A test of the effect of secondary reinforcement in concept formation

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TEST OF THE EFFECT OF SECONDARY REINFORCEMENT IN CONCEPT FORMATION

A D issertatio n P resented to th e F a c u lty o f t h e G raduate School The U n i v e r s i t y

o f Southern C a lif o r n ia

In P a r t i a l F u lf illm e n t of t h e R e q u irem en ts f o r t h e Degree D octor o f P h ilo so p h y

by F rancis

J o s e p h M c G uig an J u l y 1950

UMI Number: DP30405

All rights reserved INFORM ATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete m anuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion.

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This dissertation, w rit ten by

F.RALLCLLS..JO.SSPJi.llC.G.UXGMi.................................. . un der the guida nce of h.. . i s .F aculty C o m m i t t e e on Studies, and a p p r o v e d by all its m e mb ers , has been pr es e nt e d to and ac ce p te d by the C ouncil on G ra d u at e S t u d y and Rese arch , in p a r ti a l f u l ­ f i l l m e n t of requirements f o r the d e gre e of D O C T O R OF P H I L O S O P H Y ......................................... Dean

D a te

August 1 ? 5 ? .............

Com mittee on Studies

M ilton F. M e tfe sse l Chairman

..........................

_Con s t a n ce „D ... Lov e 31............ James T. C ulbertson

TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I

PAGE

THE PROBLEM AND DEFINITIONS OF TERMS USED

.

1

The p r o b l e m ..............................................................................

3

o f t h e p r o b l e m ....................................

3

....................................

3

.........................................

3

.....................

4

..........................................

5

S tatem ent

Im portance of th e

problem

D e f in itio n s of term s used

C o n d itio n e d Response P r i n c i p l e s N eo-G estalt

P rin cip les

L o g ical a n a l y s i s O bviousness

of p rin cip les

.

.....................

7

........................................................................

8

Secondary R einforcem ent

.........................................

9

S t a t e m e n t o f o r g a n i z a t i o n ............................................... 10 II

REVIEW OF THE L I T E R A T U R E ........................................... N eo-G estalt p o s itio n : N eo-G estalt p o s itio n :

Krech L ash ley

11 •

11

..........................

22

C o n d itio n e d Response p o s i t i o n :

Spence

C o n d itio n e d Response p o s i t i o n :

H ull

.

•

. . .

35 59

C o n d itio n e d Response p o s i t i o n : E h r e n f r e u n d .........................................................................62 C o n d itio n ed Response p o s i t i o n : R eco n ciliato ry

attem p ts

P ren tice

.

65

..........................................

69

CHAPTER III

PAGE EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN AND STATEMENT OF R E S U L T S ............................... E xperim ental

............................... .....

79

d e s i , g i ............................................................... 79

S u b j e c t s ....................................................................................79 M a te ria ls and e x p erim en tal p r e s e n ta tio n

.

$0

I n s t r u c t i o n s ......................................................................... 91 T h eo retical S tatem en t

p red ic tio n s

.........................................

92

o f r e s u l t s ..........................................................93

S e q u e n t i a l a n a l y s i s ...............................................................96 IV DISCUSSION, SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS................................ 1 2 1 D i s c u s s i o n .................................................................................121 Summary a n d c o n c l u s i o n s .................................................. 1 3 1 BIBLIOGRAPHY

................................................................................................ 1 3 7

A P P E N D I X ..................................................................................

14 2

L IST OF TABLES TABLE I

PAGE E x p e rim e n ta l D esign f o r T e s tin g ....................................................

D is c rim in a tio n H ab its II

A nalysis

45

o f fTI n s i g j i t f u l Tt S o l u t i o n s i n

C h i m p a n z e e s ................................................................................... 5$ III IV V VI

R e l e v a n t S t i m u l i on t h e

Problem C ards

. . . .

E x p e rim e n ta l P r e s e n t a t i o n o f Problem C a rd s R e s u l t s i n T er m s o f T r i a l A n alysis

•

90

5 ................................................. 94

o f V a r ia n c e f o r O bvious S t i m u l i

( P r o b l e m 1 , T r i a l 5) V II

£l

97

A n a ly s is o f V a r ia n c e f o r O bvious S t i m u l i ( P r o b l e m 1 , T r i a l s 1 - 4 ) .................................................... 9 $

V III

A nalysis

o f V a ria n c e f o r O bvious S t i m u l i

(Problem 2, T r i a l IX

A nalysis

5)

o f V a ria n c e f o r O bvious S t i m u li

(Problem 2, T r i a l s 1 -4 ) X

(Problem 1 , T r i a l 5

A n a ly sis o f V arian ce f o r S tim u li

X II

• • •

..............................1 0 0

A n a l y s i s o f V a r i a n c e f o r "Mediumly O b v io u s" S tim u li

XI

99

A nalysis S tim u li

) ...................................1 0 1

"Mediumly O b v io u s "

( P r o b l e m 1 , T r i a l s 1 - 4 ) ..............................102 o f V a r i a n c e f o r "M ediumly O b v io u s" (Problem 2 , T r i a l

5)

103

V

PAGE A n alysis

o f V a r i a n c e f o r "M ediumly O b v io u s"

S tim u li A nalysis

(Problem 2 , T r i a l s 1 -4 )

104

o f V arian ce f o r S u b tle S tim u li

( P r o b l e m 1 , T r i a l 5) A nalysis

..........................

....................................................

105

o f V arian ce f o r S u b tle S tim u li

(Problem 1, T r i a l s 1 -4 )

...............................................

C ovariance fo r

"O bvious S t i m u l i "

C ovariance fo r

"M ediumly O b v io u s" S t i m u l i

( P r o b l e m 1) C ovariance f o r (P roblan

2)

( P r o b l e m 2)

10 6 1 07

.............................................................................

108

"M ediumly O b v io u s S t i m u l i ........................................................................

C o v ariance f o r " S u b tle " S tim u li

( P r o b l e m 1)

109

•

110

D ata fo r O bvious S t i m u li

( P r o b l e m 1)

. .

. .

142

D ata f o r O bvious S t i m u l i

( P r o b l e m 2)

.

. .

143

.............................................................................

144

.

D a ta f o r "M ediumly O b v io u s" S t i m u l i ( P r o b l e m 1)

D a ta f o r "Mediumly O b v io u s" S t i m u l i ( P r o b l e m 2)

.............................................................................

D ata f o r S u b tle S tim u li

( P r o b l e m 1)

.....................

145 146

L IST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1

PAGE G e n e r a l i z a t i o n C u r v e s f o r E x c i t a t o r y and In h ib ito ry

2

T endencies

....................................................

G e n e r a li z a t i o n Curves f o r E x c i ta t o r y I n h i b it o r y T endencies

4

49

G e n e r a l i z a t i o n C u r v e s f o r E x c i t a t o r y a nd I n h i b it o r y T endencies

3

....................................................

54

and

....................................................

55

Sam ple P ro b le m C a rd s f o r O b v io u s C o n d i t i o n , P r o b l e m 1 .........................................................................................$3

5

Sam ple P ro b le m C a r d s f o r O b v io u s C o n d i t i o n , P r o b l e m 2 .........................................................................................$4

6

Sam ple P rob lem C a rd s f o r Mediumly O bvious C o n d itio n ,

7

$5

Sam ple P ro b le m C a r d s f o r M edium ly O bvious C o n d itio n ,

$

Problem 1

Problem 2

..........................................................$6

Sam ple P ro b le m C a rd s f o r S u b t l e C o n d i t i o n , P r o b l e m 1 .......................................................................

9

S e q u e n tia l A nalysis

&7

f o r O bvious S t i m u l i ,

P r o b l e m 1 ...................................................................................... 115 10

S e q u e n t i a l A n a l y s i s f o r O bvious S t i m u l i , P r o b l e m 2 ......................................................................................116

FIGURE 11

PAGE S e q u e n t i a l A n a l y s i s f o r M ediumly O bv io us S tim u li,

12

S e q u e n tia l A nalysis S tim u li,

13

Problem 1

Problem 2

................................................................ 1 1 7 f o r M ediumly O bvious ................................................................ 1 1 $

S e q u e n tia l A nalysis f o r S u b tle S tim u li, P r o b l e m 1 ........................................................................................ 1 1 9

A TEST OF THE EFFECT OF SECONDARY REINFORCEMENT IN CONCEPT FORMATION

CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM AND DEFINITIONS OF TERMS USED It

is

p o s s i b l e t o make a t l e a s t

o f co n tem porary p s y c h o l o g i s t s w ith o f v i e w on l e a r n i n g t h e o r y . c la ssified the

The f i r s t

f i e d w ith th e

en tran ce

has been rag in g

for

T h e s e two p o s i t i o n s h a v e b e e n of th e

in r a t e ,

sim ila r p o sitio n s

it

co n tin u ity

some t w e n t y y e a r s .

v e rs y has been p a r t i c u l a r l y is

w hich w i l l

o b ta in w ith r e s p e c t to

is

co n tro ­

I f an o r g a n i s m i s

o th er irre le v a n t

assume t h a t

The b a s i c

d iffer­

e sse n tia lly th e ir

p rin cip le

provide re in fo rc e m e n t,

of seco n d ary

responding to

one s t i m u l u s

th e N eo-G estalt t h e o r i s t s

s tim u li w i l l not be le a rn e d ;

p rev io u s hypotheses about th e s e h a v e no p o s i t i v e

w hich

th e lea rn in g

i n c l u d i n g man.

p o i n t s o f v i e w on t h e

p red ict th a t

T h ou g h t h i s

only re a s o n a b le to

in a l l an im als,

rein fo rcem en t.

co n tro v ersy ,

c la ri­

concerned w ith d i s c r im i n a t io n

e n c e b e t w e e n t h e s e two t h e o r i e s resp ectiv e

o f t h e s e can be

u n d er a c a te g o ry of P av lo v ian or C o n d itio n ed

R esponse p s y c h o lo g is ts .

processes

resp ec t to t h e i r p o in ts

as G e s ta lt or N eo -G estalt p s y c h o lo g is ts , w hile

second f a l l s

learn in g

two g r o s s d i v i s i o n s

"in co rrect"

or n eg ativ e e f f e c t .

stim u li w all

The o p p o s e d t h e o r y ,

h o w e v e r , w i l l s a y t h a t when an o r g a n i s m i s r e s p o n d i n g t o a correct

stim ulus,

a ll

o t h e r s t i m u l i i m p i n g i n g on t h e

s e n s o r iu m a t t h a t tim e v / i l l r e c e i v e an in c r e m e n t e x citato ry

ten d en cy ,

or w ill be le a rn e d to

of

some f i n i t e

e x te n t. On t h e b a s i s it

is

obvious t h a t

certain

of th e

e ith e r theory is

c o n d itio n s,

irrelev an t

secondary re in fo rc e m e n t, is

not th e

case.

re s u lts rep o rted

in C hapter I I ,

to o extrem e.

stim u li receiv e

Under

some

w hile under o th e r c o n d itio n s th is

S i n c e no s i n g l e t r u t h

v alu e

can be

a ssig n e d to th e p r o p o s itio n of secondary re in fo rc e m e n t, is

lik e ly

th at th is

Some r e l e v a n t d iffic u lty certain

p ro p o s itio n needs to be re d e fin e d .

s u g g e s t i o n s h a v e b e e n made c o n c e r n i n g t h e

o f th e problem f a c i n g t h e s u b j e c t .

co n d itio n s

of d i f f i c u l t y ,

of th e

co n d itio n s

a n o t h e r t h e o r y may b e a p p l i c a b l e .

d iffic u lty

1 ? a » >-'

Under

one t h e o r y o f l e a r n i n g

may b e c o n f i r m e d , w h i l e u n d e r d i f f e r e n t d iffic u lty ,

it

of

One i n d e x

o f a problem i s t h e d e g re e of o b v io u s ­

ness of th e re le v a n t

stim u li.

