Acquired equivalence and distinctiveness in human discrimination learning: evidence for associative mediation.
In the first stage of Experiments 1-3, subjects learned to associate different geometrical figures with colors or with verbal labels. Performance in Stage 2, in which the figures signaled which of 2 motor responses should be performed, was superior in subjects required to make the same response to figures that had shared the same Stage 1 associate. A third stage of testing showed that the events used as associates in Stage 1 were capable of evoking the motor response trained in Stage 2, an outcome predicted by an associative interpretation of such transfer effects. Experiment 4 provided evidence that the relevant associations can be effective in controlling motor responding even when subjects report an antagonistic relationship between events.
Hall
Geoffrey
G
Department of Psychology, University of York, United Kingdom. gh1@york.ac.uk
Mitchell
Chris
C
Graham
Steven
S
Lavis
Yvonna
Y
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001244:Association; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D006801:Humans; D014706:Verbal Learning; D014796:Visual Perception; D014825:Vocabulary