Journal of Experimental Psychology-Animal Learning and Cognition最新文献

Recently, a principle known as theory protection has been proposed to explain the way people bias the updating of their beliefs when they encounter new information about ambiguous cues. This principle presents an alternative to the proposal that a combination of individual and summed prediction error contributes to learning in situations where combinations of predictive cues are presented as potential causes of an outcome. Here, we discuss similarities between the notion of theory protection and attention shifting models of learning that assume attention is guided by individual prediction error. We report simulations using a prominent attention shifting model in the category learning literature and show that it accounts for several of the key examples of theory protection. The basis of these learning biases, hypothesized to be determined by either cue uncertainty or prediction error, is yet to be determined and requires further tests that dissociate these factors more clearly. It may be the case that theory protection is better understood as an organizing principle for knowledge updating rather than a single psychological mechanism. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

We report three large experiments (n = 440 in total) investigating the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) at Fp3 on perceptual learning indexed by the face inversion effect (FIE). Experiments employed a double-blinded design, with participants randomly allocated to different tDCS groups. They then participated in an old/new recognition task involving both upright and inverted faces. Consistent with previous research, our findings indicate that anodal tDCS reduces the FIE compared to sham tDCS/control by impairing the recognition performance of upright faces. Crucially, our experiments introduced novel evidence suggesting that cathodal tDCS at Fp3 can reverse the effects of anodal tDCS, thereby restoring the FIE and performance for upright faces to typical levels. Across all three experiments, participants who received anodal tDCS followed by cathodal tDCS exhibited no reduction in the FIE nor impaired performance for upright faces. Moreover, Experiments 2 and 3 demonstrated that participants who only received cathodal tDCS showed no difference in the FIE compared to the sham/control group. This indicates that the effects of cathodal tDCS are specific to reversing the negative impact of anodal tDCS rather than affecting baseline performance. These results underscore that the detrimental effects of anodal tDCS on the FIE can be reversed through the application of cathodal tDCS. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

This study explores the role of convergent versus independent pathways in a neural network model to simulate blocking (Blk) and second-order conditioning (SOC). Convergent connections refer to the intersection of connections from one hidden layer unit to an adjacent unit in feedforward neural networks, whereas independent pathways involve exclusive, nonconverging connections. This research compares five network architectures with varying degrees of convergent connectivity in SOC and Blk. These phenomena are relevant as they illustrate how prior reinforcement history influences learning about a second stimulus, either by enhancing or inhibiting the conditioned response to it. The findings indicate that networks with convergent connections better replicate Blk than SOC, whereas those with independent pathways more accurately model SOC than Blk. Some exceptions were observed, which may have implications for the conceptual analysis of deep learning models. Future work could incorporate theoretical insights into the underlying mechanisms of stimulus-stimulus and stimulus-response associations. Additionally, the findings from this study could inform model-driven hypotheses in neurobehavioral research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Binz et al. (2025) describe several ways that Centaur-a new computational model that "captures" human behavior better than alternatives-can help develop a new unified theory of cognition. In this commentary, we evaluate several of these roles in light of recent achievements and empirical data, recommending increasingly explicit scrutiny of the various modeling roles that Centaur might play in developing new explanatory theories of human cognition. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Black garden ants Lasius niger become more aggressive with repeated encounters of ants from another nest. Recent experimental evidence suggests that associative learning contributes to holding such a "grudge." (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Previous studies involving birds and humans have identified spatial proximity as a source of overshadowing between landmarks in navigation. In Herrera et al. (2024), subjects were trained in an open environment to locate a hidden goal with reference to an array of four landmarks placed at varying distances from it. Critically, two of the four landmarks (i.e., target landmarks) were placed at distances that were common among groups, whereas the remaining two were either proximal to, or distal from, them. Landmarks near the goal overshadowed (i.e., competed with) learning about the further ones, and this effect disappeared in the groups trained with distal landmarks. However, neither of these studies included a control group providing a baseline performance to assess the extent of competition; were the data indicative of overshadowing or facilitation of learning? Thus, we assessed whether spatial proximity determines overshadowing or facilitation between landmarks, including a control group trained with the target landmarks only. We conducted three experiments with varying training lengths: six training trials in Experiments 1 and 16 in Experiments 2 and 3. We also extended the landmark-goal distance in Experiment 3. In all experiments, we observed overshadowing in groups trained with closer nontarget landmarks (relative to the target) but no overshadowing when the nontarget landmarks were distal from the target landmarks. Overall, these experiments reveal that landmark-goal distance determines overshadowing between landmarks, a finding consistent with domain-general theories of learning, such as a modification of Pearce's configural model. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Trial-based theories of associative learning propose that learning is sensitive to the probability of reinforcement signaled by a conditioned stimulus (CS). Learning, however, is often sensitive to reinforcement rate rather than probability of reinforcement per trial, suggesting that temporal properties of cues may be more important than trial-based properties. In four experiments, the role of probability of reinforcement per trial was examined in appetitive Pavlovian conditioning in mice under conditions in which reinforcement rate was controlled. Experiments 1 and 2 examined the loss of conditioned responding caused by overexpectation of reinforcement. The probability of reinforcement per trial failed to affect acquisition and summation of conditioned responding and failed to affect overexpectation. It also failed to affect extinction of conditioned responding in Experiments 3 and 4. Experiments 2-4 contained nonreinforced trials in which responding at the offset of the CS could be measured. These probe trials did reveal an effect of probability of reinforcement per trial. Cues associated with 100% reinforcement elicited greater post-CS responding than cues associated with 50% reinforcement. The effect was also evident in summation trials (in Experiment 2) in which two 100% or 50% reinforced cues were presented in compound. The results show that mice learn about rate and probability information, but reinforcement rate determines anticipatory responding during the CS. The probability of reinforcement determines responding at the expected time of reinforcement. Thus, learning occurs continuously over the duration of experience and per episode of experience independent of duration. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

