ABSTRACT
Ever since Thorndike (1898) proposed the first theory of associative learning over a century ago, it has been the goal of associative modelers to specify the processes and factors influencing the associative change (i.e., learning) undergone by a given cue on a given learning episode. In this chapter we consider one such factor-the prior training that a cue has received, which might be termed the “associative history” of that cue. We demonstrate that, in a number of studies of human causal learning, the associative history of a cue can be shown to have a profound and selective influence on the learning undergone by that cue.
