associative learning

noun

: a learning process in which discrete ideas and percepts become linked to one another

Examples of associative learning in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Elizabeth Kolbert Some botanists maintain that peas are capable of associative learning, others that tropical vines have a sort of vision. Zoë Schlanger, The New York Review of Books, 13 Sep. 2024 The team achieved this by exposing artificial intelligence to simple associative learning rules. Gairika Mitra, Interesting Engineering, 26 June 2024 An August 2023 study found associative learning impairments caused by obesity can be restored with liraglutide, an anti-obesity medication also known as Saxenda or Victoza. Lauryn Higgins, Health, 16 Apr. 2024 Now, an international team of scientists has found that the cnidarians are capable of a slightly more advanced type of associative learning known as operant conditioning, which entails remembering the positive or negative effects of a previous action. Elizabeth Rayne, Ars Technica, 13 Oct. 2023 Notably, researchers propose associative learning as a critical mechanism in the development of synesthetic experiences, highlighting that synesthesia can potentially be learned through appropriate training procedures. Mark Travers, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2023 But not many experiments have demonstrated associative learning in simple animals such as jellyfish, says Ken Cheng, an animal behaviorist at Macquarie University in Australia who was not involved in the new research but wrote a commentary on it for the same issue of Current Biology. Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 22 Sep. 2023 These experiments provide evidence that box jellyfish are capable of associative learning, or the process of linking two unrelated stimuli together. Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 Sep. 2023 In 2021 Cheng published a review of learning in Cnidaria—a group that includes jellyfish, corals, sea anemones, and more—and found only a handful of studies that tested for associative learning, all of which were on sea anemones. Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 22 Sep. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1905, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of associative learning was in 1905

Dictionary Entries Near associative learning

Cite this Entry

“Associative learning.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/associative%20learning. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

Medical Definition

associative learning

noun
: a learning process in which discrete ideas and percepts which are experienced together become linked to one another compare paired-associate learning

More from Merriam-Webster on associative learning

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!