Spontaneous integration of temporal information: implications for representational/computational capacity of animals

How do animals adapt their behaviors to changing conditions? This question relates to the debate between associative versus representational/computational approaches in cognitive science. An influential line of research that has significantly shaped the conceptual development of animal learning over...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Animal cognition 2018, Vol.21 (1), p.3-19
Main Authors: Gür, Ezgi, Duyan, Yalçın Akın, Balcı, Fuat
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal behavior
Animals
Behavior
Behavior, Animal
Behavioral Sciences
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Choice Behavior
Cognition
Cognitive ability
Combinatorial analysis
Computation
Computer applications
Computers
Conditioning (Psychology)
Information
Learning
Life Sciences
Psychology Research
Review
Schedules
Temporal logic
Time Factors
Zoology
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Summary:How do animals adapt their behaviors to changing conditions? This question relates to the debate between associative versus representational/computational approaches in cognitive science. An influential line of research that has significantly shaped the conceptual development of animal learning over decades has primarily focused on the role of associative dynamics with little-to-no ascription of representational/combinatorial capacities. The common assumption of these models is that behavioral adjustments are incremental and they result from updating of associations based on actions and their outcomes, without encoding the critical information serving as the determinant(s) of such contingencies (e.g., time in interval schedules, number in ratio schedules). On the other hand, an independent line of research provides evidence for behavioral phenomena that cannot be readily accounted for by the conventional associationist approach. In this paper, we will review different sets of findings particularly in the area of interval timing that suggest the ability of animals to make swift spontaneous computations on subjective quantities and incorporate them into their behavior. Findings of these studies constitute empirical challenges for the associationist approaches to behavioral flexibility. We argue that interval timing is a fertile ground for the formulation of critical tests of different theoretical approaches to animal behavior.
ISSN:1435-9448
1435-9456
DOI:10.1007/s10071-017-1137-z