Evidence for Acquired Equivalence of Cues in a Perceptual Task

Abstract

The experiment was designed to test the hypothesis that perceptual performance following various types of stimulus predifferentiation tasks including labeling might depend, not upon the specific features of the labels themselves, but upon differential practice effects presumably associated with the labeling task. 60 Ss were given a multiple shape recognition test following one of three types of pretraining: distinctiveness, equivalence or observation practice. In spite of the fact that all groups received comparable amounts of practice with the stimuli, the equivalence group made fewer correct recognitions than did the observation group, a finding which is inconsistent with a differential practice hypothesis and which is consistent with an acquired equivalence of cues hypothesis.