1 J . F . D a s h i e l l , T,A S u r v e y a nd S y n t h e s i s o f L e a r a i n T h e o r i e s , ” P sy ch o l o g i c a l B u l l e t i n , 3 2 : 2 6 1 - 2 7 5 , 19 3 5* 2 W. N . K e l l o g g , T,An E c l e c t i c View o f Some T h e o r i e s o f L e a r n i n g , TT P s y c h o l o g i c a l R e v i e w , 4 5 : 1 0 5 - 1 ^ 4 , 19 3$* 3 T . R . I - I c C o n n e l l , TrR e c o n c i l i a t i on o f L e a r n i n g T h e o r ie s ,” N a tio n a l S o c ie ty fo r S tu d ie s in E d u ca tio n , 4 1 s t Y e a r b o o k ', ' T a r t T T , p p .' TT/RTT------------------

3 I * S tatem ent

of th e

THE PROBLEM

problem .

The p r e s e n t

study has

b e e n c o n c e r n e d w i t h d e f i n i n g t h e n e c e s s a r y and s u f f i c i e n t co n d itio n s forcem ent

fo r fin d in g th e in le a rn in g

situ atio n s,

d e te rm in in g w hether th e stim u li

is

e ith e r of

phenomenon o f s e c o n d a r y r e i n ­ and i n p a r t i c u l a r w i t h

d eg ree of o b v io u sn e ss of r e le v a n t

such c o n d i t i o n s .

Human s u b j e c t s w e r e

p r e s e n t e d w i t h a c o n c e p t f o r m a t i o n p ro b le m i n which t h e c o n d itio n of obviousness of r e le v a n t a tic a lly

v aried .

Im portance of t h e p ro b lem . th e o ry of le a rn in g fica tio n

s t i m u l i was s y s t e m ­

B e f o r e an a d e q u a t e

can be c o n s tr u c te d ,

of c e rta in b asic

p ro p o sitio n s

an e m p i r i c a J . v e r i ­ must be o b t a i n e d .

One s u c h p r o p o s i t i o n i s t h a t o f s e c o n d a r y r e i n f o r c e m e n t , w hich was f i r s t

s t a t e d b y P a v l o v i n h i s e a r l y w ork on

an im als in a p h y sio lo g y la b o r a to r y .

I t has s in c e been

a d o p t e d b y many A m e r i c a n p s y c h o l o g i s t s w i t h l i t t l e as to

its

general v a lid ity .

re-exam ine t h i s i f th e d ata

q u estio n

The t i m e h a s now a r r i v e d t o

p r o p o s itio n w ith a r e d e f i n i t i o n

forth co m in g

so d e m a n d . II.

DEFINITIONS OF TERMS USED

The d i f f e r e n c e s b e t w e e n t h e N e o - G e s t a l t a n d C o n d i ­ tio n ed

R e sp o n se p s y c h o l o g i s t s can be u n d e r s t o o d b e s t b y

A sta tin g

s u c c in c tly th e r e s p e c tiv e p r in c ip le s th ey have

advanced to

e x p lain

the

learn in g

process.

C o n d itio n e d Response P r i n c i p l e s : 1.

A ll stim u li

i m p i n g i n g on t h e

rec ep to rs a t th e

t i m e o f r e i n f o r c e m e n t become a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e r e s p o n s e t h a t produced th e

rein fo rcem en t.

H ull has m o d ified t h i s , C o n d itio n e d Response t h e o r y ,

th e

basic

and s t a t e d

p ro p o sitio n it

of

som ewhat more

e la b o r a te ly as fo llo w s: T,A n e u t r a l r e c e p t o r i m p u l s e w h i c h o c c u r s r e p e a t e d l y and c o n s i s t e n t l y sta te

in c lo se c o n ju n ctio n w ith a re in fo rc in g

of a f f a i r s ,

a c q u ire the 2.

w h eth er prim ary o r se co n d a ry , w ill

power of a c t i n g a s a r e i n f o r c i n g I f a response is

to ry ten d en cies of th e

3*

I f a response

ten d e n cies of th e a c tiv e by a c e r t a i n

ag en t."^

fo llo w ed by rew ard , th e e x c i t a ­

im m ediate s tim u lu s

r e i n f o r c e d by a c e r t a i n

itse lf

com ponents a r e

increm ent. is not rew arded, th e

e x cita to ry

s t i m u l u s com ponents a r e weakened

d ecrem en t.

The C o n d i t i o n e d R e s p o n s e t h e o r i s t s h a v e s u g g e s t e d tw o " i n t u i t i v e "

consequences of th ese

p rin cip le s:

^ C. H u l l , " B e h a v i o r P o s t u l a t e s a nd C o r o l l a r i e s , " ( u n p u b l i s h e d p a p e r , N o v e m b e r , 1 9 4 9 ) , P* 2 .

5 1.

There w i l l be a c o n tin u o u s s tr e n g th e n in g

a sso c ia tio n as a fu n ctio n

of the

of t h e number o f t im e s t h a t su c h

com bined s t i m u l a t i o n h a s o c c u rre d * 2. stim u li

A ll of th e

are a sso c ia te d

e x cita to ry

value

of th e

Neo- G e s t a l t 1. in to

d ifferen tiatin g

and c o n t r i b u t e by sum m ation t o th e stim u lu s as a w hole•

P rin c ip les:

The o r g a n i s m b r e a k s t h e t o t a l

a fig u re 2.

p r o p e r tie s o f the

and a g r o u n d , and r e a c t s

Only a s p e c t s

of th e

fig u re

only to the

down fig u re.

are a s s o c ia te d .

The N e o - G e s t a l t p s y c h o l o g i s t s a l s o s u g g e s t some c o n s e q u e n c e s o f t h e i r b a s i c 1.

situ atio n

O th e r s t i m u l i which e x c i t e t h e

Tfi n t u i t i v e l y tf p ro p o sitio n s: rec ep to rs receiv e

no r e i n f o r c e m e n t . 2.

L earning w ill not be c o n tin u o u sly cu m ulativ e

th roughout t r a i n i n g , o rg an izatio n

but w ill vary w ith th e p e rc ep tu a l

of the a n im a l.

or in co rre ctn ess

L earn in g o f th e

of a stim ulus m i l

thus

co rrectn ess

o c c u r i n one

tria l. These a re th e b a s ic w ill d eal.

However,

some o f t h e s e th e

it

p r i n c i p l e s w i t h which t h i s

becomes im m e d ia te ly a p p a r e n t t h a t

s t a t e m e n t s a r e u n d u ly am biguous a s a r e s u l t

d e fe c ts of c o n v ersatio n al

reached th e

study

p o in t

w here i t

language.

of

Psychology has

i s no l o n g e r n e c e s s a r y t o t o l e r a t e

6 th is

a m b ig u ity w hich i n c r e a s e s th e

d iscu ssio n s.

There is

little

d issen tio n

d o u b t b u t w h a t many o f t h e

d i f f e r e n c e s betw een p s y c h o l o g ic a l t h e o r i e s on t h i s recourse

shortcom ing.

When s t a t i n g

s h o u l d b e made t o

m ethods p o s s i b l e .

It

and s y s te m s r e s t

sc ien tific

p ro p o sitio n s,

t h e m ost p r e c i s e and

is th erefo re

m e n t s b e made i n t h e p r o p o s i t i o n a l o f contem porary l o g i c .

in th e o re tic a l

e ffic ie n t

suggested t h a t s t a t e ­ and f u n c t i o n a l

W henever p o s s i b l e ,

calcu li

e m p i r i c a l and

form al sta te m e n ts

s h o u l d b e so s t a t e d .

tio n

o f d e r i v a t i o n can p ro d u c e a l a r g e s u p p l y

of the ru le s

of necessary

c o n s e q u e n c e s w h i c h may b e w o r t h y o f f u r t h e r

in v estig atio n .

The a b o v e s t a t e d

can be e li m in a te d , not a c tu a lly strictly

as th e r e i s

" i n t u i t i v e ” consequences

little

d o u b t t h a t t h e y do

follow / fro m t h e i r p r e m i s e s ,

tru e

d e riv a tio n s.

estab lish ed ta u to lo g ie s

is

not

statem en ts;

d erived

a l a r g e number of p r e v i o u s l y

can b e u s e d , s i n c e t h e t r u t h

o f any given p r o p o s i t i o n i s j u n c t i o n w ith t r u e

and r e p l a c e d by

To a d d t o t h e n u m b e r o f c o n ­

sequences of any given th e o r y ,

p ro p o sitio n

Then t h e a p p l i c a ­

from t h e

changed i f u sed i n i.e .,

i f th e

sy n th etic

in com bination w ith c e r t a i n t a u t o l o g i e s , ta u to lo g y because of s t r i c t

d ed u ctio n s,

v alu e

con­

sjm th etic

p ro p o s itio n p, t,

p .ta q ^

is a

and c o n s e q u e n t l y

5 " a n d ff 3 " a r e l o g i c a l s y m b o l s s t a n d i n g " a n d " and " i m p l i c a t i o n " r e s p e c t i v e l y .

for

p

q

is

a lso a tautology#

W h i l e p may b e f a l s e ,

d e r i v e d from p , t h i s o p e r a t i o n alw ays r e s u l t s tru th

v alue

of tru e

W it h t h i s

because of i t s

lin e

of th o u g h t,

p r o p o s i t i o n s a r e now r e s t a t e d sitio n s.

L ittle

effort

p recisio n ,

but th is

is

L o g ical a n a ly s is

in

q is

the

d e d u c tiv e n atu re# th e

in the

p rev io u sly calcu lu s

i s made h e r e t o

p ro p o s itio n s in th e e f f o r t

if

sta ted

of propo­

rew ord t h e s e

of re c o n c ilia tio n

or

g reater

a tt e m p t e d i n C h a p te r IV . of p rin c ip le s .

C o n d itio n e d Response P r i n c i p l e s :

1.

a.bDc

w here a = a re s p o n s e p ro d u ces r e in f o r c e m e n t b = a n e u tra l stim u lu s

i m p i n g e s on a r e c e p t o r

c = a n e u t r a l s tim u lu s becomes a s s o c i a t e d

w ith

a response th a t produces rein fo rcem en t.

