Concept identification as a function of relevance of training and intertask instructions

Abstract

The salience of three types of verbal training was manipulated through instructions given before a concept identification task. The verbal training was either relevant (R), irrelevant (IR), or neutral (C) with respect to the stimulus dimensions in the transfer task. It was found that: (a) R training facilitates concept identification performance, and (b) R and IR training respectively facilitate and degrade concept identification performance after high salience instructions, but do not produce a differential effect on performance after low salience instructions.