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Related Concept Videos

Cognitive Learning01:21

Cognitive Learning

Cognitive learning is based on purposive behavior, incidental learning, and insight learning.
E. C. Tolman's theory of purposive behavior emphasizes that much behavior is goal-directed. He argued that to understand behavior, we must look at the entire sequence of actions leading to a goal. For instance, high school students study hard, not just due to past reinforcement but also to achieve the goal of getting into a good college.
Tolman introduced the idea that behavior is influenced by...
Avoidance Learning and Learned Helplessness01:14

Avoidance Learning and Learned Helplessness

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Avoidance learning occurs when an organism learns that a specific behavior can prevent an unpleasant outcome. For example, a student who receives a bad grade may start studying harder to avoid future poor grades. This behavior persists even when the negative outcome is no longer present. Avoidance learning is powerful because it maintains behavior in the absence of the...
Observational Learning01:12

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Law of Effect01:06

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B.F. Skinner, a prominent figure in behavioral psychology, introduced operant conditioning by emphasizing the role of consequences in shaping behavior. This theory builds upon the law of effect proposed by Edward Thorndike, which posits that behaviors followed by satisfying outcomes are likely to be repeated. In contrast, those followed by unsatisfying outcomes are less likely to recur.
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Behavior Modification01:21

Behavior Modification

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Purposive Learning

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Backward versus forward blocking: evidence for performance-based models of human contingency learning.

David Luque1, Miguel A Vadillo

  • 1Departamento de Psicología Básica, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Málaga, Spain. david.luque@gmail.com

Psychological Reports
|March 17, 2012
PubMed
Summary

This study investigated cue-interaction effects in human contingency learning. Results showed similar effect sizes for forward and backward blocking, supporting performance-based theories over learning-based ones.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive psychology
  • Learning and memory

Background:

  • Cue-interaction effects in human contingency learning are explained by performance-based and learning-based theories.
  • Discrepancies exist regarding whether forward and backward blocking effects are symmetrical.
  • Previous experimental findings are contradictory due to methodological issues.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore potential asymmetries between forward and backward blocking in human contingency learning.
  • To differentiate between predictions of performance-based and learning-based theories.

Main Methods:

  • Experimental design to investigate cue-interaction effects.
  • Analysis of effect sizes for forward and backward blocking.

Main Results:

  • Similar effect sizes were observed for both forward and backward blocking.
  • The findings align with predictions from performance-based models.

Conclusions:

  • The results favor performance-based theories, such as the comparator hypothesis and statistical models.
  • Asymmetries between forward and backward blocking may not be as pronounced as previously suggested.