Serendipity, Strategy and Psychic Secretions: From General Processes to Individual Differences
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Pavlov observed that his dogs salivated not only when food was directly introduced into their mouths, but also when presented with other stimuli that had reliably co-occurred with food. This was a serendipitous observation. He called such cases of salivation psychic secretions or, more prosaically, conditional or conditioned responses. Our own research, born from a series of serendipitous findings and collaborations, concerns reconciling general-process theories of associative learning with qualitative and quantitative individual differences in such conditioned behaviours; and in particular responses directed towards the conditioned stimulus (CS; called sign-tracking) and those reflecting the unconditioned stimulus (US; called goal-tracking). The research is ongoing (i.e. incomplete), but has already prompted some revisions to received wisdom about the nature of associative structures involved, and the rules governing their acquisition and translation into behaviour.
Author: Robert C. Honey
Institution: Cardiff University
Language: English
Topic: Memory and Neural Mechanisms
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,650
OpenAlex ID: W7204122694