The associative mechanisms underlying extinction and latent inhibition

解释动物如何学习刺激之间联系的正式模型已经取得了相当大的成功，甚至被确认为神经生理机制。尽管同样重要，但对相反的学习形式--两种刺激并不相关--的理论分析远远落后，因为基本的方法论混乱困扰着对这一主题的研究。这个项目调查了这种学习的两个例子：灭绝和潜在抑制。使用一种避免早期混淆的新程序，我们将描述和比较潜在的灭绝和潜在抑制的过程。这项研究将代表着我们对学习基本过程的理解的重大突破。

Formal models that explain how animals learn associations between stimuli have enjoyed considerable success, and have even been identified with neurophysiological mechanisms. Theoretical analysis of the opposite, though equally important, form of learning - that two stimuli are not associated - lags far behind, due to fundamental methodological confounds that plague research on this topic. This project investigates two instances of this learning: extinction and latent inhibition. Using a new procedure that avoids earlier confounds, we will describe and compare the processes underlying extinction and latent inhibition. This research will represent a major breakthrough in our understanding about fundamental processes in learning.