For the last eighteen years using rats in Pavlovian preparations, we have demonstrated that many deficits in learned behavior (e.g., overshadowing, blocking, and effects of preexposure to conditioned or unconditioned stimulus [CSs and USs]) are due, at least in part, to processes that occur at the time of performance, rather than during acquisition as is assumed by contemporary models of selective associate learning. Our data prompted us to reject the traditional associative position, which states that over a series of training trials subjects learn only a few summary statistics, and encourages the view that subjects encode a rich, nearly veridical representation of their experiences. To direct our research, we developed the 'comparator hypothesis', which is a (performance-focused) rule for translating into behavior knowledge acquired through simple spatio-temporal contiguity. Our studies were designed to challenge the prevailing theoretical emphasis on selective acquisition of associations. As we (and others) published ever more data problematic to the traditional associative emphasis on acquisition processes to the exclusion of information processing at the time of testing, researchers started acknowledging the importance of posttraining information processing. Some investigators concurred with our performance-focused account of these findings. But other researchers have recently extended existing acquisition-focused models so that they predict retrospective revaluation of associations (i.e. new learning about a previously trained CS on posttraining trials on which the CS is absent), while still denying the occurrence of critical processing at the time of testing. These revised acquisition-focused models can account for much of the data that we previously viewed as uniquely supportive of our performance-focused account. Consequently, they stimulated us to further develop our model (i.e., the extended comparator hypothesis) and design experiments for which these new acquisition-focused models and the extended comparator hypothesis make divergent predictions. We have already performed a few of the experiments and we now propose a number of additional ones. Experiments that discriminate between these two families of models will contribute to a fuller understanding of learning, memory, and acquired behavior, and will importantly direct the agenda of scientists investigating the neurophysiological basis of learning a memory. After several decades of slow growth in our understanding of acquired elementary behavior, great progress is now being made. The proposed experiments are designed to challenge the prevailing view that acquisition processes are highly selective, and that performance is a simple expression of encoded summary statistics (i.e. selective associations).
| Miller, Ralph R; Polack, Cody W (2018) Sources of maladaptive behavior in 'normal' organisms. Behav Processes 154:4-12 |
| Seitz, Benjamin M; Polack, Cody W; Miller, Ralph R (2018) Adaptive memory: Is there a reproduction-processing effect? J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn 44:1167-1179 |
| Polack, Cody W; Miller, Ralph R (2018) Associative structure of conditioned inhibition produced by inhibitory perceptual learning treatment. Learn Behav : |
| Craddock, Paul; Wasserman, Jessica S; Polack, Cody W et al. (2018) Associative structure of second-order conditioning in humans. Learn Behav 46:171-181 |
| Miguez, Gonzalo; McConnell, Bridget; Polack, Cody W et al. (2018) Proactive interference by cues presented without outcomes: Differences in context specificity of latent inhibition and conditioned inhibition. Learn Behav 46:265-280 |
| Urushihara, Kouji; Miller, Ralph R (2017) Causal superlearning arising from interactions among cues. J Exp Psychol Anim Learn Cogn 43:183-196 |
| Polack, Cody W; Jozefowiez, Jérémie; Miller, Ralph R (2017) Stepping back from 'persistence and relapse' to see the forest: Associative interference. Behav Processes 141:128-136 |
| Witnauer, James E; Hutchings, Ryan; Miller, Ralph R (2017) Methods of comparing associative models and an application to retrospective revaluation. Behav Processes 144:20-32 |
| Laborda, Mario A; Schofield, Casey A; Johnson, Emily M et al. (2016) The Extinction and Return of Fear of Public Speaking. Behav Modif 40:901-921 |
| Soares, Julia S; Polack, Cody W; Miller, Ralph R (2016) Retrieval-induced versus context-induced forgetting: Does retrieval-induced forgetting depend on context shifts? J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn 42:366-78 |
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