Laws Of Association

The Laws of Association explain how we learn and remember things. The philosopher Aristotle came up with the three basic Laws of Association: law of contiguity, law of similarity, and law of contrast.

The Law of Contiguity states that we associate things that occur close to each other in time or space. For example, if we think of thunder, we immediately think of lightning, since the two often occur one after the other.

The Law of Similarity states that when two things are very similar to each other, the thought of one will often trigger the thought of the other. For example, when we think of coffee, we often think of tea as well.

The Law of Contrast states that the thought of something is likely to trigger the thought of its direct opposite. For example, when we hear the word "hot," we often think of the word "cold."

These three basic laws were later revised and expanded by other associationists, but the Laws of Association can be considered as the seeds from which we can trace the beginnings of Psychology.