Friday, June 21, 2013

6. THE ANSWER

* The propositional nature of human associative learning (Mitchell, De Houwer & Lovibond, 2009).
* P. 184: "Many researchers assume that learning about relationships between events in the environment (the phenomenon) takes place via the formation of links between mental representations of those events (the mechanism). Our target article argues against this position and aims to show that associative learning results, not from the automatic formation of links, but from the operation of controlled reasoning processes. These processes result in beliefs about the world in form of propositions, rather than simply links that allow one representation to activate another."
* Although this theoretical position is about human associative learning, it gives a clue about the relational content of associative learning in other species. It's hard to believe that only representational content can be assumed for events but not for relationships between them.
* P. 230: "Propositions are statements about the events in the world and how are they related. These statements may be quite specific as to the nature of the relation between events (e. g. "X causes Y"). However they can be quite general; they may specify only that particular events are related, but not how they are related".
* The relationship learned in associative learning seems to be a proposition about a "general relationship" between events: "X (is related in general with) Y".

6. LA RESPUESTA

* La naturaleza proposicional del aprendizaje asociativo humano (Mitchell, De Houwer & Lovibond, 2009).
* P. 184: "Muchos investigadores asumen que el aprendizaje acerca de las relaciones entre los eventos del ambiente (el fenómeno) toma lugar a través de la formación de lazos entre las representaciones mentales de esos eventos (el mecanismo). Nuestro artículo meta argumenta contra esta posición y busca mostrar que el aprendizaje asociativo resulta no de la formación de lazos automáticos sino de la operación de procesos de razonamiento controlados. Estos procesos resultan en creencias acerca del mundo en forma de proposiciones, más que simplemente en lazos que permiten a una representación activa a otra."
* Aunque esta posición teórica se trata del aprendizaje asociativo humano, da una pista acerca del contenido relacional del aprendizaje asociativo en otras especies. Es difícil creer que sólo se pueda asumir contenido representacional de los eventos relacionados y no de su relación.
* P. 230: "Propositions are statements about the events in the world and how are they related. These statements may be quite specific as to the nature of the relation between events (e. g. "X causes Y"). However they can be quite general; they may specify only that particular events are related, but not how they are related".
* La relación que se aprende en el aprendizaje asociativo parece ser una proposición acerca de una "relación general" entre eventos: "X (está relacionado en general con) Y".

REFERENCE / REFERENCIA

Mitchell, C. J., De Houwer, J. & Lovibond, P. F. (2009). The propositional nature of human associative learning. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 32, 183-246.
5. ASSOCIATIONS AS “CONTENTLESS” LINKS

  • Associative learning researchers, in both associationist and cognitive traditions, coincide in defining associations as “contentless” links (see Shanks, 2007; De Houwer, 2009; Shettleworth, 2010; Carter, 2012).
  • Carter, P. (2012). Interactions between sources of alignment in human spatial learning. Thesis for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of Hull, UK, July: pp. 173-174.
  • De Houwer, J. (2009). The propositional approach to associative learning as an alternative for association formation models. Learning and Behavior, 37, 1-20: p. 3.
  • Shanks, D. R. (2007). Associationism and cognition: Human contingency learning at 25. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 60(3), 291-309: p. 294.
  • Shettleworth, S. J. (2010). Cognition, evolution, and behavior (2nd. Ed.). New York: Oxford University Press: p. 105.

  1. ASOCIACIONES COMO LAZOS “SIN CONTENIDO”

  • Los estudiosos del aprendizaje asociativo, tanto de la tradición asociacionista como de la tradición cognoscitiva, coinciden en definir las asociaciones como lazos “sin contenido” (ver Shanks, 2007; De Houwer, 2009; Shettleworth, 2010; Carter, 2012).
  • Carter, P. (2012). Interactions between sources of alignment in human spatial learning. Thesis for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of Hull, UK, July: pp. 173-174.
  • De Houwer, J. (2009). The propositional approach to associative learning as an alternative for association formation models. Learning and Behavior, 37, 1-20: p. 3.
  • Shanks, D. R. (2007). Associationism and cognition: Human contingency learning at 25. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 60(3), 291-309: p. 294.
  • Shettleworth, S. J. (2010). Cognition, evolution, and behavior (2nd. Ed.). New York: Oxford University Press: p. 105.