This study investigated the effects of habituation to different light intensities on the head retraction response in the earthworm Dendrobaena veneta using a t1-t2 experimental design. Twenty-four adult earthworms were randomly assigned to two groups, each habituated with either 700 lux or 6,300 lux light (80 trials). Head retraction responses to 700, 2,100, and 6,300 lux were measured in pre- and posthabituation phases, with stimuli presented in a pseudorandomized order. Statistical analyses showed that, prior to habituation, responsiveness increased with light intensity across all subjects. During habituation, both groups exhibited significant declines in responsiveness, but the group exposed to 6,300 lux showed a steeper and more sustained decrease compared to the 700 lux group. Posthabituation testing demonstrated that worms habituated with 6,300 lux exhibited a generalized reduction in responsiveness across all test intensities, whereas the 700 lux group maintained an intensity-dependent response pattern. These findings challenge the traditional view that lower stimulus intensity leads to stronger habituation and instead indicate that higher intensity stimuli can produce more generalized and persistent habituation effects. The results emphasize the importance of distinguishing between learning and performance in habituation studies and highlight the value of standardized procedures for comparative research on nonassociative learning in invertebrates. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Previous research on Pavlovian conditioning has shown that the duration of the intertrial interval (ITI) can function like a contextual stimulus, modulating responding to an upcoming conditioned stimulus. Here, four operant learning experiments with rats investigated whether ITIs can similarly modulate operant responding occasioned by a discriminative stimulus (SD). In Experiment 1, responding for one group was reinforced during a 10-s SD when it was preceded by a 4-min ITI but not when it was preceded by a 1-min ITI (4+/1- discrimination). A second group had the opposite discrimination, 1+/4-. As seen with Pavlovian conditioning, rats could acquire discriminative control with the 4+/1- but not with the 1+/4- discrimination. Additional experiments investigated whether control by a temporal context in the 4+/1- discrimination transfers across physical contexts (i.e., the context provided by the operant chamber). In Experiment 2, rats learned the 4+/1- discrimination in one context (Context A), and the discrimination failed to transfer to a different context (Context B). In Experiment 3, the 4+/1- discrimination also failed to transfer to Context B when experience with reinforcers was equated across contexts. Experiment 4 found evidence of transfer, however, when rats had learned a second, nontemporal discrimination, in Context B. Overall, the findings suggest that ITI duration can acquire conditional control of discriminated operants in a manner similar to Pavlovian conditioned responses. The ITI arguably sets the occasion for a stimulus that itself sets the occasion for responding. Moreover, the control created by time can transfer across physical contexts under some conditions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Sign-tracking behavior, also known as "autoshaping," is defined as the approach and interaction with reward-predictive cues. It is associated with addiction-related phenotypes and compulsive behavior. Several previous studies have demonstrated that when there is uncertainty about reward properties (e.g., probability and magnitude), sign tracking is increased. However, the effect of cue uncertainty on sign-tracking behavior is not known. Here, using a Pavlovian conditioning paradigm, we held the duration of cues constant and manipulated the temporal uncertainty by implementing either fixed or variable intertrial intervals (ITIs) of different durations across groups of mice. Variable ITIs create temporal uncertainty about when the next cue will occur as well as uncertainty about the interval from the last reward until the next one. We found that temporal uncertainty during acquisition significantly enhances sign tracking, which persists during extinction, even when ITI variability was different in the extinction session than in the acquisition session. This suggests that the effects of temporal uncertainty are learned and retained rather than performance based. Our results demonstrate that sign-tracking behavior is not only modified by the characteristic of the reward, but it can also be modified by uncertainty regarding cues. These findings highlight how temporal predictability shapes cue-directed behaviors and has implications for understanding addiction and compulsive disorders. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).