Associationist Theory: Its Authors And Psychological Contributions
The capacity for association It is basic when it comes to learning. We can know and react to certain stimuli because we are able to link events.
We smell a certain fragrance and salivate thinking that our favorite dish awaits us. We stay away from a meal that in previous experiences has had us vomiting for hours.
Someone looks at us in a certain way and we infer that they are angry or that they are attracted to us. The associationist theory of learning the basis of behaviorism and from this basis of numerous psychological techniques and schools, defends that the fact that we respond in this way is given because we are capable of linking phenomena and situations, learning and acquiring said association.
Based on the contributions of Aristotle and numerous philosophers such as Locke and Hume, this theory would be developed by David Hartley and John Stuart Mill, who postulated that all consciousness is a consequence of the combination of stimuli and elements captured through the senses. Thus, mental processes occur continuously based on a series of laws with which we link the stimuli of the environment.
In a simple and generic way, the associationist theory can be summarized as one that proposes that knowledge is acquired through experience, linking the sensations that the presence and interaction produces in us with the stimuli in a mechanical way and whenever a series of basic requirements known as laws of association As new associations are added, thought and behavior become increasingly complex, and human behavior can be explained based on learning the links between phenomena.
However, this theory would be considered only philosophical until the arrival of behaviorism, which through numerous experiments and empirical verifications They ended up elevating associationism to a scientific theory
The laws of the association
The associationist theory considers that when linking or relating different stimuli or phenomena, we follow a series of universal rules that are innately imposed on us The main laws of the association are the following, although they would later be reviewed and reworked by the various authors who worked from associationism and behaviorism.
Initially, according to the law of contiguity, two events or stimuli are associated when they occur very close together in time and space Over time and systematic study, this law varied to refer to the need for the mental representation of said stimuli to appear jointly or closely in our mind, without requiring physical proximity as such.
2. Law of similarity
For the associationist theory, when two stimuli activate similar mental representations or have common characteristics, it is much more likely that they will be linked to each other based on said similarity.
3. Law of contrast
Two stimuli will also be associated if they are completely opposite because the existence of a contrast in the same stimulating quality is perceived.
4. Law of frequency
The links between the most repeated events They tend to be stored more frequently, strengthening the association between said events or stimuli.
5. Law of recency
According to the law of recency, the more recent and the less temporal distance there is between both stimuli the stronger the bond established between them will be.
6. Law of effect
This law was formulated by Edward Thorndike as the basis of instrumental conditioning (later renamed by BF Skinner as operant conditioning) in order to explain conduct and behavior.
According to this law, the responses made by a subject that maintain contiguity relationships with reinforcing consequences They will be associated with great force to the original stimulus that produced said response, increasing its probability of repetition. If said response is followed by aversive consequences, the association with the stimulus will cause the response to be made less frequently (initially it was proposed that because the association was less, but this would later be rectified).
Behaviorism and the association between stimuli
The theory of association would eventually become one of the main pillars of behaviorism, which aims to investigate human behavior scientifically based on what is observable. Although behaviorism ignores mental processes in its study of human behavior as they are not directly observable, this current has served as a basis for new ways of interpreting the human psyche, emerging other schools and paradigms of both its successes and its limitations and integrating part of their basic techniques and beliefs.
Behaviorism uses associationist theory as a basis when considering that Exposure to two adjacent stimuli produces a link between them If a stimulus produces an effect in the organism, a specific response will be generated towards said stimulation. If, in addition to this, a second stimulus appears at or near the moment in which an effect occurs, this stimulus will be linked to the first, ending up generating a similar response.
Throughout the history of behaviorism it has evolved, developing various perspectives based mostly on associationist theory. Some of the most well-known and prominent are classical conditioning and operant conditioning.
Classical conditioning
Also known as Pavlovian conditioning, this perspective considers that the organism is capable of associating various stimuli with each other. Certain stimuli are capable of provoking a direct response in the individual, such as pain or pleasure, generating a physiological response in them.
Coinciding with the associationist theory, classical conditioning considers that the contingent presentation of two stimuli causes them to be associated. For example, the presence of food (an unconditioned stimulus since it directly provokes a response in us) produces salivation (the unconditioned response).
If every time they bring us food a stimulus appears that in itself does not produce an effect like the ringing of a bell, we will end up considering that the bell announces the arrival of food and we will end up salivating at the simple sound of it, with which we will have conditioned our response to the second stimulus (the neutral stimulus will have become conditioned). Thanks to this conditioning we learn about stimuli and their relationship.
Operant conditioning
Classical conditioning can serve to explain associations between stimuli, but even if the stimuli are passively captured, human behavior It is mostly motivated by the consequences of our actions
In this sense, operant conditioning continues to be based on associationist theory to indicate that the individual learns by linking what he does with the consequences of his actions. You learn the response to apply to certain stimulation.
Thus, how we act depends on its consequences If performing an action gives us a positive stimulus or eliminates or avoids a negative one, our behavior will be reinforced and will be carried out more often, while if acting in a certain way causes harm or the elimination of a gratification, we will see these consequences as a punishment. , with which we will tend to reduce the frequency with which we act.
Associationist theory, especially from behaviorism, has been applied with great frequency in the field of education. This is because the association Understanding as such the change in behavior, attitude or thinking caused by the experience of certain experiences
Associative learning is understood as the process by which a subject is able to perceive the relationship between two specific events based on observation These relationships can be generalized to similar stimuli, while being discriminative in relation to other phenomena. In other words, the relationship captured is specific between the two events, not being observed with other types of stimuli unless there are similar relationships with the original situation.
In this learning process, the subject is mainly passive, capturing the relationship between stimuli and their intensity due to the characteristics of the events in question. Mental processes have little relevance for making associations, the process of perceiving reality being more relevant.
Although associative learning is very useful in achieving the learning of mechanical behaviors, this type of learning has the disadvantage that the knowledge or skill obtained does not take into account previous experience or the different cognitive processes that can mediate learning. The subject receives completely decontextualized knowledge, in which the individual is not able to relate what has been learned now with what was previously learned.
It is learned through repetition, without allowing the subject to elaborate what he learns and give it meaning both to the content to be learned and to the learning process itself. For the associationist theory, the subject is a passive being that is limited to receiving and retaining external stimulation, which does not take into account intrapsychic aspects. such as motivation or expectations just as we do not work from the perspective that different people may have different perspectives or skills of the same situation.
