Discrimination Learning In Children Research Articles

Conditional Learning Deficits in Children with ADHD can be Reduced Through Reward Optimization and Response-Specific Reinforcement

When children with ADHD are presented with behavioral choices, they struggle more than Typically Developing [TD] children to take into account contextual information necessary for making adaptive choices. The challenge presented by this type of behavioral decision making can be operationalized as a Conditional Discrimination Learning [CDL] task. We previously showed that CDL is impaired in children with ADHD. The present study explores whether this impairment can be remediated by increasing reward for correct responding or by reinforcing correct conditional choice behavior with situationally specific outcomes (Differential Outcomes). An arbitrary Delayed Matching-To-Sample [aDMTS] procedure was used, in which children had to learn to select the correct response given the sample stimulus presented (CDL). We compared children with ADHD (N = 45) and TD children (N = 49) on a baseline aDMTS task and sequentially adapted the aDMTS task so that correct choice behavior was rewarded with a more potent reinforcer (reward manipulation) or with sample-specific (and hence response-specific) reinforcers (Differential Outcomes manipulation). At baseline, children with ADHD performed significantly worse than TD children. Both manipulations (reward optimization and Differential Outcomes) improved performance in the ADHD group, resulting in a similar level of performance to the TD group. Increasing the reward value or the response-specificity of reinforcement enhances Conditional Discrimination Learning in children with ADHD. These behavioral techniques may be effective in promoting the learning of adaptive behavioral choices in children with ADHD.

Deficits in Conditional Discrimination Learning in Children with ADHD are Independent of Delay Aversion and Working Memory.

Adaptive behavior requires the adjustment of one’s behavioral repertoire to situational demands. The learning of situationally appropriate choice behavior can be operationalized as a task of Conditional Discrimination Learning (CDL). CDL requires the acquisition of hierarchical reinforcement relations, which may pose a particular challenge for children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), particularly in light of documented deficits in short-term/working memory and delay aversion in ADHD. Using an arbitrary Delayed Matching-To-Sample task, we investigated whether children with ADHD (N = 46), relative to Typically Developing children (TD, N = 55), show a deficit in CDL under different choice delays (0, 8, and 16 s) and whether these differences are mediated by short-term/working memory capacity and/or delay aversion. Children with ADHD demonstrated poorer CDL than TD children under 8 and 16-second delays. Non-delayed CDL performance did not differ between groups. CDL differences were not mediated by short-term/working memory performance or delay aversion. Moreover, CDL performance under an 8-second delay was a better predictor of clinical status than short-term/working memory performance or delay aversion. CDL, under conditions of delay, is impaired in children with ADHD. This may lead to difficulties discriminating between different situational demands and adapting behavior according to the prevailing reward contingencies or expectations.

Promotion of Discrimination Learning in Children with Developmental Disabilities by Curricular Revision : The Effect of Different Situation-Settings on the Number of Correct Answers

Promotion of Discrimination Learning in Children with Developmental Disabilities by Curricular Revision : The Effect of Different Situation-Settings on the Number of Correct Answers

Frequency discrimination learning in children

Psychoacoustic thresholds of pure tone frequency discrimination (FD) in children are elevated relative to those of adults. It has been shown that it is possible to improve FD thresholds in adults, following a single (subhour) training session. To determine whether FD thresholds in children may be improved by training and, consequently, reduced to adult levels, 100 normally hearing 6- to 11-year-old children and adults received approximately 1 h of training on a FD task at 1 kHz. At the start of training, a quarter of all child participants had FD thresholds that resembled those of naive adults (adult-like subgroup). Another quarter achieved thresholds that were adult-like at some point during training (trainable subgroup). For the remainder (nonadult-like subgroup), thresholds did not reach those of naive adult listeners at any point in the training session. Subgroup membership was linked to the influence of three factors-age, nonverbal IQ, and attention. However, across subgroups, learning was found not to generalize to either a different standard frequency (4 kHz) or a variable (roving) presentation paradigm. The results indicate that it is possible for some children to achieve FD thresholds comparable to those of naive adults, either natively or after limited training.

