The effect of dimensional preference on reversal shift behavior of young children

Abstract

Twenty-eight kindergarten children served as Ss in a discrimination reversal task. Each S was given a preference test to determine the probability of attending to a particular dimension. It was hypothesized that dimensional preference would affect original learning and the tendency to reverse. The results supported the first hypothesis but not the second. It was further found that the effect of preference was primarily due to the performance of reversers. The data were interpreted in favor of a mediational explanation of developmental differences in discrimination learning.