ABSTRACT
Several researchers have suggested that there are two ways in which humans can learn that two events are associated (e.g., McLaren, Green, & Mackintosh, 1994; Pavlov, 1927; Razran, 1971). On the one hand, learning can proceed as the result of associative processes that capture regularities in the environment by forming associations between representations. These processes are typically characterized as automatic (in the sense of unintentional, unconscious, or efficient) and stimulus-driven (i.e., determined mainly by the experienced events). On the other hand, people can learn associations by engaging in rule-based processing.1 Such processing is controlled (in the sense of intentional, conscious, or effortful) and driven not only by experience but also by language and formal reasoning (e.g., Sloman, 1996). Brewer (1974), for instance, explicitly put forward the idea that humans learn associations by generating and evaluating hypothetical rules about associations in a conscious and controlled manner. As we see later on, this idea is supported by a substantial amount of evidence.
