Gonzalo Urcelay
@gurcelay.bsky.social
510 followers 430 following 34 posts
Assistant Professor at University of Nottingham, interested in learning and memory.
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gurcelay.bsky.social
Job Alert!!! We are looking for a motivated postdoc to join a 3-year BBSRC funded project led by my colleague Carl Stevenson (I’m coPI). This multi-disciplinary project will combine in vivo heart rate monitoring and optogenetics with behavioural testing (fear and active avoidance) in rats.
gurcelay.bsky.social
Yes, that phenomenon is also called the "gap-filling effect". However the contiguity that @gershbrain.bsky.social refers to is (to me) a CS duration effect, because in the figure above a delay procedure was used. The manipulation is not about temporal closeness between two events (CS and US)
gurcelay.bsky.social
It is all dependent on parameters and preparations, what's amazing to me about the figure is that the shape of the function is always the same.
gurcelay.bsky.social
It depends on who you ask, much of the evidence for contiguity comes experiments in which the trace interval is manipulated, to that the "delay" vs "trace" is the relevant comparison. But yes some of the wording in the Rescorla review takes on the view that you allude to
gurcelay.bsky.social
Mackintosh's figure (p 203) has a panel D in which contiguity (CS offset to US onset) does not follow the same inverted U pattern. As to why the inverted U, I take it that if the CS is too short it doesn't get processed and therefore less learning. Imagine a 3 ms tone and try to learn from it
gurcelay.bsky.social
I love this figure - it actually appeared first in Mackintosh's 1983 book and Rescorla adapted it - but I interpret it as showing a CS duration effect rather than proper contiguity (contiguity, that is the time between CS offset and US onset, is strong in all the examples by Rescorla)
gurcelay.bsky.social
Thought-provoking analysis by @markhaselgrove.bsky.social on a recent preprint looking at benchmarks for associative learning models 👇
markhaselgrove.bsky.social
Am slowly making my way through this paper. And it is an impressive body of work by a collection of great researchers.

However, I have a couple of problems with it...

1/n
psyarxivbot.bsky.social
Benchmarks for Associative Learning Models: https://osf.io/qsgz8
Reposted by Gonzalo Urcelay
markhaselgrove.bsky.social
In which 94 benchmark phenomena are identified.

16 are domain- and species-general and should be explained by any theory claiming generality.

30 are species- and/or domain-specific but highly robust across procedures
psyarxivbot.bsky.social
Benchmarks for Associative Learning Models: https://osf.io/qsgz8
gurcelay.bsky.social
I looked into this two years ago and concluded that GPower cannot do this power calculation (2x2 W-S). Daniel Lakens has a shinny app that can do it (but there is a parameter [correlation between measures] which gives a lot of flexibility).
gurcelay.bsky.social
Only two days left to apply for this 3-year postdoc position to look at fear, avoidance, heart rate monitoring and the neural mechanisms orchestrating these. Get in touch with Carl Stevenson or myself if you are interested, the deadline is Friday! Please repost.
gurcelay.bsky.social
Job Alert!!! We are looking for a motivated postdoc to join a 3-year BBSRC funded project led by my colleague Carl Stevenson (I’m coPI). This multi-disciplinary project will combine in vivo heart rate monitoring and optogenetics with behavioural testing (fear and active avoidance) in rats.
gurcelay.bsky.social
Only a few days left to apply for this 3-year postdoc position in Nottingham (deadline Sept 5th!). If you're considering applying please get in touch. If you're already a PI, then repost this!
gurcelay.bsky.social
Job Alert!!! We are looking for a motivated postdoc to join a 3-year BBSRC funded project led by my colleague Carl Stevenson (I’m coPI). This multi-disciplinary project will combine in vivo heart rate monitoring and optogenetics with behavioural testing (fear and active avoidance) in rats.
gurcelay.bsky.social
Reminder that we're looking for a Post Doc and the deadline is looming (Sept 5th). If you are interested, please get in touch. If you see this, please repost it to that it is seen by potential applicants!
gurcelay.bsky.social
Job Alert!!! We are looking for a motivated postdoc to join a 3-year BBSRC funded project led by my colleague Carl Stevenson (I’m coPI). This multi-disciplinary project will combine in vivo heart rate monitoring and optogenetics with behavioural testing (fear and active avoidance) in rats.
Reposted by Gonzalo Urcelay
Reposted by Gonzalo Urcelay
emp1.bsky.social
Nick Mackintosh and the not-so-recent history of associative learning, as seen through the eyes of his friend and definitive rival, Geoff Hall.

It reminded me of how much fun it was working with Geoff.
www-users.york.ac.uk/~gh1/pdf/201...
www-users.york.ac.uk
gurcelay.bsky.social
Very interesting take, I had not seen this so thanks for sharing.
gurcelay.bsky.social
Job Alert!!! We are looking for a motivated postdoc to join a 3-year BBSRC funded project led by my colleague Carl Stevenson (I’m coPI). This multi-disciplinary project will combine in vivo heart rate monitoring and optogenetics with behavioural testing (fear and active avoidance) in rats.
gurcelay.bsky.social
I was thinking of appetitive-aversive inhibitory interactions, unless you manage to use two outcomes which are qualitatively different but of the exactly same valence. Even then you could argue that they may inhibit each other as means of explaining interference. A long shot anyway.
gurcelay.bsky.social
You will probably need Konorski to get closer to the interaction between outcomes
Reposted by Gonzalo Urcelay
nottssummersci.bsky.social
Looking for a free day out over Summer? We give you free car parking, and a fun half day of science. Rember the park and the ice-cream van are only a stones throw away.

We still have a few spaces left for this years Summer Scientist Week, so make sure to get booked on at www.summerscientist.org
Summer Scientist booking system
Summer Scientist Week is a free event for 4-11 year-olds and their parents, which gives a fun introduction to the mind and brain.
www.summerscientist.org
Reposted by Gonzalo Urcelay
notts-psych.bsky.social
As staff, it’s our great honour to witness this moment of celebration. We’ve loved teaching & supporting you throughout your journey, watching you cross the stage, meeting your families & friends is a privilege. Wishing you all the best. Go make your mark, Class of 2025! 💫