The blocking effect in associative learning involves learned biases in rapid attentional capture

2018 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 522-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Luque ◽  
Miguel A. Vadillo ◽  
María J. Gutiérrez-Cobo ◽  
Mike E. Le Pelley
Keyword(s):  
Associative Learning ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Blocking Effect ◽  
Attentional Biases ◽  
Value Judgments ◽  
Probe Task ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
Attentional Models ◽  
The Relationship

Blocking refers to the finding that less is learned about the relationship between a stimulus and an outcome if pairings are conducted in the presence of a second stimulus that has previously been established as a reliable predictor of that outcome. Attentional models of associative learning suggest that blocking reflects a reduction in the attention paid to the blocked cue. We tested this idea in three experiments in which participants were trained in an associative learning task using a blocking procedure. Attention to stimuli was measured 250 ms after onset using an adapted version of the dot probe task. This task was presented at the beginning of each learning trial (Experiments 1 and 2) or in independent trials (Experiment 3). Results show evidence of reduced attention to blocked stimuli (i.e. “attentional blocking”). In addition, this attentional bias correlated with the magnitude of blocking in associative learning, as measured by predictive-value judgments. Moreover, Experiments 2 and 3 found evidence of an influence of learning about predictiveness on memory for episodes involving stimuli. These findings are consistent with a central role of learned attentional biases in producing the blocking effect, and in the encoding of new memories.

scholarly journals The role of intolerance of uncertainty in the acquisition and extinction of reward

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jayne Morriss ◽  
Nicolo Biagi ◽  
Tina B. Lonsdorf ◽  
Marta Andreatta
Keyword(s):  
Associative Learning ◽  
Conceptual Understanding ◽  
Skin Conductance Response ◽  
Intolerance Of Uncertainty ◽  
Acquisition Training ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Partial Reward ◽  
Extinction Training ◽  
Corrugator Supercilii

AbstractIndividuals, who score high in self-reported intolerance of uncertainty (IU), tend to find uncertainty anxiety-provoking. IU has been reliably associated with disrupted threat extinction. However, it remains unclear whether IU would be related to disrupted extinction to other arousing stimuli that are not threatening (i.e., rewarding). We addressed this question by conducting a reward associative learning task with acquisition and extinction training phases (n = 58). Throughout the associative learning task, we recorded valence ratings (i.e. liking), skin conductance response (SCR) (i.e. sweating), and corrugator supercilii activity (i.e. brow muscle indicative or negative and positive affect) to learned reward and neutral cues. During acquisition training with partial reward reinforcement, higher IU was associated with greater corrugator supercilii activity to neutral compared to reward cues. IU was not related to valence ratings or SCR’s during the acquisition or extinction training phases. These preliminary results suggest that IU-related deficits during extinction may be limited to situations with threat. The findings further our conceptual understanding of IU’s role in the associative learning and extinction of reward, and in relation to the processing of threat and reward more generally.

scholarly journals Associative learning and animal cognition

2012 ◽  
Vol 367 (1603) ◽  
pp. 2733-2742 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Dickinson
Keyword(s):  
Associative Learning ◽  
Practical Reasoning ◽  
Animal Cognition ◽  
Prediction Errors ◽  
Associative Processes ◽  
Directed Action ◽  
Processing Architectures ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Theoretical Component

Associative learning plays a variety of roles in the study of animal cognition from a core theoretical component to a null hypothesis against which the contribution of cognitive processes is assessed. Two developments in contemporary associative learning have enhanced its relevance to animal cognition. The first concerns the role of associatively activated representations, whereas the second is the development of hybrid theories in which learning is determined by prediction errors, both directly and indirectly through associability processes. However, it remains unclear whether these developments allow associative theory to capture the psychological rationality of cognition. I argue that embodying associative processes within specific processing architectures provides mechanisms that can mediate psychological rationality and illustrate such embodiment by discussing the relationship between practical reasoning and the associative-cybernetic model of goal-directed action.

scholarly journals Genesis and Maintenance of Attentional Biases: The Role of the Locus Coeruleus-Noradrenaline System

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mana R. Ehlers ◽  
Rebecca M. Todd
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Locus Coeruleus ◽  
Associative Learning ◽  
Learning Processes ◽  
Attentional Biases ◽  
Associative Processes ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Attentional Tuning ◽  
Pharmacological Manipulations

Emotionally arousing events are typically better remembered than mundane ones, in part because emotionally relevant aspects of our environment are prioritized in attention. Such biased attentional tuning is itself the result of associative processes through which we learn affective and motivational relevance of cues. We propose that the locus coeruleus-noradrenaline (LC-NA) system plays an important role in the genesis of attentional biases through associative learning processes as well as their maintenance. We further propose that individual differences in and disruptions of the LC-NA system underlie the development of maladaptive biases linked to psychopathology. We provide support for the proposed role of the LC-NA system by first reviewing work on attentional biases in development and its link to psychopathology in relation to alterations and individual differences in NA availability. We focus on pharmacological manipulations to demonstrate the effect of a disrupted system as well as theADRA2bpolymorphism as a tool to investigate naturally occurring differences in NA availability. We next review associative learning processes that—modulated by the LC-NA system—result in such implicit attentional biases. Further, we demonstrate how NA may influence aversive and appetitive conditioning linked to anxiety disorders as well as addiction and depression.

scholarly journals The Mediating Role of SES on the Relationship between Pregnancy History and Later Life Cognition

