Effect of perceptual pretraining on reversal and nonreversal shifts.

Abstract

Experimental Ss (1st-grade children) received in succession nonreinforced pretraining in making same-different judgments to stimuli varying in height and brightness, a reinforced-discrimination task in which stimuli varied simultaneously in height and brightness, and either a reversal shift of the initial discrimination (1/2 Ss) or a nonreversal shift (1/2 Ss). Control Ss received the same discrimination task and shifts but preceded by a picture-completion and a picture-arrangement test. Ss in the experimental-reversal group required significantly fewer trials to reach criterion than Ss in the experimental-nonreversal and control-reversal groups. The control-reversal and control-nonreversal groups did not differ. The results are interpreted within a differentiation theory of discrimination learning.