Unexpected outcomes can reflect noise in the environment or a change in the current rules. We should ignore noise but shift strategy after rule changes. How we learn to do this is unclear, but one possibility is that it relies on learning to learn in uncertain environments. We propose that acquisition of latent task structure during learning to…

The amygdala is important for reward-associated learning, but how distinct cell groups within this heterogeneous structure are recruited during appetitive learning is unclear. Here we used Fos induction to map the functional amygdalar circuitry recruited during early and late training sessions of Pavlovian appetitive conditioning. We found that a…

Influential theories have claimed that the ability for recursion forms the computational core of human language faculty distinguishing our communication system from that of other animals (Hauser, Chomsky, & Fitch, 2002). In the present study, we consider an alternative view on recursion by studying the contribution of associative and working…

The focus of this report was the degree of independence of memory attributes in determining performance. A demonstration experiment indicated that memory can carry an associative attribute and a frequency attribute simultaneously with little interaction between the two, that is, they were independent in their influence on performance. The…

College undergraduates learned word lists involving three-term contingencies (stimulus-response-outcome). Learning rate was correlated approximately 0.5 with scores on Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (Raven) but did not correlate significantly with several tasks (inspection time, card-sorting, trail-making, PASAT) shown to be associated with…

The study paired-associate (PA) learning via the anticipation (ANT) and study-test (ST) procedures across second, third, fourth and fifth grades. Specifically, age differences in the rate of learning and examining PA learning according to the stage analyses were examined. Retention was also of interest: however, a ceiling effect negated the…

To investigate organizational strategies of educable mentally retarded (EMR) and normal boys, the performance of 30 normal boys (mean IQ 105.1) and 30 EMR boys (mean IQ 69.9), ages 7-12 years, was compared on various free recall learning tasks. Three measures of input organization employed were category clustering, associative clustering, and…

In an attempt to specify the nature of the variables associated with socioeconomic status, Jensen has proposed a two-level model of mental abilities. The first level represents associative learning. The second level involves higher-order conceptualization, and problem solving. The purpose of the present study was to develop a matrix completion…

Eight experiments studied the following aspects of associative strategies in learning: classification; verbalization at three developmental levels; verbalization by normal and educable children; facilitation of associative learning among educable retardates; effectiveness of familiarization and differentiation training on the successful employment…

Thirty-seven normal and 33 gifted children from kindergarten classes and 26 retarded children from special classes with mean mental ages of 76 months, 80 months, and 72 months respectively, were initially tested for their understanding of the terms more, same, and less. All who had failed conservation of substance pretests using juice, sand, clay,…

After intensively studying for several years the thinking processes of members of a tribal group in Western Africa, the Kpelle, the authors examine the relation between culture and cognitive development. The following issues are discussed: (1) an analysis of the terms "culture" and "cognition"; (2) an ethnographic description of the Kpelle…