2.

a.bDd

w here d = th e is 3•

e x c i t a t o r y ten dency o f the i n c r e a s e d by a c e r t a i n

n e u tra l stim u lu s

increm ent.

a *b 3 e^

w here e = th e is

e x c i ta t o r y ten d en cy o f th e n e u tr a l d e c r e a s e d by a c e r t a i n

6 A lin e

d ecrem en t.

o v e r a symbol i n d i c a t e s n e g a t i o n .

stim u lu s

g N eo-G estalt P r i n c i p l e s : l . a . f 3 g .h .i.j.k w h e re f = an o r g a n i s m i s

present

in a s itu a tio n .

g = an o r g a n i s m b r e a k s Lhe

s i l u a t i o n down i n t o f i g u r e *

h = an o r g a n i s m b r e a k s t h e

situ atio n

down i n t o g r o u n d *

i = an o r g a n i s m r e a c t s o n l y t o t h e f i g u r e , j = the

fig u re

k = th e ground

is

is rein fo rce d .

1 = an 0 r e a c t s t o O bviousness *

rein fo rced ,

th e

ground.

O b v io u s n e s s i s a com plex t e r m w hich

m ust be d e fin e d by p o in tin g to

a number o f i n d i c a t o r s .

L a s h le y ,^ w hile n o t d is c u s s in g t h i s

concept s p e c i f i c a l l y ,

p r o v i d e s a number o f such e m p i r i c a l l y d e te rm in e d i n d i c a t o r s w h i c h may w e l l b e u s e d f o r t h i s th at

a stim ulus

purpose.

It

i s more o b v i o u s i f :

1.

T h ere a r e few ite m s i n t h e f i e l d .

2.

The s u r f a c e a r e a i s

3*

The b r i g h t n e s s , is

4*

may b e s a i d

g reat.

in r e l a t i o n to th e

background,

g reat.

There is

a conspicuous p r o j e c tin g p o in t.

7 ' K. 3 . L a s h l e y , "T he M e c h a n i s m o f V i s i o n : x v P r e l i m i n a r y S t u d i e s of t h e R a t ’ s C a p a c ity f o r D e t a i l V i s i o n , fT J o u r n a l o f G e n e r a l P s y c h o l o g y , 1 $ : 1 2 3 - 1 9 3 > 1 9 3 $ •

5*

There is is

co n tin u ity of su rface,

or th e

co n to u r

clo sed .

The p r e s e n t

study w i l l

vary the

first

tw o i n d i c a t o r s

of obviou sness,

w hile keeping th e

d e ta ils

v a r i a t i o n w i l l b e made a p p a r e n t i n C h a p t e r

of th is

Secondary R e in fo rc e m e n t.

o th ers c o n sta n t.

The C o n d i t i o n e d R e s p o n s e

t h e o r i s t would o f f e r a n o p e r a t i o n a l reinforcem ent

in h is b a sic

w h a t o c c u r s when a n e u t r a l co n sisten tly

in clo se

of a ffa irs .

E vidence of

d e fin itio n

req u ired

n e u tra l

of

secondary

p r o p o s i t io n by say in g t h a t stim ulus

it

c o n ju n c tio n w ith

a rein fo rcin g sta te

secondary rein fo rce m en t

should

decrem ent of

f o r a g iv e n r e s p o n s e to b e evoked t o

th at

stim ulus* A d istin c tio n

g en eralizatio n n e u tra l

is

sh o u ld be c a l l e d stim ulus

is

betw een s e c o n d a ry r e in f o r c e m e n t

s o m e t i m e s made b y s a y i n g t h a t

stim ulus is

a cue t o a g o a l and i s

secondary re in fo rc e m e n t.

not a cue t o

a g o al,

should be c a l le d g e n e r a l i z a t i o n . useful d istin c tio n ,

it

but

is

and

i f the

rein fo rced , I f the

it

n eu tral

rein fo rced ,

it

W h i l e t h i s may b e a

o b v i o u s l y i s n o t made a p p a r e n t

th e b a s i c p r i n c i p l e s w it h w hich t h i s

is

a p p e a r s r e p e a t e d l y and

th e n be o b ta in e d by n o t i c i n g a c o n s i s t e n t tim e

The

paper is

in

concerned,

10 and t h e r e f o r e w i l l

not be em phasized.

In stead ,

th e term

se co n d a ry r e in fo rc e m e n t w i l l be u sed a s a g e n e ric covering a l l

in stan ces III.

The p r e s e n t

of spread of e f f e c t .

STATEMENT OF ORGANIZATION c h a p te r has p re se n te d th e

of the

problem h e r e u n d e r i n v e s t i g a t i o n .

cusses

each p o s i t i o n

experim ental

in d e ta il,

stu d y in an attem p t to

rein fo rcem en t.

d escrib es th e

r e s u lts of the

in v e s tig a te f u r th e r th e

o f obviousness of s tim u li to

of th is

C h ap ter I I

d is­

and p r e s e n t s r e l e v a n t

C hapter I I I

m e n tal p ro c e d u re and s t a t e s th e

p resen ts

esse n tia ls

s t u d i e s a n d d i s c u s s i o n i n an e f f o r t t o

c r y s t a l l i z e th e problem .

sta tistic a l

term

The r e s u l t s

the a c q u is itio n

stu d y .

present relev an cy

of secondary

a re a n aly z e d both by s ta n d a rd

m ethods and s e q u e n t i a l a n a l y s i s .

a d iscu ssio n ,

ex p eri­

summary a n d s e r i e s

C h a p t e r IV

of co nclusions

CHAPTER I I REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE The s p l i t

betw een t h e

m entioned in th e l a s t fu rth er#

the

th e

A ccordingly, th e p re s e n t

co n tin u ity

fo llo w in g

be d isc u sse d , E hrenfreund,

ch ap ter w ill

im p o rtan t

be con­

stu d ies relev an t

c o n t r o v e r s y and w i l l b e a p p r o a c h e d w i t h

plan:

the

N e o - G e s ta lt p o s i t i o n w i l l be

e l a b o r a t e d w ith em phasis and L ash ley ;

of p s y c h o l o g is ts

c h a p t e r h a s now t o b e i n v e s t i g a t e d

c e rn e d w ith a re v ie w of th e to

two g r o u p s

on t h e

work o f K re c h , Tolm an,

th e C o n d itio n ed Response p o s i t io n w i l l th e n w ith

stress

on t h e

c o n trib u tio n s

S p e n c e , and P r e n t i c e .

F in a lly ,

of H u ll,

c ertain

a t t e m p t s a t r e c o n c i l i a t i o n w i l l b e p r e s e n t e d somewhat m ore b r i e f l y ,

p articu larly

th o se of K ellogg, D a s h i e l l ,

R e C o n n e l , Blum a n d B lu m , a n d S c h o e n f e l d e t

study

a l.

Neo- G e s t a l t p o s i t i o n : K r e c h . K re c h ^ r e v i e w e d a p r e p o r t e d by F r i t z , i n w hich i n a b i l i t y o f r a t s t o

d e c r e a s e th e tim e

o f r e v e r s e d d i s c r i m i n a t i o n h a b i t s upon

I . K rech, ”A n t a g o n i s t i c V i s u a l D i s c r i m i n a t i o n H a b its ( F ia t) ,” J o u rn a l of C om narative P sy ch o lo g y , 1 4 : 2 6 3 - 2 7 7 , 193T~. ^ M. F . F r i t s , ” Long T i n e T r a i n i n g o f W h i t e R a t s on A n t a g o n i s t i c V i s u a l H a b i t s , ” J o u r n a l o f C o m p a r a t i v e P s y c h o l o g y , 11:171,* 19 31 -

12 rep e titio n

wa s d e m o n s t r a t e d .

F ritz

had t r a i n e d

four r a ts

t o d i s c r i m i n a t e b e t w e e n t w o a l l e 3rs o f a m a z e o f t h e b a s i s of v isu al alley

cues.

fo r food,

A fter 0 learned to a re v e rsa l to

was dem anded, by c h a n g i n g t h e a lley .

F ritz

tran sfer.

p re fe r th e n o n -lig h te d a lle y lo catio n

had c o n c lu d e d t h a t

w a s an i n d e p e n d e n t

learn in g

choose th e lig h te d

of the

each r e v e r s a l

perio d ,

food t o

th at

of a s e r i e s

except f o r n e g a tiv e

The r a t w a s e v i d e n t l y q u i t e l i m i t e d a s f a r a s

s y m b o l ic m a n i p u l a t i o n o f t h e v i s u a l s t i m u l u s was c o n c e r n e d , w h i c h w a s a c o n f i r m a t i o n o f H u n t e r ’ s e a r l i e r c o n c l u s i o n on s i m i l a r work i n d e l a y e d r e w a r d s i t u a t i o n s . r a t s lo n g enough to m ight be p r e s e n t ,

F ritz

ran th e

d e m o n s tr a te any sy m bolic b e h a v i o r t h a t

b u t Krech^ r e a s o n e d t h a t t h e t o t a l

o f r e v e r s a l s made b y e a c h 0 a n d t h e

number

r a p i d i t y w i t h w hich

e a c h r e v e r s a l was m a s t e r e d m i g h t a l s o b e r e l e v a n t . In f u r t h e r in v e s tig a tio n of th e a sim p le r dev ice than

had F r i t z .

d i s c r i m i n a t i o n box w ith l i g h t

p r o b le m , Krech u se d

He s e t u p a f o u r - u n i t

and d a r k s t i m u l i p l a c e d on

s w i n g i n g d o o r s i n o r d e r t h a t 0 would b e f o r c e d t h r o u g h t h e stim u lu s. of th e

0 w o u l d h a v e t o make a s e r i e s

four u n its .

T his

is th e

of c h o ices in

each

Stone M o d ified D is c r im in a -

3 T his s tu d y does n o t ap p ea r in a c c o rd w ith K re ch ’ s n o t io n o f " h y p o th e s e s" and th u s i s th e stu d y t h a t s t a r t e d o f f h is long s t r i n g o f e x p e rim e n ts .

13 tio n

Box, t h e t y p e w h ich K rech u s e d i n a l l

discu ssed . correct

Os w e r e t r a i n e d t o

of the

next t r ia l

last

a n o r m o f 95 p e r c e n t

tw enty d i s c r i m i n a t i o n s .

r e v e r s a l was d e m a n d ed .

r e p e a t e d u n t i l tw enty The r e s u l t s e a s i e r in the

rev e rsa ls

had been c o m p le te d .

in d ic ated th a t

last tr ia ls

0 c o u l d make a r e v e r s a l

th an in th e first

a b o v e t h e n u m b e r made i n t h e

last

lig h t

i n w hich t h e

I f a learn in g

if

dark h a b i t s

i.e .

ones.

curve i s

A lso,

e a sie r to

the

an e x tre m e ly uneven curve i s

curve i s

sep arately ,

th e

im provem ent adopt the

draw n f o r t h e o r d e r

d is c r im i n a tio n s w ere e n c o u n te re d

d a rk - lig h t, e tc .) How ever,

first;

few r e v e r s a l s was f a r

d a r k h a b i t d i d n o t make i t

h a b it.

