This article reviews evidence and theories concerning the nature of stimulus representations in Pavlovian conditioning. It focuses on the elemental approach developed in stimulus sampling theory (R. C. Atkinson & W. K. Estes, 1963; R. R. Bush & F. Mosteller, 1951b) and extended by I. P. L. McLaren and N. J. Mackintosh (2000, 2002) and contrasts…

The participation of the hippocampus in classical conditioning is described in terms of a multilayer network portraying stimulus configuration. A model of hippocampal function is presented, and computer simulations are used to study neural activity in the various brain areas mapped according to the model. (SLD)

This essay introduces a series of studies developing a statistical theory of elementary learning processes. An attempt is made to derive relations among commonly used measures of behavior and quantitative expressions describing simple learning phenomena. Laws of the theory state probability relations between momentary changes in behavioral and…