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Saliences, propositions, and amalgams: Emergent learning in nonhumans

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 April 2009

Heidi Lyn  and
Duane M. Rumbaugh
Heidi Lyn
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Agnes Scott College, Decatur, GA 30030heidilynphd@aol.comhttp://userwww.service.emory.edu/~whopkin/Heidipage.html
Duane M. Rumbaugh
Affiliation:
Great Ape Trust of Iowa, Des Moines, IA 50320drumbaugh@greatapetrust.orghttp://www.greatapetrust.org/research/drumbaugh/drumbaugh.php Language Research Center, Georgia State University, Decatur, GA 30034
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Abstract

We comment on the similarities and differences of Mitchell et al.'s framework for understanding classical and operant conditioning and the theoretical framework put forth by Rumbaugh et al. (2007). We propose that all nonhuman and human learning may be based on amalgams created by co-occurring stimuli that share their response-eliciting properties and that these amalgams may be propositional in nature.

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 32 , Issue 2 , April 2009 , pp. 213 - 214
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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References

Lyn, H. (2007) Mental representation of symbols as revealed by vocabulary errors in two bonobos (Pan paniscus). Animal Cognition 10:461–75.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lyn, H., Greenfield, P. M. & Savage-Rumbaugh, E. S. (2006) The development of representational play in chimpanzees and bonobos: Evolutionary implications, pretense, and the role of interspecies communication. Cognitive Development 21:199–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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