Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 24, 2026

Appetitive Associative Olfactory Learning in Drosophila Larvae
Published on: February 18, 2013
Associative learning explains "intuitive statistics" in animals
Stefano Ghirlanda1, Janelle Mendoza2
1DataWorks.
Abstract:
We review 58 experiments about "intuitive statistics" in mammals and birds, which investigate the animals' ability to make productive decisions when actions have probabilistic outcomes. We show that a stimulus-response associative model closely mirrors the animals' choices. The model reproduces qualitatively all results, and it accounts for an average 88% of the variance in 10 quantitative fits to data from 37 experiments with birds and mammals. The unexplained variance does not indicate processes more sophisticated than stimulus-response learning, as it either lies within measurement error or derives from animals making more mistakes than the stimulus-response model. These results confirm that associative learning models are a powerful tool in animal cognition research, often capable of unmatched quantitative accuracy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
Related Concept Videos
Instinctive Drift
Associative Learning
Classical conditioning, also known...
Cognitive 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...
Cause and Effect
Classical Conditioning
Ivan Pavlov observed that dogs salivated...
Higher Mental Functions of Brain: Learning and Memory

