associative learning
noun
: a learning process in which discrete ideas and percepts become linked to one another
Examples of associative learning in a Sentence
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Success meant absorbing the abstract pattern and predicting which feeder would open the next day—a feat that may require not just associative learning but executive functioning, which can include the abilities to assess a situation, make plans, and put them into action.
—
Matthew Hutson, The New Yorker, 29 Dec. 2024
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
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Matthew Hutson, The New Yorker, 29 Dec. 2024
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
Cite this Entry
“Associative learning.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/associative%20learning. Accessed 31 Jul. 2025.
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