Factors affecting conditional discrimination in children.

Abstract

Preschool and kindergarten children were trained in a discrimination reversal task and tested on a conditional discrimination task. The correct cue was conditional upon which of 2 backgrounds was present. Among the factors which affected performance were number of successive presentations of each background condition, temporal distribution of training procedures, and age. Even when the youngest Ss (3 1/2-4 yr.) learned the discrimination reversal task, they were unable to transfer successfully to the conditional discrimination task.