Definition
The perspective that responses are elicited by stimuli to which they have become associated or learned because they are reinforced remains strongly entrenched in psychological thought. Just what reinforcers are and how they operate, perhaps as agents that bond responses to stimuli, are unresolved issues. The most generally accepted definition of a reinforcer is that it is an event that increases the probability that a response will reoccur if it is reinforced. But that definition is circular and does not explain how reinforcement works. Here, we outline a perspective on learning called Salience Theory that offers a process by which learning occurs across instances of stimulus pairings and the resultant sharing of response-eliciting processes that occur.
Theoretical Background
Despite its popularity and robust history, this stimulus–response–reinforcement formulation has inherent weaknesses. How can...
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Acknowledgments
Preparation of this article was supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development grant HD-38051.
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Rumbaugh, D.M., King, J.E., Beran, M.J., Washburn, D.A., Gould, K. (2012). A Salience Theory of Learning. In: Seel, N.M. (eds) Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1428-6_956
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1428-6_956
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