Instance theory as a domain-general framework for cognitive psychology

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.