contexts.

Neural Associative Memories for Detecting Analogies: An Application to Structural Safety Management

by Marco Lazzari

Luisito Brembilla. Marco Lazzari, Paolo Salvaneschi, "Neural Associative Memories for Detecting Analogies: An Application to Structural Safety Management", Proceedings of the Second Workshop of the European Group for Structural Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence (EGSEAAI '95), Bergamo, Italy, 1995

This paper describes the first achievements and the future developments of an experimental application of... more This paper describes the first achievements and the future developments of an experimental application of connectionist hashed associative memories for realising analogical reasoning.
The application field is the management of structural safety, where analogical reasoning is used to retrieve, given the current description of the state of a structure, the closest-matching cases stored in a case base, which can help safety managers to interpret the current situation.
Keywords: dam safety, expert systems, artificial intelligence, decision support systems, connectionist associative memories, hashed memories, analogical reasoning, Greene's associative memories, connectionist networks, DéjàViewer, hashing, management of collisions
Keywords: Artificial Neural Network, Associative Memories, Structural Safety, Dam Safety, Connectionism, Hashed Memories, Connectionist Memories, Hashing, Analogical Reasoning, Reti Neurali, Reti Neuronali, Associative Learning and Memory, Memorie Associative, Connessionismo, Ragionamento Analogico, Sicurezza strutturale, Sicurezza delle dighe, Intelligenza artificiale

The associative deficit in older adult memory: Recognition of pairs is not improved by repetition.

by Amy A. Overman

This study used a novel experimental paradigm that combined associative recognition and list discrimination to study... more This study used a novel experimental paradigm that combined associative recognition and list discrimination to study the associative deficit in older adults' memory (M. Naveh-Benjamin, 2000). Participants viewed 2 lists of word-face pairs and were tested on recognition of pairs from the second study list. Older and young adults' recognition was increased by repetition of individual items, but repetition of pairs of items increased recognition in young adults only. This provides converging evidence that older adults do not form associative links between items within pairs and supports the hypothesis that an associative deficit contributes to age-related memory decline.

Forgetting Curves Emerge from Dynamics of Integrated Memory (2011)

by Eva Čadež

Associative Learning Improves Visual Working Memory Performance

by Katherine Moore

Olson, Jiang and Moore (2005), JEP:HPP