Perceptual Learning in Maze Discriminations

Trobalón, Josep Batista i; Sansa, Joan; Chamizo, Victoria D.; Mackintosh, N. J.

doi:10.1080/14640749108401276

Cited by 36 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Oswalt, 1972), and that if this requirement is not met then pre-exposure can instead lead to a deficit in learning (e.g. Trobalon, Sansa, Chamizo and Mackintosh, 1991). All these results (which are predicted by MKM) suggest that there is an intimate relationship between latent inhibition on the one hand, and perceptual learning on the other.…”

Section: Problem Domainsupporting

confidence: 51%

Elemental representation and configural mappings: Combining elemental and configural theories of associative learning

2012

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In this paper we present our first attempt at combining an elemental theory designed to model representation development in an associative system (e.g., McLaren, Kaye and Mackintosh, 1989), with a configural theory that models associative learning and memory (McLaren, 1993). After considering the possible advantages of such a combination (and some possible pitfalls), we offer a hybrid model that allows both components to produce the phenomena that they are capable of without introducing unwanted interactions. We then successfully apply the model to a range of phenomena including latent inhibition, perceptual learning, the Espinet effect, and first and second order retrospective revaluation. In some cases we present new data for comparison with our model results; in all cases the model replicates the pattern observed in our experimental results. We conclude that this line of development is a promising one for generating truly comprehensive theories of learning and memory. IntroductionOur long-term aim is to produce a general model of associative learning and memory that captures the processes that are common to both humans and infra-humans. This paper investigates the feasibility of combining elemental and configural approaches to associative learning and memory as a stepping stone towards that ultimate goal. In doing so, it also addresses a particular computational problem: of how we can have representation development at an elemental level whilst still learning in a holistic fashion. We start by considering the problem in general, and by motivating the need to find a solution incorporating both elemental (e.g., Estes, 1959;Mclaren, Kaye and Mackintosh, 1989;Brandon, Vogel and Wagner, 2000;Harris, 2006) and configural (e.g., Pearce, 1987, McLaren, 1993Honey, 2000; Honey and WardRobinson, 2002) forms of representation, then move to a specific example of such a combination that attempts to amalgamate the McLaren, Kaye and Mackintosh (1989, henceforth MKM) model of representation development with the APECS (McLaren, 1993;Le Pelley and McLaren, 2001;McLaren, 2011) model of associative learning and memory. To anticipate slightly, the enterprise is a successful one in the sense that the hybrid model is able to reproduce the phenomena that can be simulated using its components (and thus is of wider scope than either of its constituent parts), but this outcome was not achieved without considerable effort and overcoming numerous difficulties. In the course of grappling with this problem we have developed a new respect for the way in which issues multiply as the complexity of the model increases, and we try to pass on our experience of what will and will not work when synthesizing elemental and configural approaches to learning and memory.

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Section: Problem Domainsupporting

confidence: 51%

Elemental representation and configural mappings: Combining elemental and configural theories of associative learning

2012

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“…Bulut and Altman (1974) demonstrated that pups as young as PND6 were able to make position and tactile discriminations. Other experimenters have shown successful discrimination using different texture manipulations (sandpaper, rubber, rough tile flooring) with both young and mature rats (Bulut & Altman, 1974;Trobalon, Chamizo, & Mackintosh, 1992;Trobalon, Sansa, Chamizo, & Mackintosh, 1991). Data from our lab (Brown, Pagani, & Stanton, 2004, Experiment 2) indicate that the mesh used in the present experiment is sufficiently salient to be used as a discriminative cue in PND30 rats.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 47%

Contextual modulation of spatial discrimination reversal in developing rats

2004

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Reversal of discrimination learning is influenced by manipulation of the training context. In adult and developing rats, contextual changes made between acquisition and reversal aid the learning of the new discrimination, possibly by serving to release proactive interference from the originally acquired discrimination (M. E. Bouton & D. C. Brooks, 1993; N. Spear, G. Smith, R. Bryan, & W. Gordon, 1980). The present study sought to examine this effect in an appetitive T-maze task, as a function of different contextual manipulations. Rats of three ages, Postnatal Day (PND) 19, PND23, and PND30, were tested for their ability to acquire and reverse a position habit in a T-maze. Contextual changes were made between acquisition and reversal sessions and consisted of one of three manipulations: (a) texture; the texture of the maze floor was changed via the addition or subtraction of wire mesh; (b) maze; subjects were reversed in a different maze that was identical in construction to the training maze, but differed in spatial location; (c) texture and maze; subjects were shifted to the new maze, the floor of which differed in texture from the training maze but was otherwise identical in construction. Results showed that the texture-maze combination was an effective aid to reversal learning at all ages tested. The texture alone, however, was not effective at any age. The maze alone also was an effective cue for reversal, but proved to have the greatest effect for PND30 subjects. During ontogeny, the contextual modulation of reversal learning is importantly influenced by the nature and the salience of the contextual cue.

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“…The evidence on this matter is decidedly mixed. Although it has sometimes been found that perceptual learning is attenuated by a change of context (Trobalon, Chamizo, & Mackintosh, 1992), other experiments have demonstrated that the effect can survive (e.g., Gibson & Walk, 1956), or even be enhanced by (Channell & Hall, 1981;Hall & Channell, 1983), a context change. For the latter cases at least, it seems necessary to assume that the processes that produce the perceptual learning effect do not depend on within-stimulus associations of the sort postulated by McLaren et aI.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Context specificity of sensory preconditioning: Implications for processes of within-event learning

Ward-Robinson

Symonds

Hall

1998

Animal Learning & Behavior

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A variant of the taste aversion procedure for sensory preconditioning, as used by Rescorla and Cunningham (1978), was employed in a study of the context dependency of within-event learning. In two experiments, rats received Phase I exposure to a simultaneous flavor compound, AX; flavor X was paired with illness during Phase' 2, and any tendency for the resulting aversion to be elicited by A was measured. It was found that subjects were less likely to shun flavor A as a consequence of this training ifthe Phase 1 and test episodes were conducted in distinctively different contexts. This effect was evident both when the change of context occurred just before the test with flavor A (Experiment 1) and when it occurred before Phase 2 (Experiment 2). These results were taken to imply that, as is often found with serial associations, the retrieval of within-event associations is subject to contextual control. The implications of these findings for the interpretation of perceptual learning effects are discussed.A conditioned response (CR) established by Pavlovian conditioning in one context will often fail to appear in full strength when the conditioned stimulus (CS) is presented in a different context. For example, Hall and Honey (1989) gave rats training in which a CS was paired with the unconditioned stimulus (US) of food in an apparatus having distinctive visual and olfactory features; responding to the CS was found to be greater in this training apparatus than in a second apparatus characterized by different olfactory and visual cues. The interpretation offered by Hall and Honey (1989) was that the contextual cues had acquired the ability to facilitate the retrieval of associative information acquired in their presence; a change of context thus made retrieval less efficient and restricted the ability of the CS to evoke the CR.Although in some circumstances conditioned responding appears to be insensitive to a context change (e.g.,

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Perceptual Learning in Maze Discriminations

Cited by 36 publications

References 8 publications

Elemental representation and configural mappings: Combining elemental and configural theories of associative learning

Elemental representation and configural mappings: Combining elemental and configural theories of associative learning

Contextual modulation of spatial discrimination reversal in developing rats

Context specificity of sensory preconditioning: Implications for processes of within-event learning

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