Ok I’m putting this here so I have a reference point to take notes from. [from the plato philosophy page on associationist thought]
7. Relation between the Varieties of Association and Related Positions
These four types of associationism share a certain empiricist spiritual similarity, but are logically, and empirically, separable. The pure associationist who wants to posit the smallest number of domain-general mental processes will theorize that the mind consists of associative structures acquired by associative learning which enter into associative transitions and are implemented in an associative instantiation base. However, many hybrid views are available and frequently different associationist positions become mixed and matched, especially once issues of empiricism, domain-specificity, and gradual learning arise. Below is a partial taxonomy of where some well-known theorists lie in terms of associationism and these other, often related doctrines.
Prinz (2002) and Karmiloff-Smith (1995) are examples of empiricist non-associationists. It is rare to find an associationist who is a nativist, but plenty of nativists have aspects of associationism in their own work. For example, even the arch-nativist Jerry Fodor maintains that intramodular lexicons contain associative structures (Fodor 1983). Similarly, there are many non-behaviorist (at least non-radical, analytic, or methodological behaviorist) associationists, such as Elman (1991), Smolensky (1988), Baeyens (De Houwer and Baeyens 2001), and modern day dual process theorists such as Evans and Stanovich (2013). It is quite difficult to find a non-associationist behaviorist, though Tolman approximates one (Tolman 1948). Elman and Smolensky also qualify as representationalist associationists, and Van Gelder (1995) as an anti-representationalist non-associationist. Karmiloff-Smith (1995) can be interpreted as, for some areas of learning, a proponent of gradual learning without being associationist (some might also read contemporary Bayesian theorists, e.g., Tenenbaum et al. 2011 and Chater et al. 2006 as holding a similar position for some areas of learning). Rescorla (1988) and Heyes (2012) claim to be associationists who are pro step-wise, one shot learning (though Rescorla sees his project as a continuation of the classical conditioning program, others see his data as grist for the anti-associationist, pro-computationalist mill, see Gallistel and King 2009; Quilty-Dunn and Mandelbaum 2019). Lastly, Tenenbaum and his contemporary Bayesians colleagues sometimes qualify as holding a domain-general learning position without it being associationist.[29]