Abstract

Probabilistic learning is a research program that aims to understand how animals and humans learn and adapt their behavior in situations where the pairing between cues and outcomes is not always completely reliable. This chapter provides an overview of the challenges of probabilistic learning for models of the brain and behavior. We discuss the historical background of probabilistic learning, its theoretical foundations, and its applications in various fields such as psychology, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence. We also review some key findings from experimental studies on probabilistic learning, including the role of feedback, attention, memory, and decision-making processes. Finally, we highlight some of the current debates and future directions in this field. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.