Wednesday, May 29, 2013

4. BIBLIOGRAPHY ABOUT THE RELATIONAL CONTENT OF ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING / BIBLIOGRAFÍA SOBRE EL CONTENIDO RELACIONAL DEL APRENDIZAJE ASOCIATIVO

Baayen, H., Milin, P., Filipović Ðurđević, D., Hendrix, P. & Marelli, M. (2011). An amorphous model for morphological processing in visual comprehension based on naive discriminative learning. Psychological Review, 118(3), 438-481.

García-Hoz Rosales, V. (2006). On the nature of relations learned in Pavlovian conditioning. International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy, 6(2), 133-146.

Hummel, J. E. (2010). Symbolic versus associative learning. Cognitive Science, 34, 958-965.

Warren, H. C. (1921). A history of the association psychology. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013


3.  JOHN LOCKE & DAVID HUME:
RELATIONS AS COMPLEX IDEAS IN HUMANS AND ANIMALS


OF COMPLEX IDEAS

(Relation)

§ 7. Thirdly, the last sort of complex ideas, is that we call relation, which consists in the consideration and comparing one idea with another. Of these several kinds we shall treat in their order.



OF THE REASON OF ANIMALS

First, It seems evident, that animals as well as men learn many things from experience, and infer, that the same events will always follow from the same causes. (…)



  “In all these cases, we may observe, that the animal infers some fact beyond what immediately strikes his senses; and that this inference is altogether founded on past experience, while the creature expects from the present object the same consequences, which it has always found in its observation to result from similar objects.”



 3.      JOHN LOCKE Y DAVID HUME:
RELACIONES COMO IDEAS COMPLEJAS EN HUMANOS Y ANIMALES


ACERCA DE LAS IDEAS COMPLEJAS

(Relación)

§ 7. “En tercer lugar, la última clase de ideas complejas, es la que llamamos relación, la cual consiste en la consideración y comparación de una idea con otra. De estas diferentes clases debemos tratar en su orden.”



SOBRE LA RAZÓN DE LOS ANIMALES

"Primero, parece evidente que los animales, así como los hombres, aprenden muchas cosas a partir de la experiencia e infieren que los mismos eventos siguen a partir de las mismas causas. (…)

En todos estos casos, podemos observar que el animal infiere algún hecho más allá de lo que impacta inmediatamente a sus sentidos; y que esta inferencia está completamente fundamentada en la experiencia pasada, en tanto que la criatura espera del objeto presente las mismas consecuencias, lo cual ha encontrado siempre en su observación como resultado a partir de objetos similares."

Thursday, February 14, 2013

2. BASIC RELATIONAL DIMENSIONS: TIME AND SPACE

- Are time and space both the basis for the relations between events in associative learning?

- How can be defined the general relations in propositional logic?

- Can be events (stimuli or responses) represented as propositions?

- Which findings are there about human relational learning in the field of advanced conscious cognition?

- The Aristotle's contiguity could be a law based on a basic spatial dimension.

- Theories of associative learning based on timing (as Gibbon & Church's theory) seem capture the temporal basis of the relation between events.


2. DIMENSIONES RELACIONALES BÁSICAS: TIEMPO Y ESPACIO

- ¿Son el espacio y el tiempo la base de las relaciones entre eventos en el aprendizaje asociativo?

- ¿Cómo se definen las relaciones generales en lógica proposicional?

- ¿Pueden ser los eventos (estímulos o respuestas) representados como proposiciones?

- ¿Qué hallazgos hay de aprendizaje relacional humano en el campo de la cognición avanzada consciente?

- La contigüidad aristotélica parece ser una ley basada en la dimensión espacial básica hipotetizada.

- Las teorías del aprendizaje asociativo basadas en el timing (por ej. Gibbon & Church) parecen capturar la base temporal de la relación entre eventos.