Fading procedures and oddity learning in kindergarten children

Abstract

The effectiveness of three fading and two nonfading procedures were compared in training kindergarten children on an oddity problem in which shape was the relevant dimension. The fading procedures employed supplementary cues which were gradually eliminated during training. The cues included either saturating the odd stimulus with a red color, saturating the nonodd stimuli with a red color, or varying the degree of illumination of the nonodd stimuli. One nonfading group received training on a structurally simpler oddity problem prior to transfer to a more complex oddity problem, and a second nonfading group received the standard oddity training procedure. While significant differences in acquisition were not obtained between training groups, the oddity task performance and the results from a test of dimensional observation revealed that the fading procedures were differentially effective in transferring Ss′ observation from the dimension of the fading cue to that relevant for solution of the oddity problem.