Why is the Rescorla-Wagner model so influential?

Soto, Fabián A.; Vögel, Edgar; Uribe-Bahamonde, Yerco E.; Pérez, Omar David

doi:10.1016/j.nlm.2023.107794

Cited by 9 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 104 publications

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“…The model was developed to explain phenomena such as the blocking effect (Kamin, 1968) and other cue-competition phenomena that became benchmarks for learning theories in the late 60s. The R-W model has had considerable success in explaining basic learning phenomena with extreme simplicity (Soto et al, 2023). For this reason, I will treat it here as a case model, although simulations conducted with other associative learning models revealed that they too can accommodate the AIBoT basic finding (Honey et al, 2020;Pearce, 1987;Wagner, 1981).…”

Section: Growth Of Anxiety 10mentioning

confidence: 99%

A psychological mechanism for the development of anxiety

Urcelay

2024

Preprint

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Although numerous behavioural constructs have been proposed to account for anxiety disorders, how they grow within an individual has been difficult to predict. In this perspective, I selectively review clinical and experimental evidence suggesting that avoidance (i.e., safety) behaviour increases beliefs of threat or fear. The experimental evidence has been replicated numerous times, with different parameters, and shows that when human participants emit avoidance responses in the presence of a neutral stimulus, they then show heightened expectations of threat in the presence of the neutral stimulus. I interpret these findings as resulting from prediction errors as anticipated by the Rescorla-Wagner model, although other animal learning theories can also predict the phenomenon. I discuss some implications and offer a few novel predictions. The analysis presented here sheds light on a phenomenon of theoretical and clinical relevance which is accommodated by basic associative learning theory.

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Section: Growth Of Anxiety 10mentioning

confidence: 99%

A psychological mechanism for the development of anxiety

Urcelay

2024

Preprint

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“…Across the different existing learning theories, one can glean a set of fundamental mechanisms, describing the necessary and sufficient conditions for generating safety learning, the dynamic computations involved, and critical boundary factors constraining these processes. The Rescorla-Wagner (RW) model stands out as a seminal theory of associative learning, offering an essential grounding in several foundational learning mechanisms (R. R. Miller et al, 1995;Soto et al, 2023;Yau & McNally, 2023). Its strengths and limitations have driven the development of subsequent theories (Bouton, 2007;Le Pelley, 2004;Le Pelley et al, 2016;Mackintosh, 1975;R.…”

Section: Formal Learning Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Pavlovian safety learning: an integrative theoretical review

Laing,

Vervliet,

Dunsmoor

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Safety learning involves associating stimuli with the absence of threats, enabling the inhibition of fear and anxiety. Despite growing interest in psychology, psychiatry, and neuroscience research, safety learning lacks a formal consensus definition, leading to inconsistent methodologies and varied results. Conceptualized as a form of inhibitory learning (conditioned inhibition), safety learning can be understood through formal learning theories, such as the Rescorla-Wagner and Pearce-Hall models. This review aims to establish a principled conceptualization of ‘Pavlovian safety learning’, identifying cognitive mechanisms that generate it safety, and boundary conditions that constrain it. Based on these observations, we define Pavlovian safety learning as an active associative process, where surprising threat- omission (safety prediction error) acts as a salient reinforcing event. Instead of producing neutral or non-aversive states, the safety learning process endows stimuli with positive association to ‘safety’. The resulting stimulus-safety memories counteract the influence of fear memories, promoting fear regulation, positive affect, and relief. We critically analyze traditional criteria of conditioned inhibition for their relevance to safety and propose areas for future innovation. A principled concept of Pavlovian safety learning may reduce methodological inconsistencies, stimulate translational research, and facilitate a comprehensive understanding of an indispensable psychological construct.

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From British Associationism to the Hippocampal Cognitive Map: A Personal View From a Ringside Seat at the Cognitive/PDP Revolution

Sharp

2024

Hippocampus

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The mandate for this special issue of Hippocampus was to provide a few examples of one's own work in a relatively personal context. Accordingly, I will discuss some of my own work here, but will also provide a broader arc of ideas and discoveries within which the efforts of myself and many others have taken place. This history begins with the associationists, who proposed that the human mind could be understood, in part, as a compounding of simple associations between contiguously occurring items and events. This idea was taken up by the behaviorist traditions, which made significant progress toward refining this simple idea. Subsequently, as interest turned toward neural mechanisms, Donald Hebb provided a foundational proposal for how synaptic changes could provide for this associative learning. The associationist view was, however, challenged by gestaltists who took a more wholistic, cognitive approach. Stunning support was provided for Tolman's cognitive map idea with the discovery of place cells in the hippocampus, and the subsequent treatise provided in O'Keefe and Nadel's The Hippocampus as a Cognitive Map. I propose that, ultimately, this associationist versus cognitive debate was settled by the development of the Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP) approach, which incorporated Hebbian synapses into large, neural‐like networks, which could accomplish complex cognitive tasks. My own work took place within the framework provided by O'Keefe and Nadel. One aspect of my work followed Jim Ranck's discovery of Head Direction cells. Tad Blair and others in my lab traced a brainstem circuit, which we proposed could explain the origins of the directional code. In other work, I investigated cells in the subicular region. These provided a contrast to the hippocampal place cells in that each subicular cell kept the same spatial pattern across different environments, whereas the hippocampal cells formed a different map for each context.

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Why is the Rescorla-Wagner model so influential?

Cited by 9 publications

References 104 publications

A psychological mechanism for the development of anxiety

A psychological mechanism for the development of anxiety

Pavlovian safety learning: an integrative theoretical review

From British Associationism to the Hippocampal Cognitive Map: A Personal View From a Ringside Seat at the Cognitive/PDP Revolution

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