Attentional perspectives on context-dependence of information retrieval

Attention has been traditionally understood as an important factor on acquiring new information. A review of the literature suggests that attention, specifically attention to the contexts, also plays a relevant role on information retrieval. It also shows that attention to the contexts is modulated by the ambiguity of the situation, and the informative value contexts have. The virtues and limitations of different attentional theories of learning applied to the explanation of the effects of context change on retrieval of the information are discussed. This analysis uncovers the weaknesses of current research on context processing that should be corrected by future research: The need of independent measures of attention to the contexts, the evaluation of the mechanisms of contextual control, and the possibility of taking an evolutionary perspective on the effects of context change (AU)

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Summation in predictive learning in children

Una cantidad considerable de investigación ha examinado las predicciones contrarias de los modelos elementalistas y configuracionales del aprendizaje. Uno de los métodos más simples para distinguir entre estos dos enfoques es la prueba de sumación, en la cual se examina la fuerza asociativa de un estímulo compuesto novedoso (AB) después del entrenamiento por separado de cada uno de sus elementos (A+ y B+). El enfoque configuracional predice que la fuerza asociativa del compuesto será aproximadamente el promedio de la fuerza asociativa de sus componentes, mientras que el enfoque elementalista predice que la fuerza del compuesto será mayor que la de cada uno de los elementos por separado. La prueba de sumación ha arrojado evidencia contradictoria en experimentos con animales así como también con humanos adultos. El propósito de la presente investigación fue examinar el fenómeno de sumatoria en el aprendizaje predictivo en niños de 5-9 años de edad. Los resultados arrojaron evidencia de sumatoria (AB mayor que A y B) luego un procedimiento de entrenamiento con “sumatoria simple” (A+ B+ y test con AB; Experimento 1, n=26), pero no evidencia de sumatoria luego de un procedimiento de “preservación de la inhibición condicionada” (A+B-ABseguido por B+ y test con AB; Experimento 2; n=26). En el Experimento 3 ambos efectos se observaron simultáneamente (n=14). Estos resultados son consistentes con hallazgos en condicionamiento clásico con animales y aprendizaje predictivo con adultos. Se discuten algunas alternativas teóricas dentro de los enfoques elementalista y configuracional(AU)

Considerable research has examined the contrasting predictions of configural and elemental associative accounts of learning. One of the simplest methods to distinguish between these approaches is the summation test, in which the associative strength of a novel compound (AB) made of two separately-trained cues (A+ and B+) is examined. The configural view predicts that the strength of the compound will approximate the average strength of its components, whereas the elemental approach predicts that the strength of the compound will be greater than the strength of either component. The summation test has lead to contradictory evidence in experiments with animals as well as with human adults. The purpose of this research was to examine summation in predictive learning of 5- 9 years old children. The results provided evidence of summation (i.e., AB greater than A and B) after training with a “simple summation” procedure (A+ B+ test with AB; Experiment 1, n=26); but no summation following a “preserved conditioned inhibition” procedure (i.e., A+ B- AB- followed by B+; and test with AB; Experiment 2, n=26). In Experiment 3, both effects were simultaneously observed (n=14). These results are consistent with reported findings in both Pavlovian conditioning with animals and predictive learning with adult humans. Theoretical alternatives within the elemental and configural approaches are discussed(AU)