LAW OF CONTIGUITY Meaning and
Definition
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The law of contiguity refers to a psychological principle that states that objects, events, or experiences that occur close together in time and space are more likely to be associated with each other. This principle is instrumental in the process of forming associations between stimuli and subsequent responses. According to this law, our minds tend to link together elements that occur simultaneously or successively, creating mental connections that form the basis of learning and memory.
The law of contiguity is a fundamental concept in several psychological theories, including classical conditioning and associative learning. In classical conditioning, for example, this law suggests that a conditioned stimulus paired closely in time with an unconditioned stimulus will lead to the association between the two, resulting in a learned response. The law of contiguity also posits that the strength of the association between stimuli decreases as the temporal or spatial interval between them increases.
This principle highlights the pervasive influence of temporal and spatial proximity on learning and memory processes. It explains why we tend to remember events occurring together or immediately consecutively, forming a mental representation of these paired elements. Understanding the law of contiguity is crucial in various fields of psychology, such as learning theory, cognitive psychology, and behavioral psychology, as it helps explain the mechanisms behind memory formation, conditioned responses, and the formation of mental associations.
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When two ideas have once occurred in association they are likely so to occur again, and the more likely the more often they have been associated.
A practical medical dictionary. By Stedman, Thomas Lathrop. Published 1920.
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