Assessment of attention to complex cues in young children: Manipulating prior reinforcement histories of stimulus components

Abstract

Computer technology was employed to teach attentional skills to six young children. The procedure involved manipulating prior reinforcement histories of individual stimuli to examine whether this variable controlled the features of compound cues which young children attended to. Initially, three separate visual discriminations were conditioned. After criterion accuracy was achieved, stimuli were combined by keeping prior reinforcement contingencies unchanged for some elements and reversing them for remaining elements. Tests revealed when conflict-compound discriminations were acquired, children responded selectively to unchanged elements while not responding to reversed elements. Transfer effects were investigated by presenting compounds containing some or all novel cues. Variable test performance was observed following acquisition of compounds composed of novel cues. Consistent test performance occurred across children for compounds containing all pretrained cues. Separately training each stimulus component was the most reliable procedure for controlling the attention of young children.