A philosophical and psychological theory that the mind learns and thinks by connecting ideas and experiences together.
From 'association' + the suffix '-ism' (a practice, system, or theory). Became formalized as a named school of thought in 18th-century philosophy, especially British empiricism.
Associationism predicted neural networks by 200 years—philosophers in the 1700s said learning is just making connections, and modern AI literally works by creating mathematical associations between patterns, making those old philosophers look like unexpected AI pioneers!
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