Associative Concept Learning, Stimulus Equivalence, and Relational Frame Theory: Working out the Similarities and Differences between Human and Non-Human Behavior

In their review article Zentall et al. propose that nonhumans can come to relate stimuli based on their physical properties (perceptual concept learning) or the relationship established between or among physically related stimuli (relational concept learning). At the same time, they draw upon findings from within the animal learning literature in order to argue that nonhumans can also derive untrained yet predictable relations between stimuli in the absence of direct training (associative concept learning). We are both intrigued and excited by the body of work contained in this paper and believe that it may accelerate our understanding of animal as well as human cognition in several ways. Nevertheless, a number of important questions still need to be addressed before we can conclude that associative concept learning in nonhumans is functionally similar to that observed in our own species