T h e n on t h e

T h i s p r o c e d u r e was

n u m b e r o f e r r o r s made i n t h e

upon th e

h i s work h e r e

drawn f o r e i t h e r t h e two i n d e p e n d e n t

(i.e .

lig h t -

o b tain ed . lig h t

or

le a rn in g curves

appear. S ince th e f i r s t c u lt,

K rech r e a s o n e d t h a t

th a t u n it th is

out th e s i t u a t i o n

on

o t h e r u n i t s on t h e b a s i s

He t h u s b e l i e v e d t h a t t h e f i r s t

is

series

o f random t r i a l

s im ila r to the

rest

and e r r o r r e s p o n s e s ,

of le a rn in g

of

p a rt of

should not be d e s c r ib e d a s a h e l t e r - s k e l t e r ,

org an ized it

0 trie d

and r e s p o n d e d i n t h e

perform ance*

learn in g

th at

u n i t o f t h e m az e was t h e m o s t d i f f i ­

un­ but

s ta g e s in b ein g

14 a series

of o r g a n i z e d and s y s t e m a t i c

responses.

a t a k e - o f f from L a s h l e y ! s^ s u g g e s t i o n t h a t h a b its represent

p o sitio n

a t t e m p t e d s o l u t i o n s and 0 i s

p e r f e c t th e s e v a rio u s attem p ted s o lu tio n s ; wrong s o l u t i o n

is d iscard ed ,

u n t i l he f i n a l l y h i t s

the

tia lly

w h a t Krech'* c a l l e d

m ental

proof th a t

cept

ent types

a f t e r each

0 a t t e m p t s a n o t h e r one

"co rrect"

one.

"hypotheses"

he o f f e r s f o r t h e

so lu tio n s” a lso .

T his

and t h e

re a lity

is

essen­

ex p eri­

of t h i s

h a b it.

a rig h t

a perseverance h a b it,

In o rd er to the

Krech i s o l a t e d

of such hypotheses:

going h a b i t ,

con­

d eterm ine

the

four d i f f e r ­

going h a b it ,

a left

a n d an a l t e r n a t i n g presence

o f such h y p o th ­

p ercentage occurrence of a p a r t i c u l a r response

was p l o t t e d

a g a i n s t number o f t r i a l s .

e x c e e d e d 73 p e r c e n t p e r t r i a l , ex isted .

then i t

th at

an h y p o t h e s i s

th is

stu d y d em o n strated t h i r t y - s i x

types

tr y in g to

c a n b e c o n s i d e r e d p r o o f f o r L a s h l e y Ts n o t i o n o f

"attem p ted

eses,

T his i s

The f o r t y

of hypotheses u n t i l th e y

I f th e

form er

was i n f e r r e d r a t s he used in

in stan ces

of th ese

f i n a l l y a d o p t e d a new o n e

4 K. S . L a s h l e y , B r a i n I l e c h a n i s m s an d I n t e l I i g e n e e ( C h i c a g o : C h i c a g o Ifn i v e r s i t y ' ' P r e s s , 19 29 ) • 3 I , K r e c h , " 1H y p o t h e s e s T v s . 1C h a n c e 1 i n t h e P r e s o lu tio n P e rio d in Sensory D is c rim in a tio n L e a rn in g ," U n iv e rs ity of C a lif o r n ia P u b lic a tio n s in P svchology.

F:' 45' -64, 1932. ------------------------------------------------ ‘

^

15 t h a t was c o r r e c t , 0 had to

i.e .,

choose th e

a hurdle d isc rim in a tio n

in w hich

d o o r b e f o r e w h i c h wa s a h u r d l e

to

jump o v e r . In a fo llo w -u p stu d y , i n w hich t h e

fa c to rs of frequency,

w ere c o n t r o l l e d d e fin ite th is,

Krech^ c r e a t e d a s i t u a t i o n r e c e n c 3r a n d e f f e c t

so a s t o a v o i d c a u s i n g 0 t o

adopt any

form o f r e s p o n s e a c c o r d i n g t o th e m .

a ll

cated th a t

Os a d o p t e d on e o r m o r e h y p o t h e s e s . i n an i n s o l v a b l e

attem p ts a t so lu tio n

situ atio n ,

in stead

of ex h ib itin g

in itia te d

by 0 h i m s e l f ,

w hich i n i t i a t e ing a lo n e ,

ex tern al

not

situ atio n s* in

f o r c e d on h i m e n t i r e l y b y

K rech? a ls o b e lie v e d t h a t th e

facto rs

the h y p o th eses cannot be a ssig n e d to t r a i n ­

b u t m u st b e due t o

In a cq u irin g

p artly

concluding t h a t hyp o th eses a re

by 0 ( i . e . ,

th e e n v iro n m en t),

random

not b e in g co m p letely a r e s u l ta n t

o f th e im m ed iately p re s e n te d

in itiated

in d i­

strictly

and t h a t t h e s e r e s p o n s e a r e a t l e a s t

part

T his

0 makes u n i f i e d

b eh av io r,

In ad d itio n to

D esp ite

some e x t e n t t o h e r e d i t y .

f u r t h e r d a t a on t h i s

p o in t,

he a s k e d w h e t h e r

6 I . K r e c h , ,TThe G e n e s i s o f 1H y p o t h e s e s 1 i n R a t s , ” U n iv e rs ity o f C a lif o r n ia P u b lic a tio n s in Psychology, ------------

Journal

7 I . K re ch , " H e r e d i t a r y M ature o f H y p o th e s e s ," o f C o m p a r a t i v e P s y c h o l o g y , 1 6 : 9 9 - 1 1 6 , 193 2 .

16 d ifferen ces

in the

g e n etic

make f o r d i f f e r e n c e s so , w hether th e s e resp o n sib le

in the

m ake-up o f t h e i n d i v i d u a l r a t s h y p o th esis b e h a v io r,

same g e n e t i c

for d ifferen c es

Os o f two d i f f e r e n t same e n v i r o n m e n t a l

d ifferen ces are a lso

r a c e s w ere s u b m itte d t o t h e a nd t h e k i n d o f h y p o t h e s i s

b e h a v i o r d i s p l a y e d was n o t e d .

The e x p e r i m e n t a l s i t u a t i o n

p o ssib le

h ypotheses,

i n k in d and mode, c o u ld b e p ic k e d u p . b o x v/as c o n t r o l l e d was i n s o l v a b l e .

so t h a t f o r

days th e

The two e x p e r i m e n t a l g r o u p s

in so lv ab le s itu a tio n .

a n o t h e r s t u d y which K rech

d ifferin g

The d i s c r i m i n a t i o n

fo u rteen

t a k e n f r o m T r y o n Ts " b r i g h t ” a n d " d u l l " the

if

i n maze b e h a v i o r .

situ atio n ,

was s u c h t h a t any o f e i g h t

and,

problem

(races)

were

g r o u p s , and r u n i n

A c o n t r o l g r o u p v/as t a k e n had done i n t h i s

from

same s i t u a t i o n .

T h r e e m e t h o d s o f s t u d y i n g mode o f p r e f e r e n c e w e r e designed:

n o tin g the

v i s u a l and a s p a t i a l

first

h y p o th esis

n u m b e r o f d a 3rs C d i s p l a y e d hypotheses;

h y p o th e s is ad opted;

s c o r e on t h e b a s i s

of

t h e s e r e s p e c t i v e modes o f

and c o m p a rin g t h e

sum o f a l l

f o r p o s s ib l e v i s u a l h y p o th e s e s w ith th e

Journal

g iv in g a

the

d ev iatio n s

sum f o r

sp atial

^ I . K r e c h , "The D o c i l e M a t u r e o f H y p o t h e s e s , " o f C o m p a r a t i v e P s y c h o l o g y , 1 5 : 4 2 9 ” 443» 1 9 3 2 .

17 h y p o th e s e s to m easure th e

ex ten t t o

w h ic h one t y p e was

preferred. W ith t h e s e th e

"b rig h ts"

"d u lls"

preferred

sp lit

(n o n -sp a tia l.)

h ypotheses.

b rig h tn ess"

is

Of c o u r s e , t h e s e

to

The t e r m

some e x t e n t

d iffe re n c e s are

f o r a s T ryon^ h a s p o i n t e d o u t , not

"maze

a general t r a i t .

" h y p o t h e s i s " was c h o s e n b y K r e c h ^ b e c a u s e

i m p l i e s p u r p o s i v e n e s s a nd d o c i l i t y .

The e v i d e n c e f o r

p u r p o s i v e n e s s and d o c i l i t y was t h a t a p r e s o l u t i o n mode o f r e s p o n s e w h i c h d i d n o t s o l v e t h e up by th e anim al "co rrect"

The

an 0 b r i n g s t o

problem s i t u a t i o n a k in d o f h y p o th e s is

q u ite sp e c ific ,

evenly,

h y p o t h e s e s , and t h e

su p p o rts the h y p o th esis th a t

determ ined by h e r e d i ty .

it

the c o n tro ls

sp a tia l

p refe rred v isu al

conclusion th e

c riteria,

g e th e r c o n v in cin g

p ro b le m was g iv e n

f o r a n o t h e r and a n o t h e r u n t i l

one w a s a d o p t e d . for it

of b lin d , n o n -d o cile

sy stem atic

fin a lly a

T h is e v i d e n c e was n o t a l t o -

may h a v e b e e n d u e t o

"p o sitio n "

h a b its.

a su ccessio n

The s t u d y t o b e

' It. C. T r y o n , " S t u d i e s i n I n d i v i d u a l D i f f e r e n c e s i n Itaze A b i l i t y . V I I The S p e c i f i c C o m p o n e n t s o f Maze A b i l i t y , and a G e n e ra l T heory o f P s y c h o l o g i c a l C om ponents," J o u r n a l of C om parative P s y c h o lo g y t 3 0 :2 8 3 -3 3 5 , 1910. K rech, £ £ •

c it .,

pp. 479-113•

18v

rep o rted

next

o f f e r s more d i r e c t e v i d e n c e on t h e p o i n t .

Os i n t h r e e adopt

e x p e r im e n ta l g r o u p s were a llo w e d to

any h y p o t h e s e s t h e y w ould l i k e

situ atio n .