The Differential Outcome Effect as a Useful Tool to Improve Conditional Discrimination Learning in Children

The differential outcome effect (DOE) refers to the increase in speed of acquisition and terminal accuracy that occurs in conditional discrimination learning when two or more stimuli are correlated with a particular outcome. Previous studies demonstrated the benefits of the DOE in preschool children. In two experiments we extended the DOE methodology to older children and tasks of different difficulty. Experiment 1 indicated that the DOE procedure improved conditional discrimination performance of 4- to 7-year-old children. However, this effect was not present in children aged 8 years. In Experiment 2, we increased the difficulty of the task and demonstrated that these children in the differential outcome condition performed significantly better on this complex version of the discriminative task than those in the matched control group. It is proposed that the DOE is a general effect that is not limited to early stages of development and that the difficulty of the task is an important variable to consider when a differential outcome procedure is used.

Effects of chlorpromazine and thioridazine on discrimination learning in children with mental retardation

Four boys living in an institution for individuals with mental retardation participated in a study of the effects of chlorpromazine and thioridazine on discrimination learning. While on their previously prescribed drug, either chlorpromazine or thioridazine, the boys were trained on visual discrimination problems using multiple and concurrent schedules until their rate of learning new problems was stabilized. They then learned a series of new problems while taking only placebo tablets, and finally learned a further series of problems while receiving the alternative drug. Results showed that both drugs elevated discriminative performance relative to placebo. On multiple schedules the drugs increased a discriminative index based on response rate; on concurrent schedules they increased a discriminative index based on stimulus duration.

Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Type and Combination of Feedback on Children's Discrimination Learning

Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Type and Combination of Feedback on Children's Discrimination Learning

Temporal Correlates of Children's Discrimination Learning

Temporal Correlates of Children's Discrimination Learning

Ontogenetic and phylogenetic shifts in the cognitive representation of the conditioned response.

The retention of the conditioned response was tested in a retroactive interference paradigm using subjects from kindergarten, Grades 3 and 6, and college. The conditioned stimuli (CS) were either a tone or light, and the unconditioned stimuli (US) were vibratory tactual stimulations delivered to either the right or left index finger which produced a withdrawal response. Original AB learning consisted of pairing one of the CSs with one of the USs (e.g., tone-left). Interpolated CD learning consisted of pairing the other CS with the other US (e.g., light-right). When the first stimulus was presented alone to test for retroactive interference, the college students gave the response associated with it during original learning, the B response, but the kindergartners and third graders gave the D response, which was never associated with the CS during training. A second experiment used avoidance conditioning instructions and replicated these results while including rest-control and AD groups. These data suggest that what is learned by children in simple conditioning paradigms is different than what is learned by adults in the same paradigms. The results are discussed in terms of the following two hypotheses: (a) Russian theories of conditioning and extensions of Tighe and Tighe's and Kendler's theories of the development of perception and discrimination learning in children, and (b) theories of development of separability in perceptual development.

The role of visual and haptic cues in children's discrimination learning.

Three experiments using kindergarten boys and girls (Ns = 126, 84, and 72, respectively) tested the hypothesis that adding haptic to visual information facilitates discrimination of three-dimensional objects on more difficult (three-choice) problems, but not on easier (two-choice) problems. Kindergartners were given a two-or three-choice discrimination problem under one of four conditions of cue availability: visual cues, haptic cues, and visual plus haptic cues with stimuli touched or not touched before choosing. Addition of haptic cues did not improve performance either on two-choice problems (two or three experiments), as predicted, or on three-choice problems (all three experiments), contrary to predictions.

