Associative Structures in Pavlovian and Instrumental Conditioning

Abstract

(from the chapter) Reviews what conditioning experiments have revealed about the structure of a conceptual nervous system that consists of nodes among which links can form as a result of the training procedures employed in this type of experiment. The author's starting position is the assumption that activity engendered in a stimulus node via an associative link is functionally identical to that produced by direct application of the relevant stimulus itself. In this examination, the author discusses simple excitatory conditioning, simple inhibitory conditioning, complex conditioning, and briefly reviews the ways in which the experimental work described necessitates the modification or elaboration of those assumptions about the structure and functioning of the conceptual nervous system. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)