Transfer and sequence in learning double classification skills

Abstract

Twenty-seven kindergarten Ss were trained on two different double classification matrix tasks in an attempt to determine whether the tasks were hierarchically related. Prior behavior analyses of the tasks suggested that the two tasks shared many components, but that the more complex task had additional components not included in the simpler one. For this reason it was predicted that learning the simpler task first, then the complex, was the “optimal” learning sequence. As predicted, Ss who learned the tasks in the optimal order learned the more complex task in fewer trials than Ss who learned the tasks in the reverse order. In addition, those Ss in the reverse order group who did succeed in learning the complex task showed evidence of having acquired the simpler task in the process. Both of these findings are in accord with the hypothesis that the two tasks are hierarchically related. It is suggested that acquisition of complex cognitive skills may be a matter of learning specific relevant prerequisites.