Universität zu Köln

Aust, Frederik ORCID: 0000-0003-4900-788X (2023). Exemplars as a least-committed alternative to dual-representations in learning and memory. PhD thesis, Universität zu Köln.

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Abstract

Despite some notable counterexamples, the theoretical and empirical exchange between the fields of learning and memory is limited. In an attempt to promote further theoretical exchange, I explored how learning and memory may be conceptualized as distinct algorithms that operate on a the same representations of past experiences. I review representational and process assumptions in learning and memory, by the example of evaluative conditioning and false recognition, and identified important similarities in the theoretical debates. Based on my review, I identify global matching memory models and their exemplar representation as a promising candidate for a common representational substrate that satisfies the principle of least commitment. I then present two cases in which exemplar-based global matching models, which take characteristics of the stimulus material and context into account, suggest parsimonious explanations for empirical dissociations in evaluative conditioning and false recognition in long-term memory. These explanations suggest reinterpretations of findings that are commonly taken as evidence for dual-representation models. Finally, I report the same approach provides also provides a natural unitary account of false recognition in short-term memory, a finding which challenges the assumption that short-term memory is insulated from long-term memory. Taken together, this work illustrates the broad explanatory scope and the integrative and yet parsimonious potential of exemplar-based global matching models.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD thesis)
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Aust, Frederik frederik.aust@uni-koeln.de orcid.org/0000-0003-4900-788X UNSPECIFIED
Contributors:	Contribution Name Email Author in quotations or text extracts Stahl, Christoph christoph.stahl@uni-koeln.de Author in quotations or text extracts Haaf, Julia Maria j.m.haaf@uva.nl
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-646574
Date:	20 January 2023
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Human Sciences
Divisions:	Faculty of Human Sciences > Department Psychologie
Subjects:	Psychology
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language counterconditioning, evaluative conditioning, evaluative judgment, expectancy learning, extinction, fuzzy-trace-theory, false recognition, global memory models, conjoint recognition, generalized context model, episodic memory, short-term memory, tri-level analysis English
Date of oral exam:	26 January 2021
Referee:	Name Academic Title Stahl, Christoph Prof. Dr. Stahl, Jutta Prof. Dr. Oberauer, Klaus Prof. Dr.
Related URLs:	Data
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/64657