Seminar SCALab 02/02/2023

Title: A (personal) review of recent research on associative learning. Summary: Associative learning is the mechanism by which humans are able to adjust their behaviors based on predictive or causal relationships detected in the environment. Through two forms of conditioning called Pavlovian and instrumental, associative learning is considered to play a primary role in our ability to adapt to new or changing situations. In general, research on associative learning has (at least) three main objectives: First, to understand what are the effects of different Pavlovian and instrumental contingencies on an individual's behavior and how these effects generalize across behaviors and situations. Second, to understand what learning mechanisms underlie the different phenomena identified. Finally, to understand how these mechanisms and the different known behavioral effects can be applied to solve practical or clinical issues. Based on the different researches I conducted in the past, the goal of this presentation will be to propose a general (and personal) review of the recent advances in associative learning and to give a more in-depth presentation of the researches I will conduct in the future in the laboratory.