THE EFFECTS OF INTRADIMENSIONAL SHIFTS ON THE LENGTH OF THE PRESOLUTION PERIOD FOR DISCRIMINATION LEARNING.
Item
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Title
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THE EFFECTS OF INTRADIMENSIONAL SHIFTS ON THE LENGTH OF THE PRESOLUTION PERIOD FOR DISCRIMINATION LEARNING.
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Identifier
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AAI8103938
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identifier
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8103938
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Creator
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KNOPP, MARY.
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Contributor
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Dr. Eric G. Heinemann | Dr. Sheila Chase
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Date
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1980
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Experimental
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Abstract
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Initial acquisition on a discrimination learning task is often characterized by a period during which the subject responds at random to the experimentally manipulated stimuli. This initial stage of acquisition has been referred to as the presolution period. While the presolution period has generated some theoretical interest, investigations of the variables influencing the length of the presolution period are limited. The purpose of this study was to extend the findings on the presolution period and to evaluate theoretical accounts of the processes underlying the presolution period.;Specifically, the study investigated the effects of simple easy-to-hard and easy-to-hard reversal training, given while the subjects were still in the presolution period, on the length of the presolution period. Fifty-six pigeons were trained on a two-choice, successive discrimination task. The discrimination stimuli were levels of white noise intensity that differed by either 30 dB for the easy task and 5 dB for the difficult task. Three groups were given 40, 80, or 160 trials on the easy task before a shift to the difficult discrimination. Two groups were trained on the easy task prior to a reversal shift to the difficult task. Two additional groups were trained on either the easy task or the difficult task alone.;Results showed that subjects shifted from the easy to the difficult discrimination during the presolution period had shorter mean presolution periods than subjects trained on the difficult task alone. Subjects given easy training prior to a reversal shift to the difficult problem had longer mean presolution periods than controls. The results are in general agreement with the quantitative predictions of a theory developed by Heinemann (in press). This theory regards the subjects as a detector of the contingencies arranged in the experiment and is based on the sequential analysis techniques developed by Wald (1947).
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Psychology
