Robert A. Rescorla
Encyclopedia
Robert A. Rescorla is currently emeritus professor of Psychology
at the University of Pennsylvania
. He received his B.A. from Swarthmore College
and his Ph.D. under Richard Solomon
at the University of Pennsylvania
in 1966. He is the co-creator of the Rescorla-Wagner model
of conditioning and is primarily interested in elementary learning processes, particularly Pavlovian conditioning and instrumental learning. He received the American Psychological Association
Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions in 1986, and he was elected to the Society of Experimental Psychologists
in 1975 and to the United States National Academy of Sciences
in 1985.
cellpadding="2">
Main
Lists
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
. He received his B.A. from Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,500 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia....
and his Ph.D. under Richard Solomon
Richard Solomon
Richard Lester Solomon was a psychologist well known for his work with in comparative psychology, as well as his opponent-process theory of emotion....
at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
in 1966. He is the co-creator of the Rescorla-Wagner model
Rescorla-Wagner model
The Rescorla–Wagner model is a model of classical conditioning in which the animal is theorized to learn from the discrepancy between what is expected to happen and what actually happens. This is a trial-level model in which each stimulus is either present or not present at some point in the trial...
of conditioning and is primarily interested in elementary learning processes, particularly Pavlovian conditioning and instrumental learning. He received the American Psychological Association
American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States. It is the world's largest association of psychologists with around 154,000 members including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. The APA...
Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions in 1986, and he was elected to the Society of Experimental Psychologists
Society of Experimental Psychologists
The Society of Experimental Psychologists , originally called the Society of Experimentalists, is an academic society for experimental psychologists. It was founded by Edward Bradford Titchener in 1904 to be an ongoing workshop in which members could visit labs, study apparatus, and hear and...
in 1975 and to the United States National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
in 1985.
See also
- University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of PennsylvaniaThe University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
Representative Publications
- Rescorla, R.A. (1985) Conditioned Inhibition and Facilitation, in R.R. Miller & N.S. Spear (Eds.) Information Processing in Animals: Conditioned Inhibition. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum
- Colwill, R.M. & Rescorla, R.A. (1986) Associative structures in instrumental learning, in G.H. Bower (Ed.) The psychology of learning and motivation, Vol. 20, 55-104.
- Rescorla, R.A. (1988) Pavlovian conditioning: It's not what you think it is. American Psychologist, 43, 151-160.
- Rescorla, R.A. (1991) Associative relations in Instrumental learning: The eighteenth Bartlet Memorial Lecture. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 43B, 1-23.
- Rescorla, R.A. (1992) Hierarchical associative relations in Pavlovian conditioning and instrumental training. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 1, 66-70.
- Swartzentruber, D., and Rescorla, R. A. (1994) Modulation of trained and extinguished stimuli by facilitators and inhibitors. Animal Learning and Behavior, 22, 309-316.
- Rescorla, R. A., and Coldwell, S. E. (1995) Summation in Autoshaping. Animal Learning and Behavior, 23, 314-326.
- Rescorla, R. A. (1996) Spontaneous recovery after training with multiple outcomes. Animal Learning and Behavior, 24, 11-18.
- Rescorla, R.A. (1997) Response-inhibition in extinction. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 50B, 238-252.
- Rescorla, R. A. (1998). Instrumental learning: Nature and Persistence. In M. Sabourin, F. I. M. Craig, & M. Roberts (Eds.), Proceedings of the XXVI International Congress of Psychology, Vol. 2. Advances in Psychological Science: Biological and Cognitive Aspects. (Pp. 239-258). London: Psychology Press.
- Rescorla, R. A. (1999). Summation and overexpectation with qualitatively different outcomes. Animal Learning and Behavior, 27, 50-62.
- Rescorla, R. A. (2000). Associative changes in excitors and inhibitors differ when they are conditioned in compound. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 26, 428-438
- Rescorla, R. A. (2001). Experimental Extinction, In R. R. Mowrer & S. Klein (Eds.) Handbook of contemporary learning theories. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum, 119-154.
- Rescorla, R. A. (2002). Savings Tests: Separating differences in rate of learning from differences in initial levels. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 28, 369-377.
- Rescorla, R. A. (2002). Comparison of the rates of associative change during acquisition and extinction. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 28, 406-415.
- Rescorla, R. A. (2003). Contemporary study of Pavlovian conditioning. Spanish Journal of Psychology, 6, 185-195
- Rescorla, R. A. (2004). Spontaneous Recovery. Learning and Memory, 11, 501-509.
- Rescorla, R. A. (2005). Spontaneous recovery of excitation but not inhibition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 31, 277-288.