What is the contribution of McIntosh to classical conditioning?
Understand the Problem
The question is asking about the contribution of McIntosh to the theory of classical conditioning, specifically what he may have added or changed in the understanding of this psychological concept.
Answer
Mackintosh proposed that attention modulates the ability of a CS to associate with a US based on predictiveness.
Mackintosh contributed to classical conditioning by proposing a theory that the ability of the conditioned stimulus (CS) to form an association with the unconditioned stimulus (US) is modulated by attention. Attention to a CS increases when it is a good predictor of the US and decreases otherwise.
Answer for screen readers
Mackintosh contributed to classical conditioning by proposing a theory that the ability of the conditioned stimulus (CS) to form an association with the unconditioned stimulus (US) is modulated by attention. Attention to a CS increases when it is a good predictor of the US and decreases otherwise.
More Information
Mackintosh's theory suggests that learners allocate more attention to stimuli that are the best predictors of an important event, which influences the strength of conditioning.
Sources
- Computational models of classical conditioning - Scholarpedia - scholarpedia.org
- PubMed Article - Mackintosh (1973) - pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
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