Editing Associationism

{{Short description|Psychological concept}}
{{about|the psychological concept|the utopian socialist economic theory|Fourierism}}
'''Associationism''' is the idea that [[mental process]]es operate by the [[Association (psychology)|association]] of one mental state with its successor states.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Faculties: A History|last=Perler|first=Dominik|date=2015|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199935253|location=Oxford|pages=256}}</ref> It holds that all mental processes are made up of discrete psychological elements and their combinations, which are believed to be made up of sensations or simple feelings.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HPhKDwAAQBAJ&q=Associationism+mental+process&pg=PT39|title=Education in the Open Society - Karl Popper and Schooling|last=Bailey|first=Richard|date=2018-02-06|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781351726481|language=en}}</ref> In philosophy, this idea is viewed as the outcome of [[empiricism]] and [[Sensation (psychology)|sensationism]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Psychological Terms|last=Banerjee|first=J.C.|publisher=M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd.|year=1994|isbn=818588028X|location=New Delhi|pages=19}}</ref> The concept encompasses a psychological theory as well as comprehensive philosophical foundation and scientific methodology.<ref name=":0" />

== History ==
=== Early history ===
The idea is first recorded in [[Plato]] and [[Aristotle]], especially with regard to the succession of memories. Particularly, the model is traced back to the Aristotelian notion that human memory encompasses all mental phenomena. The model was discussed in detail in the philosopher's work, ''Memory and Reminiscence''.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=Human Associative Memory|last1=Anderson|first1=John R.|last2=Bower|first2=G. H.|date=2014|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=9781317769880|location=New York|pages=16}}</ref> This view was then widely embraced until the emergence of British associationism, which began with [[Thomas Hobbes]].<ref name=":2" />
[[File:John Locke.jpg|thumb|[[John Locke]] was the first person to use the phrase [[association of ideas]]]]

=== Associationist School ===
Members of the Associationist School, including [[John Locke]], [[David Hume]], [[David Hartley (philosopher)|David Hartley]], [[Joseph Priestley]], [[James Mill]], [[John Stuart Mill]], [[Alexander Bain (philosopher)|Alexander Bain]], and [[Ivan Pavlov]], asserted that the principle applied to all or most mental processes.<ref name="Boring">Boring, E. G. (1950) "A History of Experimental Psychology" New York, Appleton-Century-Crofts</ref>

==== John Locke ====
The phrase "association of ideas" was first used by John Locke in 1689. In chapter 33 of ''[[An Essay Concerning Human Understanding]]'', which is entitled “Of the Association of Ideas″, he describes the ways that ideas can be connected to each other.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|first=Howard C.|last=Warren|url=https://archive.org/details/historyoftheasso007979mbp|title=A History Of The Association Psychology|date=1921|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons|others=Universal Digital Library}}</ref> He writes,{{quote|"Some of our ideas have a natural correspondence and connection with one another."<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|last=Locke, John|title=An Essay Concerning Human Understanding|date=2000|publisher=Infomotions, Inc|oclc=927360872}}</ref>}} Although he believed that some associations were natural and justified, he believed that others were illogical, causing errors in judgment. He also explains that one can associate some ideas together based on their education and culture, saying, "there is another connection of ideas wholly owing to chance or custom".<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> The term ''associationism'' later became more prominent in psychology and the psychologists who subscribed to the idea became known as "the associationists".<ref name=":3" /> Locke's view that the mind and body are two aspects of the same unified phenomenon can be traced back to Aristotle's ideas on the subject.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=The Nature of Cognition|last=Sternberg|first=Robert|publisher=MIT Press|year=1999|isbn=9780262692120|location=Cambridge, MA|pages=69}}</ref>

==== David Hume ====
In his 1740 book ''[[A Treatise of Human Nature|Treatise on Human Nature]]'' David Hume outlines three principles for ideas to be connected to each other: resemblance, continuity in time or place, and cause or effect.<ref name=":5">{{Citation|last=Hume|first=David|editor2-first=Sir Lewis Amherst|editor2-last=Selby-Bigge|editor1-first=P. H|editor1-last=Nidditch|title=A Treatise of Human Nature|date=1739-01-01|work=David Hume: A Treatise of Human Nature (Second Edition)|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/oseo/instance.00046221|isbn=978-0-19-824587-2}}</ref> He argues that the mind uses these principles, rather than reason, to traverse from idea to idea.<ref name=":3" /> He writes “When the mind, therefore, passes from the idea or impression of one object to the idea or belief of another, it is not determined by reason, but by certain principles, which associate together the ideas of these objects, and unite them in the imagination.”<ref name=":5" /> These connections are formed in the mind by observation and experience. Hume does not believe that any of these associations are “necessary’ in a sense that ideas or object are truly connected, instead he sees them as mental tools used for creating a useful mental representation of the world.<ref name=":3" />

==== Later members ====
Later members of the school developed very specific principles elaborating how associations worked and even a physiological mechanism bearing no resemblance to modern [[neurophysiology]].<ref name=":6">Pavlov, I.P. (1927, 1960) "Conditioned Reflexes" New York, Oxford (1927) Dover (1960)</ref>  For a fuller explanation of the intellectual history of associationism and the "Associationist School", see ''[[Association of Ideas]]''.

== Applications ==
Associationism is often concerned with middle-level to higher-level mental processes such as [[learning]].<ref name=":1" /> For instance, the thesis, antithesis, and synthesis are linked in one's mind through repetition so that they become inextricably associated with one another.<ref name=":1" /> Among the earliest experiments that tested the applications of associationism, involve [[Hermann Ebbinghaus]]' work. He was considered the first experimenter to apply the associationist principles systematically, and used himself as subject to study and quantify the relationship between rehearsal and recollection of material.<ref name=":1" />

Some of the ideas of the Associationist School also anticipated the principles of [[Classical conditioning|conditioning]] and its use in [[behaviourism|behavioral psychology]].<ref name="Boring" /> Both [[classical conditioning]] and [[operant conditioning]] use positive and negative [[Association (psychology)|associations]] as means of conditioning.<ref name=":6" />

== See also ==
* [[Calculus of relations]]
* [[Connectionism]]
* [[Family resemblance]]
* [[Prototype theory]]

== References ==
{{reflist|2}}

== Further reading ==
* {{iep|associat|Associationism in the Philosophy of Mind|}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20031004135626/http://www.rc.umd.edu/cstahmer/cogsci/index.html Pre-History of Cognitive Science].
* {{cite book|author=Howard C. Warren|year=1921|title=A History Of The Association Psychology|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons|url=https://archive.org/details/historyoftheasso007979mbp|accessdate=2010-02-10}}

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