Discrimination learning with variable stimulus 'salience'

International Archives of Medicine

Rodrigo J De Marco¹  Georg Köhr²  Tatiana Oviedo²  Shi-Bin Li²  Patrick Jendritza²  Efrén Aguilar-Garnica³  Mario Treviño² 

[1] Developmental Genetics of Nervous System, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany;Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany;Departamento de Química, Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara, 1201 Av. Patria, 44100 Guadalajara, Jalisco, México

关键词: behavior;    associability;    discrimination, salience;    Associative learning;   

Others  :  834654
DOI  :  10.1186/1755-7682-4-26

 received in 2011-06-21, accepted in 2011-08-03,  发布年份 2011

【 摘 要 】

Background

In nature, sensory stimuli are organized in heterogeneous combinations. Salient items from these combinations 'stand-out' from their surroundings and determine what and how we learn. Yet, the relationship between varying stimulus salience and discrimination learning remains unclear.

Presentation of the hypothesis

A rigorous formulation of the problem of discrimination learning should account for varying salience effects. We hypothesize that structural variations in the environment where the conditioned stimulus (CS) is embedded will be a significant determinant of learning rate and retention level.

Testing the hypothesis

Using numerical simulations, we show how a modified version of the Rescorla-Wagner model, an influential theory of associative learning, predicts relevant interactions between varying salience and discrimination learning.

Implications of the hypothesis

If supported by empirical data, our model will help to interpret critical experiments addressing the relations between attention, discrimination and learning.

【 授权许可】

   
2011 Treviño et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

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