For each group,

d ifferen t

s i t u a t i o n were i n t r o d u c e d . K rech r e a s o n e d , t h e r e

One o f t h e

changes in th e

I f h ypotheses a re d o c ile ,

should r e s u l t

c h a n g e s i n b e h a v i o r on t h e

i n an i n s o l v a b l e

certain

p a rt of th e

ch aracteristics

sp ecified

Os.

o f d o c ile b eh av io r used

b y K re ch i s t a k e n fro m Tolm an: . . .When a b e h a v i o r a c t A i s d o c i l e i t w i l l g i v e way. . . t o a su b s e q u e n t a c t B as a r e s u l t of any m ajor change in th e e n v iro n m e n ta l s i t u a t i o n . The new a c t B w i l l c o n f o r m t o t h e e n v i r o n m e n t a l s i t u a t i o n ( g e t t o t h e d e m a n d e d t y p e o f g o a l - o b j e c t ) i n a way t h a t A did n o t . H An h y p o t h e s i s w a s c o n s i d e r e d a d o p t e d when i t sisted th ree

on a n y g i v e n d a y t o t h e sigm a.

The h y p o t h e s i s

ex ten t

o f 50 p e r c e n t

per­ plus

e r r o r s c o r e was d e t e r m i n e d

by c o u n t i n g t h e number of tim e s 0 d e p a r t e d from h i s p e c u lia r h y p o th esis

an d t h e n

co n v ertin g t h i s

in to

a

p ercen tag e• E xperim ental a l l e y s w here a l i g h t

g ro u p I was t o flash ed

respond to

i n o ne a t r a n d o m .

o n e o f two No m a t t e r

E . G. T o l m a n , P u r p o s i v e B e h a v i o r i n A n i m a l s a n d Men ( B e r k e l e y : The U n i v e r s i t y o f C a l i f o r n i a P r e s s , 1 9 3 2 j , p. 350.

19 what h y p o th e s is

0 a d o p t e d , he w ould be r i g h t

o f th e tim e by ch an ce.

The p r o b l e m w a s t h e n made s o l v a b l e

t h e d a y a f t e r h e s h o w e d an h y p o t h e s i s . h y p o t h e s i s were a d o c i l e o n e , should

on t h e d a y t h e

However, i f sort

the

c h a n g e was m ade,

g ive i t

up r a p i d l y .

0 should p e r s i s t

an e x t e n d e d p e r i o d

first

for

a co rrect h a b it, K rech.

o rig in al

f i r s t h y p o th e s is w ere n o n - d o c ile

th e

to

I f th e

Krech re a s o n e d , th e n 0

of b lin d p o s itio n h a b i t ) ,

beh av io r for

50 P© f c e n t

of tim e.

h y p o th e s is w ere d o c i l e , but n o t fo r

The r e s u l t s

it

in th a t

F urtherm ore,

if

s h o u ld b e g i v e n up

one e q u a l l y b a d , a c c o r d i n g

in d icated th a t as

e n t h y p o t h e s i s w a s made c o r r e c t ,

(so m e

soon a s a d i f f e r ­

th e f i r s t

h y p o th esis e rro r

s c o r e was i n c r e a s e d a n d , a c c o r d i n g l y , t h a t h y p o t h e s i s was dropped. Two p o i n t s reaso n in g . it

F irst,

c a n b e r a i s e d h e r e c o n c e r n i n g K r e c h 1s i f the

p o sitio n h a b it is

may t a k e q u i t e a w h i l e b e f o r e

th is

d o e s n o t mean t h a t

on t h e

o th e r hand,

it

it

very s tr o n g ,

can be b ro k e n , b u t

is n o n -d o cile.

beaker h a b its,

c an be b r o k e n somewhat e a s i e r .

re g a rd in g the c r i t e r i o n

S eco n d ly ,

t h a t an i n c o r r e c t h y p o t h e s i s s h o u l d

be g iv e n up f o r a c o r r e c t o n e , b u t n o t a n o t h e r i n c o r r e c t one,

how w i l l 0 know how g o o d t h e n e w h v o o t h e s i s

he h a s t r i e d

it?

is before

20 E xperim ental group I I t e s t e d If

an h y p o t h e s i s

ed,

it

is

g i v e n u p when i t s

should be e x p e c te d t h a t

c i e n c y would c a u s e i t Os w e r e a l l o w e d t o

the

reverse h y p o th esis.

e ffic ie n cy

an i n c r e a s e

to be p e r s i s t e d in

run in th e

in so lv ab le

is

h y p o t h e s i s w a s made c o r r e c t .

d o c ile,

Os s h o u l d

adherance to The r e s u l t s when t h i s

it

problem

situ atio n

I f th e f i r s t

h y p o th esis

in t h e i r

p r o v e d t o b e 100 p e r c e n t

in d ic a t e d t h a t the

situ atio n

e ffi­

On t h e n e x t d a y

show a m a r k e d i n c r e a s e

when i t

its

occurred.

error

lessen ­

fo r a lo n g er tim e.

u n t i l t h e y h a d p i c k e d u p an h y p o t h e s i s . th is

in

is

e ffic ie n t.

s c o r e was d e c r e a s e d

T h e y sh o w e d t h a t ,

g i v e n h y p o t h e s i s w a s made m o r e d e s i r a b l e ,

it

when a

was p e r s i s t e d

i n more t h a n e v e r .

m ental

A c o n t r o l g r o u p was s t a r t e d w i t h

the

se t-u p as th e th re e

g r o u p s and was

allo w ed t o change. as th a t

contin u e

The r e s u l t s period

crease in e rro r th e

first

experim ental

fo r the

e n tire

p e rio d w ith o u t any

showed l i t t l e

change in b e h av io r

in creased .

They i n d i c a t e d b y a s m a l l i n ­

score t h a t ,

h y p o th esis

sa m e e x p e r i ­

w h e r e no h y p o t h e s i s

p ic k e d up i s

not p ersisted

is

co rrect,

in t o any

g reat degree. Tolm an and K r e c h ^

hold

th at

an anim al d o e s n o t

12 E . C. T o lm a n a n d I . K r e c h , rtM e a n s - e n d R e a d i n e s s a n d H y p o t h e s e s , ” P s y c h o l o g i c a l R e v i e w , 4 0 : 6 0 - 7 0 , 193 2 .

21 respond it

to a l l

th e

s t i m u l i i n a given

respond w ith i t s

s itu a tio n , nor does

w hole b e h a v i o r a l r e p e r t o r y .

The t e r m s

h y p o t h e s i s and m e a n s - e n d - r e a d i n e s s w ere m eant t o th is

se lec tio n

co n stitu tio n

o f s t i m u l i and r e s p o n s e s b e c a u s e

or p rev io u s t r a i n i n g ,

m om entary p h y s i o l o g i c a l in a fo u r u n it lea rn in g

one h a p h a z a rd ,

b eh av io r p a tte rn s

se lf-in itia te d

has been seen t h a t

K rech fo u n d t h a t

the

second

sy stem atic,

of but

Four b e h a v i o r a l c h a r a c t e r ­

term a re :

(l)

th e

S3^ s t e m a t i c

(2 ) its

d o cile

ch aracter;

ch aracter (th is

refers

to th e idea th a t th e

of responses

se lec tiv e

and th e

(h yp o th eses).

c h a ra c te r of behavior;

its

It

in v o lv ed a su c c e ssio n o f sy ste m a tic

d e s c r i b e d by t h i s

p attern

and b e c a u se of 0 ’ s

d isc rim in a tio n box,

t h e w hole p e r i o d

istic s

of in n a te

p r o c e s s was n o t t o be d e s c r i b e d a s c o n s i s t i n g

two p e r i o d s , th at

demands.

d escrib e

is

(3 ) i t s

in n a te or p re v io u s ly le a rn e d );

(4 )

ch aracter.

Two w a y s o f c o n c e i v i n g o f an h y p o t h e s i s

a re as:

(1 ) a v a ria b le

i n t e r v e n i n g b e tw e e n s t i m u l i and r e s p o n s e s

w hich h e l p s t o

e x p l a i n why t h e

from th e tio n

given s tim u lu s ;

tiv e ly

"H ypoth esis” i s

s p e c i f i c type

response follow s

( 2 ) a form o f t h e g e n e r a l r e l a ­

o b t a i n i n g betw een s t i m u l u s

responses.

in d iv id u a l

s i t u a t i o n s and s u c c e e d i n g

a ' n a m e f o r an o b s e r v e d ,

of c o rre la tio n

h o l d i n g betw een

rela­

stim u lu s

situ atio n s

form o b t a i n s ,

co n stan t

c o n d itio n w ill h o ld in the

o th e r co n d itio n s in the

(e .g . p h y sio lo g ical)

stay

s u r e s t t h a t , in

lea rn in g

s i t u a-

t h e r e a l w a y s a p p e a r two and s o m e tim e s m ore l e v e l s

of s e le c tiv ity : more s p e c i f i c

"h y p o th esis"

w i d e r , more g e n e r a l

lev els

en d -read in ess"

is

used to

re fe r to

still

more s p e c i f i c

h y p o th esis,

I n an a r t i c l e

a tria l w hich i s

and e r r o r t h e o r y . one o f d i r e c t

m en tal assu m p tio n s

L ash ley^

th a t d iscrim in atio n

o f attem p ted It

and

hypotheses.

c o n tin u ity th e o ry p u b lish ed in 1942,

in v o lv es a s e r ie s

then,

r e d u c t i o n o f more g e n e r a l

a m ore s p e c i f i c

o rig in al th e sis

’’K e a n s -

By l e a r n i n g ,

N eo -G estalt P o s i ti o n : L a s h le y .

sta te d h is

and n a r r o w e r ,

the w id e r, w h ile

denotes the n a rro w e r.

m ean s-en d -read in ess to f u r t h e r to

lev e ls,

w ith in th o se w ider on es.

K r e c h a n d T o lm a n mean t h e

the

fu tu re,

su b ject.

T o lm a n a n d K r e c h tio n s,

When s u c h a

o ne s a y s t h a t 0 h a s a g i v e n h y p o t h e s i s a n d

p red ic ts th a t th is p ro v id in g

and r e s p o n s e p a t t e r n s .

re­

learn in g

s o l u t i o n s . H is i s , is

on

th erefo re

o p p o s e d t o S p e n c e Ts t h e o r y

c o n d itio n in g ,

d e d u ced from t h e fu n d a

o f co n d itio n ed r e f le x th e o ry .

