Tom Trabasso

Color and form preference in young children

Abstract Preferences for color, form and size stimuli by nursery and kindergarten children, ranging in age from 3–6 years, were studied under choice conditions where hue saturation and figure contour were maried. Of the 145 who completed testing, 133 S s were unidimensional and consistent in their preference despite stimulus variation. Younger children mostly preferred color and older children mostly preferred form with the median transition age at 4 years, 2 months. Children with mixed preferences showed no increase in frequency with age. Some evidence for a preference hierarchy was presented on subtests where the preferred stimulus was removed; color-preferring children showed an increase in preference for form over size with age; form-preferring children did not show a developmental increase in preference for color over size. The results are discussed in terms of preference transition and its possible antecedent conditions as well as implications of stimulus preference for learning such as its operation as an observing response in concept attainment.

Stimulus preference and cue function in young children's concept attainment

Abstract The present study investigated the relationship between the cue function of color and form dimensions and stimulus preference by young children in concept attainment. In the first experiment, the preferred dimension was either relevant or irrelevant to solution. If the preferred dimension was relevant, concept learning was facilitated; if the preferred dimension was irrelevant, learning was retarded. In a second experiment, color and form were relevant and redundant to solution. After learning, Ss were tested for specific learning on color and form. Errors occurred predominantly on the nonpreferred dimension. Both sets of results support the interpretation that stimulus preferences act as initial perceptual responses and influence the order of attainment for dimensional concepts.

Presolution dimensional shifts in concept identification: A test of the sampling with replacement axiom in all-or-none models ☆

The experiment tests an all-or-none theory for concept learning. The assumption tested is that the subject tries out cues (hypotheses) randomly without utilizing information from the past sequence to limit his search. The test condition run involved multiple shifts in relevancy of two cues during the course of learning. Contrary to prediction, this procedure retarded learning. A proposed revision assumes that the subject eliminates inconsistent cues but after awhile forgets that they had been eliminated. Quantitative assumptions to this effect accurately fit the present results. Related research is discussed which also is consistent with the revised sampling rule.

Memory in concept identification

Recent quantitative theories of concept identification assume a limited memory during learning. To test this assumption, Ss recalled the stimulus dimensions and the correct responses on each stimulus card in 12 six-card problems. The expected recency effect was obtained but a larger, unexpected primacy effect was also observed. On those problems which were solved, the joint recall of the relevant dimension and the correct response to the cards was above chance. On unsolved problems, the recall of the relevant dimension was independent of the recall of its classification. Average recall on all problems was only slightly above the chance level. These results, with the exception of the primacy effect, support the limited memory assumption.

Attribute preference and discrimination shifts in young children

Abstract The relations among preschool childrens preferences for color and form attributes, speed of learning an initial problem, and optional shift behavior in discrimination training were studied in two experiments. In both experiments, learning was rapid if S s preferred attribute was relevant. In Exp. I, upper-middle class S s tended to reverse on their preferred attribute with planometric stimuli; in Exp. II, lower-middle class S s who preferred color learned to discriminate stimulus objects slowly and made nonreversal responses regardless of the attribute upon which they were trained; form-preferring S s showed the opposite behaviors. The results were discussed in terms of attentional and mediational theories.

Component learning in the four-category concept problem ☆

The four-category concept identification task is analyzed as involving two single-cue subproblems. It is supposed that the two concurrent subproblems are worked on independently by the subject, and further, that subproblem learning is a probabilistic, all-or-nothing event. Various lines of evidence are drawn from the data to document these assertions. In particular, the theory successfully predicts the behavior of subjects in the four-category task by using parameters estimated from other subjects learning only single-cue subproblems.

Attention in discrimination learning of young children.

Abstract This study investigated the separate effects of attention to the relevant dimension and instrumental responses to dimensional values on the learning rates of discrimination shifts by four-year-old children. The separate effects were assessed by comparing pairs of shifts: intradimensional and extradimensional; reversal and intradimensional, respectively. Two experiments which varied the nature of the stimuli were performed: in the first, patterns served as stimuli and the reversal was slower than either of the other shifts which were learned about equally fast. In the second, objects served as stimuli and the intradimensional shift was faster than either of the others which were learned at about the same rate. These findings indicate that transfer of an observing or attentional response to the relevant dimension occurred for objects but not for patterns. Although such attention transferred, it was not sufficient to overcome the effects of original instrumental learning on the reversal problem. The findings were discussed with reference to two-stage theories of discrimination learning which treat attention and prior instrumental learning as separate factors and mediational theory which tends to identify responding to the relevant dimension as mediation.

Tests of a mixed model for paired-associates learning with overlapping stimuli☆

Abstract This research was concerned with the overlap problem of discrimination-learning theory—how discriminations among stimuli with overlapping cues are learned. One hundred and twenty subjects learned a paired-associates list in which the overlap among the compound stimulus members of the items was varied to produce a wide range of component cue validities and intratask transfer effects. After learning the list, subjects were tested on the component cues alone and on a series of novel compounds which overlapped the training compounds. An analysis of these transfer tests indicated that subjects tended to respond on the basis of the validity or relevancy of the component cues, and that frequency of presentation of the cues during learning was not a critical variable. An extended version of a mixed model of stimulus-sampling theory yielded a good quantitative account of acquisition and transfer performance.

Recording of tactile observing responses for the study of selective attention

Apparatus is described, complete with circuit diagram, which provides continuous measurement of selective attention to spatially separate, tactile stimuli. Tactile and other responses to physical objects are recorded electrically. This permits direct observation of each observing response through-out the duration of a trial. An ink-on-paper record yields types, durations, frequencies, patterns, latencies and correctness of responses. This device has potential usage in both learning and psychophysical experimentation, particularly on the direction and/or degree of attention. Some preliminary data in a discrimination learning task are given which show that Ss spend less time touching irrelevant stimuli near terminal learning.