Discrimination learning with variable stimulus 'salience'

Abstract

Background: In nature, sensory stimuli are organized in heterogeneous combinations. Salient items from these combinations 'stand-out' from their surroundings and determine what and how we learn. Yet, the relationship between varying stimulus salience and discrimination learning remains unclear. Presentation of the hypothesis. A rigorous formulation of the problem of discrimination learning should account for varying salience effects. We hypothesize that structural variations in the environment where the conditioned stimulus (CS) is embedded will be a significant determinant of learning rate and retention level. Testing the hypothesis. Using numerical simulations, we show how a modified version of the Rescorla-Wagner model, an influential theory of associative learning, predicts relevant interactions between varying salience and discrimination learning. Implications of the hypothesis. If supported by empirical data, our model will help to interpret critical experiments addressing the relations between attention, discrimination and learning. © 2011 Trevĩo et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.