Bayesian approaches to associative learning: from passive to active learning

Traditional associationist models represent an organism's knowledge state by a single strength of association on each associative link. Bayesian models instead represent knowledge by a distribution of graded degrees of belief over a range of candidate hypotheses. Many traditional associationist models assume that the learner is passive, adjusting strengths of association only in reaction to stimuli delivered by the environment. Bayesian models, on the other hand, can describe how the learner should actively probe the environment to learn optimally. The first part of this article reviews two Bayesian accounts of backward blocking, a phenomenon that is challenging for many traditional theories. The broad Bayesian framework, in which these models reside, is also selectively reviewed. The second part focuses on two formalizations of optimal active learning: maximizing either the expected information gain or the probability gain. New analyses of optimal active learning by a Kalman filter and by a noisy-logic gate show that these two Bayesian models make different predictions for some environments. The Kalman filter predictions are disconfirmed in at least one case.