Configural association theory: The role of the hippocampal formation in learning, memory, and amnesia

Abstract

It is proposed that the hippocampal formation makes a unique contribution to memory by providing the neural basis for the initial acquisition and storage of configural associations among events. A distinction is made between two kinds of memory processes: a simple associative process, which does not depend on the hippocampal formation, and a configural associative process, which does. The simple associative system records the organism’s experiences as changes in the strength of associations between elementary stimulus events. The configural associative system combines the representations of elementary stimulus events to construct unique representations and allows for the formation of associations between these configural representations and other elementary representations. In the present paper, the results of two experiments designed to test predictions of our theory are described. We then illustrate how the theory can be applied to explain a wide range of impairments that have been observed when learning and memory tasks have been employed to assess the effect of hippocampal formation damage. These include tasks that measure place learning, recognition memory, latent inhibition, serial-compound conditioning, discrimination-reversal learning, and stimulus-selection processes. The relationship of our position to some other views of hippocampal function is discussed, and we conclude with suggestions for future research.