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Instance theory as a domain-general framework for cognitive psychology

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From Nature Reviews Psychology

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Abstract

The dominant view in cognitive psychology is that memory includes several distinct and separate systems including episodic memory, semantic memory and associative learning, each with a different set of representations, explanatory principles and mechanisms. In opposition to that trend, there is a renewed effort to reconcile those distinctions in favour of a cohesive and integrative account of memory. According to instance theory, humans store individual experiences in episodic memory and general-level and semantic knowledge such as categories, word meanings and associations emerge during retrieval. In this Perspective, we review applications of instance theory from the domains of remembering, language and associative learning. We conclude that instance theory is a productive candidate for a general theory of cognition and we propose avenues for future work that extends instance theory into the domain of cognitive computing, builds hybrid instance models and builds bridges to cognitive neuroscience.

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Fig. 1: The MINERVA model of memory.
Fig. 2: ‘On the fly’ memory retrieval in MINERVA.
Fig. 3: Storage versus retrieval accounts of semantic memory in language.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery Grants to R.K.J. and B.T.J. We thank M. J. C. Crump for discussion and suggestions.

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

    Randall K. Jamieson

  2. Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada

    Brendan T. Johns

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

    John R. Vokey

  4. Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA

    Michael N. Jones

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R.K.J. was lead author of this manuscript; all other authors contributed equally.

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Jamieson, R.K., Johns, B.T., Vokey, J.R. et al. Instance theory as a domain-general framework for cognitive psychology. Nat Rev Psychol 1, 174–183 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159-022-00025-3

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