title: Overcoming associative learning.
abstract: Thorndike (1898, 1911) rejected the idea that animal behavior was the consequence of reasoning, and suggested instead that the gradual acquisition of associations formed the basis of behavior-a contention that has had a significant impact on the development of animal learning theory. Despite this, comparative psychology provides a number of examples of behaviors that have been considered to be above and beyond the explanation of associative-, or reinforcement-learning mechanisms. These behaviors have motivated some researchers to propose higher-order cognitive abilities in animals, including (but not limited to) reasoning, sensitivity to ambiguity, and metacognition. However, other authors have questioned this claim, and provided alternative explanations for these behaviors from an associative perspective. With relevant examples, the steps that must be taken in order to overcome an associative explanation of behavior are described. (PsycINFO Database Record
authors.affiliation: The University of Nottingham.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haselgrove
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001245:Association Learning; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D003071:Cognition; D003214:Conditioning, Classical; D007858:Learning; D011587:Psychology, Comparative; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D013850:Thinking