Associationism is one of the oldest perspectives in psychology that suggests mental processes operate through the association of mental states. A major idea of associationism is that complex ideas form from the association of simpler ideas. The British empiricists like Hobbes, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume used associationistic principles to explain mental activity. Hume differentiated impressions and ideas and proposed three laws of association: resemblance, contiguity, and cause and effect. Associationism influenced many learning theories and continues to be relevant today.

1. Ajitha T A
I M ED
SPS

2. Introduction
 The principle of associationism suggests
that mental processes operate by the
association of one mental state with the
other that succeeds it.
 The oldest perspectives in psychology
 A major idea of associationism is that
“complex ideas come from the
association of simpler ideas”.

3. Introduction
 It is regarded to be more of a principle
rather than being a proper school of
psychology
 Associationistic ideas have been said to
have taken over all the major schools of
psychology. Even the first school of
psychology Structuralism—was majorly
influenced by associationistic ideas

4. Introduction
 The British empiricists majorly used
associationistic principles in explaining
mental activity
 After the British empiricists using
associationism is explaining mental activity,
the associationistic concepts played a
central role in many of the learning
theories.
 Among them Hermann Ebbinghaus, Ivan
Pavlov, and Edward Lee Thorndike
standout.

5. History of Associationism
 The study of associationism was first
initiated by Aristotle in 350 B.C.E
 Influenced more by British Empiricism
 Base to development of Psychological
thought
 Contribute to many of the learning
theories

6. Exponents of
Associationism
 Thomas Hobbes
 John Locke
 George Berkeley
 David Hume
 David Hartley
 James Mill
 John Stuart Mill
 Alexander Bain

7. Associationism – Main
Assumptions
 A major idea of associationism is that
“complex ideas come from the
association of simpler ideas”
 The British empiricists majorly used
associasionistic principles in explaining
mental activity.
 The associationistic concepts played a
central role in many of the learning
theories.

8. Associationism – Main
Assumptions
 Empiricism is the philosophy that emphasizes
on experience in knowledge attainment and
empiricists assert that sensory experience
constitutes the primary data of knowledge.
 Thomas Hobbes is often referred to as the
founder of British empiricism; he believed that
all knowledge was derived from sensory
experience. Hobbes used the principle of
associationism to explain complex thought
processes.
 The primary concern of John Locke was to
understand how the mind acquires knowledge
and he used Aristotle’s idea of tabula rasa.

9. Associationism – Main
Assumptions
 Berkeley applied the principle of
association in explaining about knowing
objects in the real world. For this,
Berkeley suggested that an association
of different sensations takes place in
order to understand the surroundings.

10. Associationism – Main
Assumptions
 David Hume differentiated between two
contents of mind, namely, impressions
and ideas. In order to explain how ideas
get combined, Hume gave three laws of
association – resemblance or similarity,
contiguity in time and space, and cause
and effect

11. Laws of Associationism
 The law of Contiguity
 The law of Frequency
 The law of Similarity
 The law of Contrast
 The law of Resemblance or Similarity
 The law of Cause and Effect

12. Laws of Associationism
I. The law of Contiguity
Things or events that occur close to
each other in space and time tend to
get linked together in the mind
Eg: if we think about thunder we also think
about lightening

13. Laws of Association
II. The law of Frequency
The more often two things or events
are linked, the more powerful will be
that association

14. Laws of Association
III. The law of Similarity
If two things are similar the thought of
one will tend to trigger the thought of
other
Eg: When we think about coffee we often
think about tea as well

15. Laws of Associationism
IV. The law of Contrast
On the other hand seeing or recalling
something may also trigger the
recollection of something completely
opposite
Eg; when we hear the word ‘hot’ we often
think about ‘cold’

16. Laws of Associationism
V. The law of Resemblance or Similarity
The more similar the ideas are, more
readily they will be associated.

17. The laws of Associationism
 The law of Cause and Effect
The more frequently two ideas, events,
or objects are experienced in the same
sequence, more likely they are inferred
that one will cause the other, and more
strongly they will be associated.

18. David Hume differentiated between two
contents of mind, namely, impressions
and ideas.
Impressions are the basic elements of
mental life. In the present-day, the
equivalent of impressions are
sensations and perceptions
Ideas are the mental experiences that
take place in the absence of any
immediately present stimulating object.
The equivalent of ideas in the present-
day is image
David Hume
(1711-1776)

19. David Hume’s contributions
 David Hume stated that any of our experiences
have no substantial reality behind them, and all
the logic and thinking that comes after it is based
on these three simple laws of association
 The law of resemblance – (similarity).
 The law of contiguity.
 The law of cause and effect -(contiguity in time).

20. Educational Implications
 Associative learning strategies
 Allowing students to watch a video for finishing an
assignment
 Associative memory can be a powerful teaching tool.
 Need for Reinforcement
 Awarding good grades for work that is well done.
 Verbally rewarding students for their effort and hard work.
 Giving students a 'punch' in their punch card each time they do
something well.
 When the punch card is full, the student receives a reward.

21. Educational Implications
 Removing recess from students who 'act out' in class.
 Taking points off of work that is turned in late.
 Not allowing a student who is misbehaving to sit with his friends.
 Using a chart to document the number of times a student has
misbehaved (using stickers). When the chart line is full, the student
loses a classroom privilege.
o Maxims of teaching
 Simple to complex
 Concrete to abstract
 Known to unknown

22. Criticism
 Associationists reduced the learning process to memory
process
 The associationist theorist did not respect and sufficiently
elucidate the learners motivational factors in learning
 The problems of developmental aspects of learning were
insufficiently described
 The model of associating images and sensations did not
solve the problem of the origin of concepts and thought
operations, since the relation between learning and thinking
was not solved.

23. Implications of Associationism
 Pave way to many learning theories
 Associative learning Strategies
 Connectionism E L Thorndike:
 Influence to Pavlov's experiment
 Gestalt psychology

24. Conclusion
 Association is one of the most enduring
concepts in the history of theorizing
about the mind because it is one of the
most flexible and one of the most
powerful. The basic phenomena seem
clear and indisputable: Some thoughts
follow easily in sequence, and frequency
of repetition is one reason for this.

25. Questions
 Elucidate the principle of associationism?
 Discuss the contributions of learning
theorists with respect to associationism?
 Make a short note on Laws of
Associationism
 Critically evaluate the theory of
Associationism.
 Contemporary Role of Associationism?

26. MCQ
1. .…. Is considered to be the oldest perspectives in psychology
A. Behaviorism
B. Empiricism
C. Associationism
D. Structuralism
2. The laws come under the theory of Associationism are
1) Law of contiguity
2) Law of closure
3) Law cause and effect
4) Law of resemblance
A. 1,2, 3 only
B. 2&3 only
C. 1,3,4
D. All the above

27. MCQ
3. Considering the following about associationism which
statement is correct?
Statement 1: Mental processes operate by the association of
one mental state with the other that succeeds it.
Statement 2:Empiricism is the philosophy that emphasizes on
experience in knowledge attainment.
A. Both 1&2 are correct and 1 explains 2
B. Both statements are incorrect
C. Only 1 is correct
D. Both 1& 2 are correct 2 is not explains 1

28. MCQ
4. The concept of law of cause and effect was put forth by
A. J S Mill
B. James Mill
C. David Hume
D. David Hartley
5. According to the following which are not a criticism to
Associationism
A. Associationists reduced the learning process to memory process
B. the associationistic concepts played a central role in many of the
learning
C. The problems of developmental aspects of learning were
insufficiently described in the theory
D. theoriesThe associationist theorist did not respect and sufficiently
elucidate the learners motivational factors in learning.