Abstract
Associative and behavior systems accounts of Pavlovian conditioning have different emphases. The traditional associative account has focused on the role of the unconditional stimulus (US) in strengthening stimulus associations according to a set of general laws. The behavior systems account has focused on the relation of conditional responding to the preorganized perceptual, motor, and motivational organization engaged by the US. Knowledge of a behavior system enables successful prediction of the form and ease of conditioning as a function of the type of conditional stimulus (CS), US, and the CS-US relation. At the same time, Pavlovian manipulations act as a window on how a behavior system works. Both associative and behavior systems accounts can be criticized as incomplete and idiosyncratic. A comprehensive account of Pavlovian conditioning could profit from their integration.
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Completion of this manuscript was facilitated by NIMH Grant 37892 and NSF Grant IBN 91 21647. The manuscript is based on a symposium presentation at the meetings of the American Psychological Association, Toronto, 1993. I am indebted to Cynthia Langley, Fran Silva, and Kathleen Silva for their comments.
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Timberlake, W. Behavior systems, associationism, and Pavlovian conditioning. Psychon Bull Rev 1, 405–420 (1994). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03210945
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03210945