The use of specific orienting cues for teaching discrimination tasks

Abstract A review of the experimental literature and frequent clinical observations suggest that autistic children are frequently unresponsive to necessary cues in complex discrimination tasks. This experiment attempted to remediate this problem by providing preliminary orienting instructions designed to enhance responding to problematic cues reported by the children's therapists. Three autistic children were taught a total of six discrimination tasks in the context of a multiple baseline design. During the baseline condition, which employed common, nonspecific orienting cues such as, “Look at the pictures,” or “Pay attention,” the children did not evidence acquisition for any of the referred tasks. In the treatment condition, additional orienting instructions were presented which required the children to make overt responses demonstrating that they had oriented to the specific relevant cues (i.e., they verbally labeled these specific cues) prior to responding. In each case, these procedures produced rapid achievement of the acquisition criterion. The results are discussed in terms of understanding and facilitating autistic children's complex discrimination learning.

Effects of Training to Use Feedback and Responsiveness to Information on Preschool Children's Discrimination Learning

The present study investigated the effect of the subject's information responsiveness as it interacted with training in feedback utilization on discrimination learning. A picture-sequencing test was developed to differentiate preexperimentally among 77 preschool subjects, ranging in age between 4–3 and 5–4 yr., as being either high or low information responders. The subjects were then randomly assigned to view a slide-tape program dealing with either feedback (treatment) or phonic discrimination (control). Subjects were subsequently administered a social responsiveness task. All subjects were administered a 48-trial, concept-identification task. The results indicated that high responsiveness to information and training in use of feedback produced improved social responsiveness but not improved learning on a concept-identification task.

Comparison of Effects of Labeled and Unlabeled Praise and Time-Out upon Children's Discrimination Learning

In the present study 60 preschool children participated in a three-choice discrimination learning task. The effects of praise and time-out were compared in a 2 (labeled vs unlabeled praise) X 3 (labeled vs unlabeled vs no time-out) factorial design. Labeled groups received a specific verbal description of the correct (or incorrect) choice in addition to the appropriate consequence (s). As predicted, both labeled praise and time-out groups showed significantly more correct and less incorrect behavior, respectively, on the task (marble-in-the-hole game) than comparable groups receiving unlabeled consequences. The time-out procedure, inaccessibility of a reinforced response, was effective only when a description of the incorrect response accompanied the negative consequence. Results did not confirm the prediction that the group given both labeled praise and labeled time-out would show more correct and less incorrect responding than groups receiving a description of only one dimension.

Role of Errors in Children's Discrimination Learning

The role of errors in children's discrimination learning was explored. 108 second grade children mastered simultaneous intradimensional discriminations (line tilts) or interdimensional discriminations (line tilt and dot) in either an errorful or errorless fashion. Errorful learners acquired the discriminations with a trial and error procedure. Errorless learning was experimentally produced by use of a progressive S— fading procedure. Following acquisition all children received generalization tests along the line-tilt continuum. The post-discrimination generalization gradients for children trained on the intradimensional tasks demonstrated negative peak-shift effects and no positive peak-shift effects. The S— post-discrimination generalization gradients for children trained on the interdimensional tasks were flat indicating no S— control. No differences were noted in the post-discrimination generalization gradients for the errorful and errorless learners. It was concluded that young children can master a simultaneous discrimination without noticeable S— control and that making errors or responding to S— during simultaneous discrimination acquisition is not a sufficient condition for the establishment of S— dimensional control.

Spatial separation and dimensionality of stimuli in children's discrimination learning.

