The Symbolic Foundations of Conditioned Behavior

by Charles R. Gallistel, John Gibbon

Overview

The goal of this book is to persuade students of animal learning that cognitive theorizing is essential for an understanding of the phenomena revealed by conditioning experiments. The authors also hope to persuade the cognitive psychology community that conditioning phenomena offer such a strong empirical foundation for a rigorous brand of cognitive psychology that the study of animal learning should reclaim a more central place in the field of psychology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415654555
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	08/28/2013
Series:	Distinguished Lecture Series
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Gallistel, Charles R.; Gibbon, John

Table of Contents

Contents: Preface. Series Preface. Introduction. Response Timing. Acquisition. Cue Competition and Inhibitory Conditioning. Extinction. Backward, Secondary, and Trace Conditioning. Operant Choice. The Challenge for Associative Theory.

Editorial Reviews

Amidst intense discussions among researchers in animal learning about the decline of behavioralism and rise of cognitivism, Gallistel (Rutgers U.) and Gibbon (Columbia U.) argue that the two approaches complement each other. Cognitive theorizing they say, is essential for an understanding the phenomena revealed by conditioning experiments, and conditional phenomena offer such a strong empirical foundation for a rigorous brand of cognitive psychology that the study of animal learning should reclaim a more central place in the field of psychology. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

"...the enjoyable challenge in this book of coming to terms with an intriguing and, at times, elegant new theoretical perspective....The book should serve as a valuable spur to further research that will enhance our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of learning."
—Contemporay Psychology

From the Publisher