Rescorla-Wagner & Propositional Model Flashcards
What is the most critical concept for the Rescorla-Wagner model of learning?
Prediction error.
Explain the mental processes behind the Propositional model of learning.
People first retrieve memories of events, and then use those memories to work out the relationship between the events.
What does the Rescorla-Wagner model predict about blocking?
Blocking will not differ depending on whether the outcomes paired with the cues have maximal or submaximal strength. Consider a blocking procedure in which A is paired with an outcome, and then A and B together are paired with the same outcome. According to the RW model, what matters for blocking is whether or not the outcome is surprising on A and B trials. If the outcome is maximal, we can’t know for certain whether A is the only cause of the outcome, or whether A and B both cause the outcome.
What did the experiment of De Houwer, Beckers & Glautier (2002) show about blocking?
Blocking is typically stronger if the outcomes paired with the cues have submaximal strength. When outcomes are submaximal, we can clearly deduce that the blocked cue has no effect; if it did, then the outcome would be larger. When the outcome is at maximal level, we cannot confidently deduce whether the added cue causing the effect or doesn’t. Since the outcome is already “as big as it can be”, we would never be able to see any additional impact of this added cue. The propositional account correctly predicts that people will be more likely to say that the added cue has no effect in the submaximal case, hence, blocking is greater.
According to the Propositional Account, if stimulus A outcome training is followed by stimulus AB outcome training, what does this say about people’s memory of B’s causal strength and outcome association?
Propositional account states that memory of B’s causal strength will be blocked by the strength of A, but individuals will remember that stimulus B is associated with the outcome.
What do the different symbols of the Rescorla-Wagner model represent?
V = predictive value α = salience of cue β = salience of outcome λ = lambda (observed magnitude of outcome)
Explain the learning curve.
Learning gradually changes even though contingency is constant. Associative strength, according to the Rescorla-Wagner model, will change gradually over experience and approach a finite value of predictive strength. The learning curve of the Propositional model however, consistently rises due to active reasoning and memory of the relationships between events.
What happens if the prediction error gets to zero?
Participants would show no learning or associative strength for the stimuli.
Explain the blocking effect according to Rescorla-Wagner.
Previous learning about an association renders the outcome unsurprising.
What is the Rescorla-Wagner Model?
It is a link-based approach stating that formation of associative links are driven by surprise and unpredictability (prediction error).
What does the Propositional Model suggest about memory of associated events?
The more memories a person has about two events occuring together, the stronger their association will become.
Say that apples and bananas are tested for allergies. If Apples are tested alone in stage 1, then Bananas are tested along with Apples in stage 2, what can we say about the allergenicness of Bananas?
We cannot assume that bananas cause allergies along with apples, because only apples has been tested seperately, not bananas. Therefore, we can assume that apples is allergenic, but we cannot assume that bananas is allergenic.