The

^ K. 3 . L a s h l e y , "An E x a m i n a t i o n o f t h e C o n t i n u i t y Theory as A p p lied t o D is c r im in a tio n L e a r n in g ," Jo u rn a l o f G e n e ra l P sychology t 2 6 : 241- 2 6 5 , 1 9 4 2 .

v a lid ity

of th e

l a t t e r theory

rea d ily te s ta b le , th at

it

is

is

according to

not n ecessary to

q u e stio n a b le , b u t not

L ash ley .

test it

in

H ow ever, he f e l t o r d e r to

ev alu ate

3p e n ce ’ s d e riv e d theory* The b a s i c

p ro p o sitio n

o f c o n d itio n ed r e f le x th eo ry

h a s been s t a t e d by M cC ulloch a s f o l l o w s : to a sso c ia tio n th eo ry , the

response th eo ry ,

th e

a t th e tim e of

basic

p ro p o sitio n

of co n d itio n ed

w hich p o s i t i o n h a s a f u r t h e r a s s u m p tio n

each s t i m u l a t i o n com bined w ith a r e a c t i o n effectiv en ess

reactio n

of th e

o f tim es th a t T his

s tim u li actin g

♦ .A cco rd in g

r e s p o n s e b e c o m e a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h a t r e s p o n s e . ’1^

L ash le y denied t h i s

th at

a ll

TT.

of th at

stim ulus

a sso c iatio n ,

for e li c i t in g

as a fu n ctio n

th at

of th e

number

such com bined s t i m u l a t i o n h a s o c c u r r e d .

derived p ro p o sitio n i s th e

s t a t e d by H u ll, p ro p erties

in creases

15

o f the

it

c o n tin u ity th eo ry .

ho ld s t h a t a l l

o f the

As

d ifferen tiatin g

s t i m u l i a r e a s s o c i a t e d and c o n tr i b u te

b y sum m ation to t h e

e x c ita to r y v alu e

of th e stim u lu s as

a w hole•

T . L . M c C u l l o c h , ’’Comment o f t h e F o r m a t i o n o f D i s c r i m i n a t i o n H a b i t s , ” P s y c h o l o g i c a l R eview , 4 6 :7 5 -$ 5 » 1939* 3-5 q . H u l l , fTA F u n c t i o n a l I n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f t h e C o n d i t i o n e d R e s n o n s e , ” P s y c h o l o g i c a l R eview , 3 6 :4 6 7 -5 1 1 * 1.929 • ‘ '

24 In q u irin g

f u r th e r in to th e

1 /T

L ash ley ~ ° asked a p e n e tr a tin g for

a d if f e r e n tia l reactio n

m ent? felt

He t h e n p r o c e e d e d t o th a t the

o u t when i t

e sse n tia l

is

S (approach)-R The f a c t i s

of learn in g , what i s

in a d isc rim in a tio n g iv e an a n sw e r t o

th e b a sis ex p eri­

it.

of d is c rim in a tio n

in term s

(w ithdraw al)

He is

left

o f s e p a r a t e S -R u n i t s ,

a n d S ( w i t h d r a w a l ) -R ( a p p r o a c h ) .

th a t th e efficacy

p en d en t upon th e L ash ley .

q u estio n :

featu re

d escrib ed

n atu re

of each stim u lu s

c h a r a c te r of th e

o th er,

In o th e r w ords, S (approach)

is

is

de­

a c c o rd in g to a fu n c tio n of

3 (w ith d raw al). In term s effectiv e

of his

stim u lu s,

an aly sis

th e

p o sitiv e

d e t e r m i n e d b y some f r a c t i o n In every case th e t o t a l an e f f e c t i v e p a r t , the

ground.

the

of th e c h a ra c te r of the or n e g ativ e

of th e to ta l

v isu al

th e

fig u re,

and t h e

Thus, th e d e s c r i p t i o n

e sse n tia l featu res

iso latio n

and t h e

of f i g u r e ,

g en eralizin g

is

situ atio n .

s i t u a t i o n may b e b r o k e n down i n t o in d iffe ren t

the

p art,

of d iscrim in atio n as

a m e r e c o m b i n a t i o n o f p o s i t i v e and n e g a t i v e m isse s the

reactio n

reactio n s

o f t h e p r o c e s s , which a r e d isco v ery of d iffe re n c e s ,

c h arac ter of response.

The c a p a c i t i e s

k . S . L a s h l e y , T,The M e c h a n i s m o f V i s i o n , v P re lim in a ry S tu d ie s of th e R a ts 1 C ap acity f o r D e ta il V i s i o n , 71 J o u r n a l o f G e n e r a l P s y c h o l o g y , 1 6 : 1 2 3 - 1 9 3 , 193$ •

25 fo r th ese fu n ctio n s

e x ist

p rio r to

and a r e n o t a r e s u l t

of tra in in g . If

an a n im al i s

striatio n s,

train ed

on h o r i z o n t a l

vs.

n e x t on a t r i a n g l e

and a c i r c l e ,

and i s t h e n

given c r i t i c a l th e

striatio n s.

reactio n s. h is

the

w i t h t h e f i g u r e s s u p e r i m p o s e d on

l a t t e r a re l ik e l v to

But i f b o t h g r o u n d s a r e

reactio n s

c irc le .

It

in

one c a s e ,

stim u li.

for th e

reactio n

se n sitiv ity

is

anim al o f th e

to th e

h o rizo n tally , and th e

s t i m u l a t e d by

and n o t i n t h e

The i m p o r t a n t t h i n g

ment o f d i f f e r e n t i a l d e fin itio n

striated

c a n n o t b e a s s u m e d t h a t he i s

must be c o n c lu d e d t h a t th e

effectiv e

dom inate th e

a re d e te rm in e d by th e t r i a n g l e

th e s tria tio n s it

tria ls

v ertical

o th er.

R ath er

s e l e c t i v e among

is

not th e

dev elo p ­

stim ulus b u t th e

p r o p e r t i e s t o w h ic h he

m ust r e a c t . The L a s h l e y t h e o r y f u r t h e r s t a t e s t h a t , stim u lu s is

com plex a r o u s e s n e r v o u s

a c tiv ity ,

im m ed iately o rg a n iz e d and c e r t a i n

dom inant T h is

is

sta te s

for re a c tio n , a Tfs e t Tf t o

th at

a r e dom inant

not

a ctiv ity

w h i l e o t h e r s b ecom e i n e f f e c t i v e .

react to

c e r t a i n elem en ts.

It

s e t to

re c e p to rs a re not r e a c t t o them .

fu rth er

s i t u a t i o n w hich

o rg an izatio n are a sso c ia te d .

s t i m u l i w hich e x c i t e t h e because 0 is

th at

e l e m e n t s become

o n ly th o s e com ponents of th e in the

when a n y

O ther

asso ciated

26 It

f o l l o w s from n o n - c o n t i n u i t y t h e o r y

th at

learn in g

w i l l not be c o n tin u o u s ly c u m u la tiv e th ro u g h o u t t r a i n i n g , b u t w i l l vary w ith the an im al.

It

p ercep tu al

o rg a n iz a tio n of the

fo llo w s a lso t h a t th e d is c rim in a tio n

w i l l u s u a l l y be b ased upon on ly a l i m i t e d to ta l

number of d i f f e r e n t i a t i n g

The c u e s t o w h i c h 0 w i l l

part

p ro p erties

response

of the

of the

stim u li.

r e a c t w i l l depend upon th e

p a r t i c u l a r o r g a n i z a t i o n w h ich was d o m in a n t d u r i n g l e a r n i n g . T his

dom inance i s

regarded as th e r e s u lt

process

o f c o m p a rin g by w hich t r a c e s

brought

in to

o r g a n i z i n g t e n d e n c i e s w hich c o n c e n t r a t e

asp ects

of the

p red icted d itio n in g ,

and

on t h e b a s i s

an a c t i v e

(2 } inherent

a c t i v i t y upon t h e

stim u li.

The p a r t i c u l a r

s t i m u l u s w hich a r e a s s o c i a t e d

cannot be

o f the th e o ry of d i f f e r e n t i a l

con­

a cc o rd in g to L ash le y .

Spence had c r i t i c i z e d th at

(1)

o f two s t i m u l i a r e

a common p e r c e p t u a l f i e l d ,

c o n s p ic u o u s d i f f e r e n c e s betw een th e

of:

came o u t w i t h r e s u l t s

by sa y in g t h a t stim u la tio n :

the

?T. .

one o f K r e c h 1s e x p e r i m e n t s

c o n tra d ic to ry to

c o n d i t i o n s w ere not .th e

adequate fo r

m ere p r e s e n c e o f t h e

th e experim ental s i t u a t i o n

h is theory

stim ulus in

d o es n o t .guarantee i t s

m e n t on t h e s e n s o r i u m a t t h e t i m e

of c r itic a l

im pinge­

r e s p o n s e . TT

L ash ley ^? e x p ressed b e l i e f t h a t th e p h ra se on t h e th is

s e n s o r i u m '1 w a s a m b i g u o u s a n d p r o c e e d e d t o make

point .

w ith th e meant

H ull i d e n t i f i e d

system o f v i s u a l

e x cita tio n

o rie n ts to

jump, t h e falls

so t h a t th e

q u estio n

tro lled

cards,

the

not see th e ing

im age o f t h e

w ith

1$

w hich p e r h a p s

When t h e a n i m a l

d i f f e r e n t i a l stim u lu s

on t h e b i n o c u l a r f i e l d

of th e re tin a e

of a d e q u a t e s t i m u l a t i o n seemed c o n ­

a p articu lar

upper p a rts

Spence "asp ect"

rat

seemed t o r e q u i r e of th e

f i x a t e s the

do n o t

situ atio n

low er p a r t

"im pinge".

of

"They d i d

rows o f b l a c k s q u a r e s b e c a u s e th e y w ere f i x a t ­

o th er asp ects

cated ,

c ells.

i n K r e c h Ts e x p e r i m e n t .

0 "look a t"

w ith m aking " j u n c t i o n

en d o r g a n s , "

a n d s u g g e s t e d t h a t when t h e th e

it

of r e c e p to r

n e ce ssa rily

th at

"im pingem ent

of th e

according to

s t i m u l u s - c o m p l e x . "-*-9

L ash ley , th a t

"focus of a tte n tio n ,"

have in d ic a t e d th e y

T his i n d i ­

"sensorium " i s

id en tifie d

and b o t h S p e n c e and M cC ulloch

c o n s id e r such sta te m e n ts to be a d i s ­

cussion o f a tte n tio n .

If

so,

the

o rig in a l

p ro p o sitio n of

Loc. c i t . 1 3 C. L . H u l l , " T h e P r o b l e m o f P r i m a r y S t i m u l u s G e n e r a l i z a t i o n , " P s y c h o l o g i c a l R e v i e w , 54*. 1 2 0 - 1 3 5 , 1 9 4 7 * 19 E h r e n f r e u n d s t a t e s t h i s p o i n t a n d o f f e r s e x p e r i ­ m ental p roof fo r i t . D. E h r e n f r e u n d , " a n E x p e r i m e n t a l T e s t of t h e C o n t i n u i t y T h e o ry ," J o u r n a l o f C om parative P sy ch o lo g y , 41:403-422, 1943.