Research has shown that increasing the distance between stimuli interferes with 2choice simultaneous discrimination learning in kindergartners (2, 3 ) . This effect has been demonstrated both for easv and difficult discriminations. where difficultv is m a n i ~ u lated by varying stimulus similarity ( 3 ) . Another variable influencing task difficulty is stimulus dimensionality. Studies of 3to 5-yr.-old children usually have found that 3dimensional (3-D) stimuli are discriminated more easily than two-dimensional (2-D) stimuli; see review ( 1 ) . The present study explored the effects of spatial separation and dimensionality of stimuli on 2-choice size-discrimination learning of 4-yr.-olds. Six girls and six boys each were assigned to one of four conditions: 2-D near, 3-D near, 2-D far or 3-D far. The 2-D and 3-D stimuli, respectively, were two black cardboard squares and two black wooden cubes. The sides of the squares and of the cubes were 5.08 or 6.35 cm. Stimuli were separated by 6.35 cm. in the near condition and by 25.40 cm. in the far condition. They were presented in a modified Wisconsin General Test Apparatus. The subjects were told, I'm going to hide a marble under one of these squares. Your job is to lift the square you think the marble is under. Stimulus position was predetermined by a modified Gellermann order. The large stimulus was correct for half the subjects of each sex in each condition, and the small one was correct for the remaining half. The learning criterion was 10 consecutive correct responses. The subjects' projected responses on the remaining trials (up to number 60) were recorded as correct. Training was terminated after 60 trials if criterion was not reached. A 2 (separation) x 2 (dimensionality) x 2 (sex) analysis of variance based on number of correct responses yielded a significant main effect of separation = 22.41, p < .001). Subjects performed more poorly in the far condition ( M = 42.20) than in the near condition ( M = 55.43). No other significant main effects or interactions were obtained. These results replicate earlier findings (2, 3 ) that increasing the distance between stimuli interferes with young children's learning. The present study found this effect to be equally strong for 2and 3-dimensional stimuli.

Child performance on discrimination tasks: Effects of amount of stimulus variation

Two independently conducted studies investigated stimulus variation effects on children's discrimination learning. The stimuli in the first study were generated by a conjunctive rule and were presented in pairs. Mean trials to criterion was significantly lower for the single-feature change treatment (17.4) than for the multiple-feature change treatment (29.9). Single-feature change-treatment transfer scores were significantly higher only for stimuli that differed in terms of one of the features. The second study not only replicated the initial finding concerning the single-feature change treatment but also found that students made more errors in reaching criterion when stimuli were generated by an exclusive disjunctive rule and were presented singly. For all tasks, the single-feature change treatment with stimuli presented in pairs was accompanied by fewer errors to criterion than the other treatments.

Role of Approval Motivation in Children's Problem Solving

Summary The present research was designed to investigate the role of the social desirability response tendency in the discrimination learning of children at different grade levels. In Experiment I, 160 first and fifth grade boys and girls were administered a dimensional discrimination learning task. The major factors were (a) high versus low social desirability, (b) two treatment conditions (neutral versus cue), and (c) sex of Ss. High social desirability first graders made fewer errors than low social desirability Ss. In the fifth grade group, an external cue facilitated the learning of high social desirability females and low social desirability males. The results of Experiment II (N = 80 fifth graders), with the use of a conceptual discrimination learning task, replicated those obtained for fifth graders in Experiment I. The findings suggest that for young children, scores on the social desirability scale may require a different interpretation than scores for older children and adults.

Dimensional Effects in Cross-modal Transfer of Discrimination Learning in Children

TYRRELL, DONALD J. Dimensional Effects in Cross-modal Transfer of Discrimination Learning in Children. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1977, 48, 625-629. 4 groups of first-grade children were presented with 2 discrimination learning problems. Children in half of these were transferred from a visual to a tactual problem, while the remainder experienced the opposite order. 1 group in each modality sequence was given 2 form-relevant problems (intradimensional transfer), while the others were transferred from a texture-relevant to a form-relevant problem (an extradimensional transfer). No differences appeared during original learning as a function of either modality of presentation or relevant dimension. Transfer acquisition was determined by type of transfer, with intradimensional transfer problems being acquired more rapidly than extradimensional transfer regardless of the modality sequence. It was concluded that these children did transfer dimensional information between the 2 modalities.

Dimensional Effects in Cross-Modal Transfer of Discrimination Learning in Children

Dimensional Effects in Cross-Modal Transfer of Discrimination Learning in Children

Image tracing: An analysis of its effectiveness in children's pictorial discrimination learning

Previous research has shown that requiring children to trace from memory the correct member of a pictorial discrimination pair markedly facilitates performance. The experiment reported here offers support for a presumed component of this learning strategy, namely, “memory imagery.” In particular, subjects who traced directly on top of the correct picture did not perform as well as those who traced it from memory. Various theoretical explanations of the image-tracing phenomenon are considered, including depth of processing, dual coding, and frequency.