A transfer surface for paradigms in which second-list S-R pairings do not correspond to first-list pairings

Abstract

A transfer surface was described for paradigms in which S-R pairings on the second of two tasks do not correspond to the pairings on the first task. The reference condition for these paradigms is the A-B,A-Br paradigm in which identical stimuli and responses are re-paired to make up the second task. The surface describes the transfer to be expected in A-B,A-Br, and paradigms in which stimulus similarity, response similarity, or both are reduced from identity to dissimilarity. An experiment was performed in which 4 conditions on the NC surface were compared with 7 conditions from the Osgood surface. The 4 NC conditions involved all combinations of similar and identical stimuli and responses, while the Osgood-surface conditions were those matching the NC conditions but with corresponding pairings on the two lists, and also conditions with identical stimuli and dissimilar stimuli and responses. The results generally conformed to the Osgood surface and the proposed NC surface. Of some interest is the fact that both stimulus and response similarity effects appeared in corresponding pairings, while only differences as a function of stimulus similarity appeared in the noncorresponding pairings. Several proposed explanations of this finding are contradicted by other parts of the data.