Conditioning and Associative Learning

Mason, Alice; Ludvig, Elliot A.; Madan, Christopher R.

Abstract

Associative learning is the process whereby humans and other animals learn the predictive relationship between cues in their environment. This process underlies simple forms of learning from rewards, such as classical and operant conditioning. This chapter introduces the basics of associative learning and discusses the role that memory processes play in the establishment and maintenance of this learning. It then discusses the role that associative learning plays in human memory, including through paired associate learning, the enhancement of memory by reward, and the formation of episodic memories. Next, the chapter illustrates how the memory process influences choice in decision-making, where associative learning allows people to learn the values of different options. The chapter concludes with some suggestions about how models of associative learning, memory, and choice can be integrated into a single theoretical framework.

Citation

Mason, A., Ludvig, E. A., & Madan, C. R. (2024). Conditioning and Associative Learning. In M. J. Kahana, & A. D. Wagner (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Human Memory (334–352). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/82nqj

• Online Publication Date: Jul 18, 2024
• Publication Date: Jul 18, 2024
• Deposit Date: Dec 14, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 19, 2025
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Pages: 334–352
• Series Title: Oxford Library of Psychology
• Book Title: The Oxford Handbook of Human Memory
• Chapter Number: 12
• ISBN: 9780197746141
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/82nqj
• Keywords: associative learning, episodic memory, reinforcement learning, conditioning, reward, decision-making
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/7017610
• Publisher URL: https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/57928/chapter-abstract/475474163?redirectedFrom=fulltext
• Additional Information: Reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/57928/chapter-abstract/475474163?
• Contract Date: Dec 13, 2021