Initial training with difficult items does not facilitate category learning

Edmunds, C.E.R; Wills, A.J; Milton, F

Abstract

In the phenomenon of transfer along a continuum (TAC), initial training on easy items facilitates later learning of a harder discrimination. TAC is a widely replicated cross-species phenomenon that is well predicted by certain kinds of associative theory. A recent report of an approximately opposite phenomenon (i.e., facilitation by initial training on hard items) poses a puzzle for such theories, but is predicted by a dual-system model (COVIS). However, across four experiments, we present substantial evidence that this counterintuitive finding was in error. Rather, the result appears to be a false positive and, as such, should not form part of the evidence base for COVIS nor be considered as a counter-example to the pervasive TAC phenomenon.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Jan 1, 2018
• Publication Date: Feb 28, 2019
• Deposit Date: Feb 20, 2025
• Journal: Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
• Print ISSN: 1747-0218
• Electronic ISSN: 1747-0226
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 72
• Pages: 151-167
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17470218.2017.1370477
• Keywords: categorisation, transfer along a continuum, implicit, explicit
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/13780836