Competition and Facilitation During Learning: Temporal and Spatial Contiguity, 2019-2020

Over the last 50 years, cue competition phenomena have shaped theoretical developments in animal and human learning. However, recent failures to obtain the well-known blocking effect in standard conditioning procedures, as well as the lengthy and on-going debate surrounding cue competition in the spatial learning literature, have cast doubts on the generality of competition phenomena. In the present study, we manipulated temporal contiguity between predictors and outcomes (Experiments 1-4), and spatial contiguity between landmarks and goals in spatial learning (Experiments 5-7). Across different parametric variations, we observed overshadowing when temporal and spatial contiguity were strong, but no overshadowing when contiguity was weak. Thus, across temporal and spatial domains, we observed that contiguity is necessary for competition to occur, and that competition between cues during learning is absent when cues were either spatially or temporally discontiguous. Consequently, we advance a model in which the contiguity of cues is accounted for, and which can reconcile the previously contradictory findings observed in spatial and non-spatial domains.<p>In any domain of daily life and cognition, humans solve tasks and make decisions by using information that comes from multiple, different sources. It is quite obvious that we learn from previous experiences. We then use multiple sources of information to guide our behaviour in environments, make decisions about what is beneficial for us, and act in social situations (attributions, imitation). Most times however, not all information in the environment is useful. For example, if we eat fish and chips and later become ill, it is difficult to know which of the two made us ill, and people tend to select one or the other based on quantity. In fact, humans are particularly adept at selecting and learning from those sources which provide information about relevant outcomes. Hence, the idea of competition between different sources of information has been prominent in theories of learning. A wealth of data in the social sciences and psychology supports this assertion. Yet, the finding that multiple sources of information compete during learning is not ubiquitous. In some fields (i.e., spatial learning, category learning) and in experiments using animals, researchers have found facilitation (the opposite of competition) between multiple sources of information, and this has led to the development of specific theories that explain those findings, by assuming they are &quot;exceptions&quot;. Thus, there are theories aimed at explaining competition, and theories aimed at explaining facilitation, but no consensus regarding the circumstances that lead to either of these opposite outcomes. Based predominantly on experiments conducted in nonhuman animals, Urcelay has recently hypothesized that competition and facilitation are two extremes of a continuum which is determined by multiple variables. The objective of this proposal is to test whether contiguity (that is, the temporal and spatial separation of events) is a critical determinant of these opposite findings.

We predict that competition and facilitation are phenomena that can be observed across different tasks and domains of cognition. Therefore, we will test this general prediction across different learning preparations with increasing complexity. First, we wish to determine whether competition and facilitation are observed as a function of temporal separation between hypothetical food consumption and sickness in a predictive scenario such as the food-disease example mentioned above. The second objective is to extend these findings to an action-outcome task. Action-outcome learning underlies the sense of agency, free will and responsibility. We will investigate whether competition or facilitation are observed in a task in which participants' actions (i.e., press a button) and other environmental events (a signal) are presented simultaneously during learning. We will do this whilst manipulating the time between action and the outcome. We predict that when outcomes are presented soon after the action, stimuli will compete with action-outcome learning, but that the opposite will occur when outcomes are delayed. This is relevant to human behaviour because most of our actions are followed by delayed outcomes (e.g., saving for retirement; preparing for a child's birth). The final objective of this proposal is to investigate this prediction in spatial learning, which integrates the above mentioned objectives in a more complex and ecologically valid setting, whilst extending the prediction to spatial separation. Notably, in spatial learning both competition and facilitation have been observed, but the exact reasons for these discrepant findings have not been elucidated. In all three objectives, we will further investigate the psychological mechanisms (whether participants process different bits of information as separate elements, or as a whole) underlying competition and facilitation in these three scenarios. These findings have important implications for theories of learning, and for education.</p>

过去50年间，线索竞争现象（cue competition phenomena）深刻推动了动物与人类学习领域的理论发展。然而，近期在标准条件作用程序中未能复现经典的阻断效应（blocking effect），加之空间学习文献中围绕线索竞争的长期争论持续不休，使得人们对竞争现象的普遍性产生了质疑。本研究中，我们操纵了预测因子与结果之间的时间邻近性（temporal contiguity，实验1-4），以及空间学习中地标与目标之间的空间邻近性（spatial contiguity，实验5-7）。在不同参数变化条件下，我们发现当时间与空间邻近性较强时存在遮蔽效应（overshadowing），而邻近性较弱时则无此效应。因此，在时间与空间领域中，我们观察到邻近性是竞争发生的必要条件——当线索在空间或时间上不连续时，学习过程中的线索竞争便不会出现。基于此，我们提出了一个整合线索邻近性的模型，该模型可调和此前在空间与非空间领域中观察到的矛盾性发现。

在日常生活与认知的任何领域中，人类均通过整合多源异质信息来解决任务与做出决策。显然，我们从过往经验中学习，并利用多源信息指导环境中的行为、判断对自身有益的选择，以及在社会情境中采取行动（如归因、模仿）。然而多数情况下，环境中的信息并非全部有用。例如，若食用炸鱼薯条后生病，人们难以判断二者中哪一个是病因，往往会基于数量选择其中之一。事实上，人类尤其擅长从提供相关结果信息的来源中进行筛选与学习。因此，不同信息源之间的竞争理念在学习理论中占据核心地位，社会科学与心理学领域的大量数据均支持这一观点。但多源信息在学习过程中存在竞争的发现并非普遍适用：在某些领域（如空间学习、类别学习）及动物实验中，研究者发现多源信息之间存在促进效应（facilitation，竞争的对立面），这促使人们提出特定理论，将此类发现视为“例外”进行解释。因此，目前存在分别解释竞争与促进效应的理论，但对于导致这两种相反结果的具体情境，学界尚未达成共识。Urcelay近期基于非人动物实验提出假设：竞争与促进效应是由多变量决定的连续体的两个极端。本研究方案的目标是验证邻近性（即事件的时间与空间分离程度）是否为导致这些相反结果的关键决定因素。

我们预测，竞争与促进效应是可在不同任务及认知领域中观察到的普遍现象。因此，我们将在复杂度逐步提升的不同学习情境中验证这一普适性预测。首先，我们希望在类似上述食物-疾病案例的预测情境中，探究竞争与促进效应是否随假设的食物摄入与生病之间的时间分离程度变化而变化。第二个目标是将这些发现拓展至行动-结果任务：行动-结果学习是能动性、自由意志与责任感的基础。我们将在学习过程中同时呈现参与者的行动（如按压按钮）与其他环境事件（如信号）的任务中，探究是否存在竞争或促进效应，并操纵行动与结果之间的时间间隔。我们预测：当结果在行动后立即呈现时，刺激会与行动-结果学习产生竞争；而当结果延迟呈现时，则会出现相反效应。这一研究与人类行为密切相关，因为我们的多数行动都会带来延迟结果（如为退休储蓄、为孩子出生做准备）。本方案的最后一个目标是在空间学习中验证该预测——空间学习将上述目标整合于更复杂且生态效度更高的情境中，同时将预测拓展至空间分离维度。值得注意的是，空间学习中已同时观察到竞争与促进效应，但导致这些差异结果的具体原因尚未阐明。在上述三个目标中，我们还将进一步探究三种情境下竞争与促进效应背后的心理机制（即参与者是否将不同信息片段视为独立元素或整体进行加工）。这些发现对学习理论及教育实践具有重要意义。