Definition
Everyday language lumps under the common label “learning” a wide range of activities of various levels of complexity, from learning our way through a new city to acquiring a first or a second language. It is unlikely that an assumption of general and common learning abilities underlies such a heterogeneous set of activities summarized as “learning.” Hence, in this entry, the focus will be a specific form of learning and its neuropsychological foundation: Associative learningas the ability of organisms to perceive contingency relations between events in their environment. For many years, the study of learning in psychology resumed itself to the study of associative learning. As a consequence, at the behavioral level, more is known about it than about any other form of learning. Moreover, associative learning is a fundamental component of adaptive behavior, as it allows an organism to anticipate an event on the...
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Jozefowiez, J. (2012). Neuropsychology 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_212
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