Associationist Theories of Thought

Diverse theories that presume activating one concept will also activate "nearby" concepts. Which concepts those are depends not an *experiential* relationship between the concepts, not a *logical* one.

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By an "experiential relationship," I mean that two concepts can become Activated Concepts𓇯 at the same time. When that happens, and the simultaneous activation turns out to be *salient*, an association between the two concepts will be made or strengthened.

"Salient" can mean various things:

* The simultaneous activations happen often enough. ("Might as well keep track – might be useful someday.")

* One instance of simultaneous activation may be associated with an Aha! moment like Paintbrush As Pump𓍯).

* The two concepts, working together to produce Brain Events𓇯, turn out to be useful.

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