2$ c o n d i t i o n e d r e s p o n s e t h e o r y becomes " a l l focus

of a tte n tio n

a t t h e tim e

c ia te d w ith t h a t resp o n se" p o in tle ss. is

I f n o t,

th eir

stim u li

in the

o f r e s p o n s e become a s s o ­

a nd t h e i r w h o l e d i s c u s s i o n criticism

is

o f K r e c h 1s e x p e r i m e n t

in v alid . L a s h l e y and b a d e f u r t h e r a t t a c k i n g t h e c o n t i n u i t y

p o sitio n ,

have s ta te d th e

N eo -P av lo v ian

system a s :

w ith or w ith o u t th e spread of e ff e c t

tw o b a s i c

p o stu lates

(1 ) a s s o c i a t i o n by c o n t i g u i t y ,

Law o f E f f e c t ;

o f t r a i n i n g . 20

(2) t h e

irrad iatio n

p e r c e p t u a l and b e h a v i o r a l o r g a n i z a t i o n

sim ple

facts is

of th e

of prim ary c o n d itio n in g .

little

or

T his sy ste m se e k s to

deriv e

th ere

of th e

It

is

from th e assum ed t h a t

o r no o r g a n i z a t i o n o f t h e v a r i o u s a s p e c t s

stim u lu s d u rin g th e

i n i t i a l co n d itio n in g ,

or as

s t a t e d by H u ll . . . a l l e le m e n ts of a S-com plex p la y in g .u p o n t h e s e n s o r iu m o f an o rg a n is m a t o r n e a r t h e tim e t h a t a R i s evoked, tend th e m se lv e s in d e p e n d e n tly and i n d i s c r i m i n a t e l y t o a c q u i r e t h e c a p a c i t y t o e v o k e s u b s t a n t i a l l y t h e sa me R . 2 1 S k i n n e r h o l d s a s i m i l a r p o s i t i o n when h e s u g g e s t s t h a t "if

the

o c c u r r e n c e o f an o p e r a n t

is

fo llo w ed by p r e s e n ta tio n

oo

K. S . L a s h l e y a n d M. Wade, "T he P a v l o v i a n T h e o r y o f G e n e r a l i z a t i o n , " P s y c h o l o g i c a l R e v ie w , 5 2 : 7 2 - $ $ , 1946* ^

H u ll,

o d

.

c i t . , pp. 46$-511.

29 of a rein fo rcin g

S,

the

stre n g th

(of th e a sso c ia tio n )

is

i n c r e a s e d ." ^ 2 L a s h l e y a n d Wade o b s e r v e d t h a t iza tio n

i s a cc ep ted today as a f a c t,

m a d e an i n f e r e n c e a b o u t h a s been form ed t o

it.

w h e rea s Pavlov o n ly

When t h e

one s t i m u l u s ,

such stim u lu s g e n e ra l-

c o n d itio n ed response

i t may b e e l i c i t e d b y a

w id e n u m ber o f s t i m u l i t o w hich 0 was n o t is are

th e

fact,

but i t

g en eralized to

th e

v a lid ity

n a tiv e to 1.

of th e

o f the

a t t r i b u t e s w hich d i f f e r

o rig in al

stim u lu s.

T his

w hole N e o -P a v lo v ia n t h e o r y .

in q u estio n s

The a l t e r ­

t h i s p o s i t i o n may b e s t a t e d a s f o l l o w s : T he p h e n o m e n o n o f s t i m u l u s g e n e r a l i z a t i o n rep re se n ts a fa ilu re

2.

T his

d o e s n o t mean t h a t t h o s e c o n n e c t i o n s stim ulus

a n y way f r o m t h o s e

exposed.

There i s

not

of a sso c ia tio n .

i r r a d i a t i o n d u rin g prim ary

co n d itio n in g • 3-

The d i m e n s i o n s o f a s t i m u l u s

se rie s are d e te r­

m in e d by c o m p a r i s o n o f two o r more s t i m u l i and do n o t

ex ist

for 0 u n til

e s ta b lis h e d by d i f f e r ­

e n tial tra in in g .

oo

B. F . S k i n n e r , B e h a v io r o f O rganism s A p p l e t o n - C e n t u r y - C r o f t s , T n c .", 193*^7, P* 4 4 3 *

(New Y o r k :

4•

The g r a d i e n t

5*

of h a b it

stren g th

o f v ariab le

th resh o ld s,

asso c iativ e

processes.

D iffere n tia tio n

not a sp re a d of

of co n d itio n ed responses in ­

vo lv es th e r e d ir e c tio n asp ec ts of th e

is a product

of a tte n t io n to

s t i m u l i and th e

new a s s o c i a t i o n s w i t h t h e s e ,

new

fo rm u la tio n of

and i s n o t due

to a c o n c e n t r a t i o n or r e d u c t i o n

in th e

range

of a s s o c ia tio n . Thus a t t e m p t i n g t o u n d e rm in e t h e C o n d i t i o n e d Response p o s i t i o n ,

L a s h l e y s a y s t h a t b e f o r e an u n d e r s t a n d i n g

o f t h i s ty p e o f l e a r n i n g can be re a c h e d , e s s e n tia l n a tu re of th e

stim u lu s is

necessary.

o f b e h a v io r in s tim u lu s -r e s p o n s e term s as th e

n a tu re o f the

stim u lu s

irt h e m a z e . "

Not u n t i l t h e

effectiv e

e licitin g

sib le

to

about th e real it

tiv e

D escrip tio n s

are f u t i l e

so long

cru d ely d efin ed a s ,

e .g .,

adequate s tim u lu s , th e p ro p e rty

b eh av io r is

known, w i l l

i n f e r from s t i m u l u s - r e s p o n s e r e l a t i o n s

i t be pos­ an y th in g

i n t e r v e n i n g p r o c e s s e s , w hich c o n s t i t u t e s t h e

problem

is

th e

in

is

a know ledge o f t h e

o f psychology.

p o ssib le to

of experim ents,

i n f e r some g e n e r a l p r i n c i p l e s

p r o p e r tie s of the in b e h a v io r.

From a s e r i e s

concerning

o b j e c t i v e s t i m u l u s w hich a r e e f f e c ­

31 The L a s h l e y lo w in g s t u d i e s . to

jump t o t h e

ju m p in g a p p a r a t u s was u s e d i n t h e

A l l Os ( w h i t e r a t s ) open d o o rs of th e

c e n tim e te r w hite square v s . h o riz o n ta l vs. w id th .

v ertical

and t h e

striatio n s

c ritic a l

tria ls

w arded.

A preference for

p o sitiv e about

and th e n

fig u re

a ten to

o f tw en ty m il l im e te r

s t i m u l i was u s e d i n t h e (p o sitiv e ),

He w a s t h e n c o n f r o n t e d on

b y a new s e t o f c a r d s ,

it

train ed

then to

0 was p r e - t r a i n e d t o one c a r d

o t h e r one n e g a t i v e .

ev id en ce t h a t

ap p aratu s,

a b lack c a rd ,

The m e t h o d o f e q u i v a l e n t

f o l l o w i n g way:

w ere f i r s t

fo l­

alw ays b e in g r e ­

o n e c a r d o f t h e new t r i a l s

was i n so m e way e q u i v a l e n t in th e f i r s t

tria ls.

fo r 0 to

was th e

L ash ley th e n s e t

a s k i n g a num ber o f q u e s t i o n s and a n s w e r i n g them

e m p iric a lly . What e l e m e n t s i n a g i v e n p a i r o f f i g u r e s d e t e r m i n e th e

d iscrim in atio n ?

w h ite tr ia n g le t h a t th ey a l l

to

tran sferred two s i d e s

one i n t e n t o

a change in p o s i t io n

These r e s u l t s m ents.

Os on a s o l i d

p l a c e d on a b l a c k b a c k g r o u n d .

th e m a jo r ity to o u tlin ed ,

H e r e he t r a i n e d a l l

to

o u tlin es

o u tlin ed ,

a few t o t h e b a s e s and a l l

cen ter of th e fig u re s .

a re s im ila r to testim o n y

For each 0,

of th e tr ia n g le ,

low er a n g le s o u t li n e d , of the

He f o u n d

p a rtic u la r asp ects

f r o m human e x p e r i ­ of th e

situ atio n

32 are

c o n s p i c u o u s a n d t h e r e p o r t s o f n o t w o may s t r e s s t h e

same d e t a i l s .

Such i n d i v i d u a l d i f f e r e n c e s

e x p e c te d in com plex s i t u a t i o n s ,

are to be

L a s h le y t h i n k s , w hich

s u g g e s t s t h a t norms c a n n o t be e s t a b l i s h e d . I n a s e c o n d p r o b l e m , Os we r e t r a i n e d t o h o rizo n tal vs.

v ertical

striated

field s.

d isc rim in ate

They w ere t h e n

te s te d w ith h o riz o n ta l v s .

slo p in g

striatio n s.

of fo rty -fiv e ,

tw elv e,

and s i x d e g re s s

th e h o riz o n ta l,

tw en ty -tw o , a ll

Os t r a n s f e r r e d w i t h o u t

tw en ty -tw o d eg ree s lo p e ,

one t o

O t h e r s o u r c e s h a v e g i v e n an d iscrim in atio n f o r the

for

the

rat

At a n g l e s from

e rro r to th e

th e tw elv e degree

slo p e.

e stim a te of the th re s h o ld

for

as b etw een t e n and f i v e d e g r e e s ,

c e b u s monkey a s b e t w e e n tw o a n d f i v e d e g r e e s ,

and

f o r t h e f o w l a s b e t w e e n t w e n t y - f i v e a nd f o r t y d e g r e e s . The t h r e s h o l d the

rat

h a s been found

in te n sity ,

a ll

a t about

o n e-six th

of th e

fifty

c en tim e te rs.

Os m ad e e r r o r l e s s

sc o res w ith a r a t i o

one, but

re a c tin g to

dim ensions of th e f i g u r e s

of reflected

lig h t.

d i m e n s i o n s and t o t a l

over a

In s iz e d is c rim in a ­

t h r e e - t e n t h s to the

it

for

stan d ard

a n d f o r d e p t h a t a b o u t tw o c e n t i m e t e r s

ra n g e of tw enty t o tio n ,

for b rig h tn e ss d iscrim in atio n

o f one and

was n o t c l e a r w h e t h e r 0 was o r t o t h e amount

L ash le y b e lie v e d t h a t both lu m in o sity are

im p o rtan t.

lin e ar

33 Does a r a t (b lack )

react to

the t o t a l

on a w h i t e b a c k g r o u n d ?

of d ifferen t

sizes,

fig u re,

A fter tra in in g

Os r e a c t e d

s u r f a c e a r e a and t o t a l

These w ere s a id to

be a t t r i b u t e s

from any p a r t - f i g u r e

found t h a t to

a fig u re

on c i r c l e s

i m m e d i a t e l y on t h e b a s i s o f

l i n e a r dim ensions,

d eriv a b le

e.g .

lu m in o sity .

of the t o t a l

reactio n .

fig u re,

not

I t was f u r t h e r

c h an g e s from w h i t e c r o s s v s . w h i t e t r i a n g l e

s h a d e s o f g r e y , and f i n a l l y a c h a n g e from a b l a c k b a c k ­

ground to

g r e y p r o d u c e d no c h a n g e i n r e s p o n s e .

In m ost c a s e s w here p o s i t i v e stra te d , part

lig h t

L ash ley concluded t h a t 0 r e a c t s to a l im ite d

of the

to the

to ta l

ground, is

field ,

t h a t the

u nim portant,

and i s exact

to ta l p a tte rn .

fig u re

On t h e b a s i s

tra in in g fig u re,

on t h e g r o u n d , the

surface,

it

of

of th e fig u re

i s masked i n a d i f f e r e n t changes in the

r e a c tio n to

However, i f

or i f

is

a d e fin ite

0 has had p re v io u s

changed to

d i s t o r t th e

re a c tio n w ill be d is tu rb e d .

