Effect of stimulus variation upon reversal shift performance of kindergarten children

Abstract

Two experiments examined the effects of differences between stimulus conditions present during an initial learning task and a reversal task. Each experiment consisted of four groups of kindergarten children trained in a two-choice discrimination problem. All Ss first learned a simple form discrimination in which the discriminanda were of the same color. Immediately upon reaching criterion, all Ss were required to learn a reversal, i.e., learn to respond to the formerly nonreinforced stimulus. For Group 1, the control group, the stimulus conditions remained constant during reversal. Group 2 had the color of the stimuli changed; Group 3 had the size of the stimuli altered, and Group 4 had both color and size changed during reversal. The results provide support for the idea that reversal speed is a function of the variability between the stimulus conditions of the learning and the reversal tasks.