When retrospective revaluation phenomena (e.g., unovershadowing: AB+, then A-, then test B) were discovered, simple elemental models were at a disadvantage because they could not explain such phenomena. Extensions of these models and novel models appealed to within-compound associations to accommodate these new data. Here, we present an elemental, neural network model of conditioning that expla...

In studies on avoidance learning, a warning signal is followed by an aversive outcome (US) unless the participant makes a particular response. Several theories have been developed to try to explain the mechanisms underlying avoidance learning. Surprisingly, stimulus-response (S-R) theories and cognitive theories of avoidance learning have rarely been compared experimentally. These theories diff...

Abstract Gillian Russell has recently proposed counterexamples to such elementary argument forms as Conjunction Introduction (e.g. ‘Snow is white. Grass green. Therefore, snow white and grass green’) Identity white’). These purported involve expressions that are sensitive linguistic context—for example, a sentence which true when it appears alone but false embedded in larger sentence. If they g...

Recursive causal evaluation is an iterative process in which the evaluation of a target cause, T, is based on the outcome of the evaluation of another cause, C, the evaluation of which itself depends on the evaluation of a 3rd cause, D. Retrospective revaluation consists of backward processing of information as indicated by the fact that the evaluation of T is influenced by subsequent informati...

Two motivational processes affect choice between actions: (1) changes in the reward value of the goal or outcome of an action and (2) changes in the predicted value of an action based on outcome-related stimuli. Here, we evaluated the role of μ-opioid receptor (MOR) and δ-opioid receptor (DOR) in the nucleus accumbens in the way these motivational processes influence choice using outcome revalu...

In three human causal learning experiments we investigated the role of within-compound associations in learning about absent cues versus learning about present cues. Different theoretical approaches agree that within-compound associations are essential for learning about absent cues-that is, for retrospective revaluation. They differ, however, with regard to the role of within-compound associat...

Introduction Nāgārjuna (c. 200 CE) is the founder of the Madhyamaka school of Buddhist philosophy, and easily, after the Buddha himself, the most influential philosopher in the Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition. Despite the great consensus on his philosophical and doctrinal importance, there is little consensus, either in the canonical Buddhist and non-Buddhist literature of India, Tibet and East Asi...

Revaluation refers to phenomena in which the strength of an operant is altered by reinforcer-related manipulations that take place outside the conditioning situation in which the operant was selected. As an example, if lever pressing is acquired using food as a reinforcer and food is later paired with an aversive stimulus, the frequency of lever pressing decreases when subsequently tested. Asso...