Components and compounds in discrimination learning of retarded children

Abstract

Both compound and component stimuli were used by retarded children in the learning of simultaneous visual discriminations which are solvable by components alone. Each S was given a series of 192 three-trial problems, composed of six problem types differing in the manner in which the stimuli were manipulated from Trial 1 to Trial 3. Four of these problems had both color, form, and the color-form compounds relevant on Trial 1. On Trial 2 only one component cue, color or form, and one compound cue, positive or negative, were available for solution. The remaining two problem types had one component and both compound cues available on all three trials. Comparison of performance on Trial 2 of the first four problems with that of the last two showed that both positive and negative compounds were learned, and the differences attributable to the positive compound were greater than those of the negative compound. However, compounds were not the sole basis for solution, as evidence from Trial 3 performance was found for the acquisition of components. Retarded children would thus appear to be able to utilize a considerable amount of the stimulus information provided. Attempts to predict the obtained performance by two distinct models, Attention Theory and a Single-Link Model, resulted in roughly equivalent and rather close approximations of the obtained values.