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Averi J. Giudicessi ◽  
Ursula G. Saelzler ◽  
Aladdin H. Shadyab ◽  
Alexander Ivan B. Posis ◽  
Erin Sundermann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Large Population ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Education Level ◽  
Digit Symbol Substitution Test ◽  
Menopausal Women ◽  
Post Menopausal ◽  
The Relationship

ABSTRACTObjectiveThe association of pregnancy with later life cognition is not well understood. Few studies address the potential confounding role of socioeconomic factors on this relationship. We examined whether pregnancy was associated with cognitive function in a large, population-based sample of post-menopausal women and the potential mediating effects of education level and federal income-to-poverty ratio (PIR) on this relationship.MethodsParticipants were 1,016 post-menopausal women from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). We utilized data from two study waves between years 2011-2014. Cognitive functioning was evaluated by: Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST), Animal Fluency (AF), Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease CERAD word learning task (CERAD-WL) and CERAD delayed recall (CERAD-DR). Lifetime education level and federal income-to-poverty ratio (PIR) were examined as mediating factors. Regression models were used to examine the relationship between number of term pregnancies and incomplete pregnancies and cognitive performance.ResultsA greater number of term pregnancies was related to worse performance on the DSST (p < .001), CERAD-DR (p < .007), and AF (p < .03). Conversely, greater incomplete pregnancies related to better CERAD-DR performance (p < .03). Significant associations between term pregnancies and cognitive scores were mediated by PIR but not education level.ConclusionsHigher number of term pregnancies was associated with worse cognitive performance, whereas higher number of incomplete pregnancies was associated with better cognitive performance. Results indicate the necessity to consider SES factors when studying the relationship between pregnancy and cognition.

Magic

2018 ◽  
pp. 186-203
Author(s):  
István Czachesz
Keyword(s):  
Associative Learning ◽  
Confirmation Bias ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Fourth Section ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Behavioural Approach ◽  
History Of ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter outlines an analytical concept of magic and considers how it contributes to our understanding of early Christian rituals. The first section addresses the problematic history of the academic study of magic. The second section proposes a heuristic definition of magic in the context of a cognitive and behavioural approach to religion. The chapter then discusses the role of associative learning in magic, particularly in so-called superstitious conditioning. The fourth section deals with explanatory strategies, arguing that implicit, cognitive mechanisms that support magic (such as moral contagion and confirmation bias) tend to be cross-culturally consistent. Explicit theorizing about magic (such as the ancient concept of magical helpers) is more varied across cultures. Finally, the chapter turns to the relationship between magical practices and miracle stories and addresses the role of magic and miracle in the success of the early Christian movement.

scholarly journals The Kamin Blocking Effect in Sign and Goal Trackers

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mayank Aggarwal ◽  
Jeffery R. Wickens
Keyword(s):  
Classical Conditioning ◽  
Associative Learning ◽  
Blocking Effect ◽  
Learning Processes ◽  
Temporal Contiguity ◽  
Prediction Errors ◽  
Parallel Learning ◽  
Auditory Cue ◽  
Goal Tracking

AbstractThe discovery of the Kamin blocking effect suggested that surprise or prediction errors are necessary for associative learning. This suggestion led to the development of a new theoretical framework for associative learning relying on prediction error rather than just temporal contiguity between events. However, many recent studies have failed to replicate the blocking effect, questioning the central role of blocking in associative learning theory. Here, we test the expression of Kamin blocking in rats that either approach and interact with the conditioned cue (sign trackers) or approach and interact with the reward location (goal trackers) during appetitive classical conditioning. The behavioral task involved three phases: classical conditioning of a lever cue, conditioning of a compound of the lever cue plus an auditory cue, and testing response to presentation of the auditory cue in extinction. The results show that only sign trackers express the blocking effect. Thus, groups that include goal trackers are less likely to be able to replicate the blocking effect. Our findings support the idea that sign and goal tracking responses arise as a result of distinct parallel learning processes. Psychological theories of learning that incorporate these parallel learning processes and their interactions will provide a better framework for understanding the blocking effect and related associative learning phenomena.

scholarly journals Language Education for Preschool Children Based on Bandura's Self-efficacy Theory

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunying Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
American Psychologist ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Relationship

Self-efficacy was proposed by American psychologist Bandura in 1977. This paper explores the relationship between self-efficacy theory and children's language development, and proposes strategies to improve children’s self-efficacy in an all-round way, such as correcting adults’ attitudes towards children’s language learning, paying attention to children’s individual language learning experience, playing a role of peer model demonstration, setting up the moderate difficulty of language learning task, and exerting children's self-efficacy in language learning in different types of language activities.

Implicit Learning

2003 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter A. Frensch ◽  
Dennis Rünger
Keyword(s):  
Associative Learning ◽  
Implicit Learning ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Learning Mechanisms ◽  
Specific Knowledge ◽  
Knowledge Representations ◽  
Learning Without Awareness ◽  
The Relationship

Implicit learning appears to be a fundamental and ubiquitous process in cognition. Although defining and operationalizingimplicit learning remains a central theoretical challenge, scientists' understanding of implicit learning has progressed significantly. Beyond establishing the existence of “learning without awareness,” current research seeks to identify the cognitive processes that support implicit learning and addresses the relationship between learning and awareness of what was learned. The emerging view of implicit learning emphasizes the role of associative learning mechanisms that exploit statistical dependencies in the environment in order to generate highly specific knowledge representations.

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