The causes of variation in learning and behavior: Why individual differences matter
In a seminal paper written five decades ago, Cronbach discussed the two highly distinct approaches to scientific psychology: experimental and correlational. Today, although these two approaches are fruitfully implemented and embraced across some fields of psychology, this synergy is largely absent...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2013-07-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00395/full |
| _version_ | 1811223102029299712 |
|---|---|
| author | Bruno eSauce Louis D. Matzel |
| author_facet | Bruno eSauce Louis D. Matzel |
| author_sort | Bruno eSauce |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In a seminal paper written five decades ago, Cronbach discussed the two highly distinct approaches to scientific psychology: experimental and correlational. Today, although these two approaches are fruitfully implemented and embraced across some fields of psychology, this synergy is largely absent from other areas, such as in the study of learning and behavior. Both Tolman and Hull, in a rare case of agreement, stated that the correlational approach held little promise for the understanding of behavior. Interestingly, this dismissal of the study of individual differences was absent in the biologically-oriented branches of behavior analysis, namely, behavioral genetics and ethology. Here we propose that the distinction between causation and causes of variation (with its origins in the field of genetics) reveal the potential value of the correlational approach in understanding the full complexity of learning and behavior. Although the experimental approach can illuminate the causal variables that modulate learning, the analysis of individual differences can elucidate how much and in which way variables interact to support variations in learning in complex natural environments. For example, understanding that a past experience with a stimulus influences its associability provides little insight into how individual predispositions interact to modulate this influence on associability. In this new light, we discuss examples from studies of individual differences in animals’ performance in the Morris Water Maze and from our own work on individual differences in general intelligence in mice. These studies illustrate that, opposed to what Underwood famously suggested, studies of individual differences can do much more to psychology than merely providing preliminary indications of cause-effect relationships. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T08:27:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3672759f86ae4a42afded763c3a40fe6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T08:27:17Z |
| publishDate | 2013-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-3672759f86ae4a42afded763c3a40fe62022-12-22T03:40:20ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782013-07-01410.3389/fpsyg.2013.0039544141The causes of variation in learning and behavior: Why individual differences matterBruno eSauce0Louis D. Matzel1Rutgers UniversityRutgers UniversityIn a seminal paper written five decades ago, Cronbach discussed the two highly distinct approaches to scientific psychology: experimental and correlational. Today, although these two approaches are fruitfully implemented and embraced across some fields of psychology, this synergy is largely absent from other areas, such as in the study of learning and behavior. Both Tolman and Hull, in a rare case of agreement, stated that the correlational approach held little promise for the understanding of behavior. Interestingly, this dismissal of the study of individual differences was absent in the biologically-oriented branches of behavior analysis, namely, behavioral genetics and ethology. Here we propose that the distinction between causation and causes of variation (with its origins in the field of genetics) reveal the potential value of the correlational approach in understanding the full complexity of learning and behavior. Although the experimental approach can illuminate the causal variables that modulate learning, the analysis of individual differences can elucidate how much and in which way variables interact to support variations in learning in complex natural environments. For example, understanding that a past experience with a stimulus influences its associability provides little insight into how individual predispositions interact to modulate this influence on associability. In this new light, we discuss examples from studies of individual differences in animals’ performance in the Morris Water Maze and from our own work on individual differences in general intelligence in mice. These studies illustrate that, opposed to what Underwood famously suggested, studies of individual differences can do much more to psychology than merely providing preliminary indications of cause-effect relationships.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00395/fullBehaviorismLearningassociative learningSpatial learninggeneral intelligencecorrelational studies |
| spellingShingle | Bruno eSauce Louis D. Matzel The causes of variation in learning and behavior: Why individual differences matter Frontiers in Psychology Behaviorism Learning associative learning Spatial learning general intelligence correlational studies |
| title | The causes of variation in learning and behavior: Why individual differences matter |
| title_full | The causes of variation in learning and behavior: Why individual differences matter |
| title_fullStr | The causes of variation in learning and behavior: Why individual differences matter |
| title_full_unstemmed | The causes of variation in learning and behavior: Why individual differences matter |
| title_short | The causes of variation in learning and behavior: Why individual differences matter |
| title_sort | causes of variation in learning and behavior why individual differences matter |
| topic | Behaviorism Learning associative learning Spatial learning general intelligence correlational studies |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00395/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT brunoesauce thecausesofvariationinlearningandbehaviorwhyindividualdifferencesmatter AT louisdmatzel thecausesofvariationinlearningandbehaviorwhyindividualdifferencesmatter AT brunoesauce causesofvariationinlearningandbehaviorwhyindividualdifferencesmatter AT louisdmatzel causesofvariationinlearningandbehaviorwhyindividualdifferencesmatter |