In f u r th e r s tu d ie s , to th e

d istrib u tio n

of several

not be changed.

in d iffe ren t

some p r o p e r t y

a p rev io u sly e sta b lish e d

fig u re w ill

react

re la tiv e ^

retin al

and t h a t

c a n b e i d e n t i f i e d w he n t h e

ground,

t r a n s f e r w a s de m o n­

L a s h l e y showed t h a t

shade of ground;

or clo sed c o n to u r,

th a t th e

0 did

co n tin u ity

co n trib u ted to

not

of

id en tificatio n

34 of fig u res,

though i t

is

n o t a prim e e s s e n t i a l ;

0 d o e s n o t alw ays r e a c t to out p a rts of i t

th e t o t a l

according to

fig u re,

and t h a t

but

picks

conspicuous p r o je c tin g

p o i n t s a s d e te r m in e d by c h a n c e n o t i n g . It

is in te re s tin g to

l!i d e n t i f i a b i l i t y ,T t o

no te th a t

d e s i g n a t e t h e r e a d i n e s s w ith w hich

f i g u r e s may b e r e c o g n i z e d , it

a nd c o n s i d e r s i t

fo r learn in g

because

be le a rn e d .

When s i t u a t i o n s

i s m ore d i f f i c u l t .

in th e

in crease

(e .g .,

a r e com plex,

L ash ley f e e ls

situ atio n . the

im p o rtan t

a id s 0 to d i s c o v e r what is to

a s i t u a t i o n most o f t e n r e f e r s t o present

T horndike h as used

"id e n tifia b ility "

th a t th e

com plexity of

t h e number of ite m s

As t h e n u m b e r o f v a r i a b l e s

num ber o f s t i m u l i on c a r d s ,

o f c a r d s to which 0 m ust r e s p o n d ) ,

d iffic u lty

o r number

(com plexity)

inc r e a s e s • In th e s e d is c rim in a tio n one, th en an o th er a t t r i b u t e . one,

in h ib itio n to

a c te r is

iso lated

an o th e r,

experim ents, There is

u n til th e

from t h e t o t a l

0 re a c ts to

re in fo rc e m e n t to sig n ific an t

char­

com plex o f s t i m u l i .

But p e r c e p t u a l o r g a n i z a t i o n and d i s c r i m i n a t i o n m ust a lw a j^ s h a v e o c c u r r e d b e f o r e be e ffe c tiv e . 0 w ill

id en tify

d ifferen tial

train in g

O nce s u c h a r e a c t i o n h a s b e e n th e

u n fam ilia r s tim u li,

fam ilia r a ttr ib u te according to

can

e stab lish ed ,

am ong a g r o u p o f

L ash ley .

35 The i m p o r t a n c e f o r t h e p r e s e n t s t u d y o f L a s h l e y ’ s in v estig atio n

in to

the

n atu re

o f s t i m u l i was made a p p a r e n t

on p a g e s e v e n a n d w i l l b e f u r t h e r d i s c u s s e d

in a l a t e r

s e c tio n • C o n d itio n ed Response p o s i t i o n : S p e n c e . (1911)

and Y e r k e s

sy stem atic so lu tio n the

(1916)

T h e ir study

of an im als

M a c G illiv a ry and Stone

t o make a n a n a l y s i s

r e s p o n s e s m ade b y t h e h a b it*

a tte n tio n to the

c h a ra c te r of the responses

o f problem s*

first

had c a l l e d

rat

of the

im p o rtan ce of p e r s e v e r a tio n

and co n clu d ed t h e t r i a l

does not d e p ic t

chance f a c to r s a lo n e , but th e ten d en cies

t h a t w ill le a d to m astery of th e

not

co n sist

ch aracter is

not

and e r r o r l e a r n i n g

one

problem * e a r l 3/ l e a r n i n g

o f p u r e l 3^ r a n d o m r e s p o n s e s , b u t not n e ce ssa rily

o p eratio n

o th e r than th e

a g r e e s w i t h Krech t h a t

T h o rn d ik e , W atson,

(1930) w ere

s y s t e m a t i c modes o f

and a l t e r n a t i o n

Spence

in the

in acq u irin g a d isc rim in a tio n

showed t h e

o f one o r m ore d i r e c t i v e

H am ilton

adds t h a t

e s s e n tia l to his

and H u l l s t a t e t h a t t h e

purel}^ ran d o m , b u t a r e l i m i t e d

to th e

does th is

theory*

responses a re co n d itio n ed

p . ,/. S p e n c e , TTThe N a t u r e o f D i s c r i m i n a t i o n L e a r n i n g i n A n i m a l s , 71 P s 3^ c h o l o g i c a l R e v i e w , 1 3 : 4 2 7 - 1 4 9 , 1936 * '

36 r e s p o n s e s made t o

s t i m u l u s com ponents o f t h e

n a tiv e responses.

T rial

and e r r o r t h e o r i e s ,

categ o ry S p e n c e ^ in clu d es h is a r e not random , b u t H u ll^

lea rn in g ;

the

comes o n ly a t

com plex ty p e the

maze l e a r n i n g ) , act

is

happens

(e .g .,

end o f a s e r i e s

rela tiv e

of tria l

acts

o th e r elem en ts,

stren g th

to

ex p erim en ts the

(e .g .,

in w hich each t r i a l or n o th in g

d iscrim in atio n le a rn in g ). acco rd in g

to Spence,

in ­

e x citato ry

c o m p o n e n t o f t h e S - c o m p l e x a s com­

pared to

d eterm ine

and e r r o r

rein fo rcem en t

s tre n g th e n in g o f the

tendency of a c e r ta in

of th e

of t r i a l

im m ediately or p u n ish e d ,

problem b o x ,

acts

and s y s t e m a t i c .

i n w hich t h e

D iscrim in atio n le a rn in g , v o lv es the

types

and t h e s i m p le t y p e

rein fo rced

i n w hich

own, h o l d t h a t t r i a l

organized, la w fu l,

d iffe re n tia te s d ifferen t

s i t u a t i o n and

th e

u n til

it

a ttain s

response.

relev en t

f o r c e d and n e v e r f r u s t r a t e d ,

su fficien t

By t h e

stim u lu s is

co n d itio n s alw ays r e i n ­

w hereas i r r e l e v e n t

com ponents

r e c e i v e b o t h r e i n f o r c e m e n t and f r u s t r a t i o n .

I t i s i n t e r e s t i n g t o n o t e t h a t on p a g e 1 6 , L a s h l e y c l a s s i f i e s h i s own t h e o r y a s a t r i a l a n d e r r o r o n e a n d S p e n c e ’ s a s one o f D i r e c t C o n d i t i o n i n g . Spence o b v i o u s l v*/ d o e s n o t a gj r e e . 9c

C. L . H u l l , ’’S i m p l e T r i a l a n d E r r o r L e a r n i n g , S tu d y of P s y c h o lo g ic a l T h e o r y ,” P s y c h o lo g ic a l d ev iew , 3 7 :2 4 1 -2 56, 1930. a

37 The m a i n t h e o r e t i c a l are

p rin cip les

o f S p e n c e Ts t h e o r y

as fo llo w s: 1.

rew ard,

R einforcem ent — i f a r e a c t i o n i s

w h i c h may b e d e f i n e d

fo llo w e d by a

in term s o f th e

of a fin a l

o r consum m atory r e s p o n s e ,

ten d en cies

of the

rein fo rced

or stre n g th e n ed * b y a c e r t a i n

occurrence

th e e x cita to ry

im m e d ia te s t i m u l u s com ponents a r e

T h is i n v o l v e s no a s s u m p tio n s a s t o

increm ent

I.

th e n a tu re o f the

r e i n f o r c e m e n t m echanism . 2. (i.e .

I n h i b i t i o n — when a r e a c t i o n

whe n t h e

fin al

v e n te d from t a k i n g th e

a ctiv e

i n c r e m e n t D. adds i t s e l f ex citato ry

T his

o r consum m atory r e s p o n s e i s

p l a c e ) , the

stim ulus

i s n o t rew arded pre­

e x cita to ry ten d en cies

of

com ponents a r e weakened by a c e r t a i n is

an a c t i v e ,

i n an a l g e b r a i c

n e g a t i v e p r o c e s s w hich

fashio n to

t e n d e n c i e s and r e s u l t s

th e p o s itiv e

i n low ered s tr e n g th

v a lu e s • The f o l l o w i n g tiv e

assum ptions

a r e m ad e a s t o t h e

rela ­

a m o u n ts o f s t r e n g t h e n i n g s and w e a k e n i n g s t h e s t i m u l u s '

re s p o n se c o n n e c tio n s undergo: 1. forcem ent re la tiv e

Amount o f s t r e n g t h e n i n g r e s u l t i n g is

acco rd in g to

stren g th e n in g

an S s h a p e d c u r v e .

effect

of a sin g le

from r e i n ­

That i s ,

reinforcem ent

the is

least

a t th e b e g in n in g and end o f l e a r n i n g and g r e a t e s t

i n th e m iddle p o r t i o n . v a r i e s with, t h e

The s t r e n g t h e n i n g e f f e c t

of rew ard

sta g e o f a c q u i s i t i o n or s tr e n g th

of the

e x c i t a t o r y te n d e n c ie s in t h i s m anner. 2.

The s t r e n g t h

w hich i s t h e a response,

3•

of a stim u lu s-re sp o n se co n n ectio n ,

e x c i ta t o r y ten d en cy o f a stim u lu s to a ro u se v a r i e s b e tw e e n z e r o and one h u n d r e d .

I -

3 *99

^

w h ere 3 *99 and 355 a r e

e l 's - J O ) 2/5 5 5 c o n s t a n t s d e p e n d e n t upon th e le a r n e r , v ariab le

s is

a

rep re se n tin g

e x c i t a t o r y t e n d e n c y , and I is th e

increm ent

of

e x c ita to ry ten d en cy . 4*

D v a r ie s d i r e c t l y w ith th e s tr e n g th

b ein g g r e a te r fo r th e

lack

s t r o n g o n e s t h a n f o r weak o n e s .

o f rew ard and n o t p u n is h m e n t.

Punishm ent

t h e w eakening o f s t i m u l u s - r e s p o n s e c o n n e c ti o n s , stren g th en in g

of re s p o n se ,

of opposing

D = as-b

decrem ent

of e x c ita to ry ten d e n cies.

and D i s

is not

but th e

ones.

where a and b a r e e m p i r i c a l c o n s t a n t s ,

T his i s

th e

39 5*

In th e

co n n ectio n s, w ill

case of a n ta g o n is tic

th at

having th e

g reatest

stim u lu s-respo n se e x c ita to r y tendency

p rev ail* 6.

com plex i s

The t o t a l th e

e x c ita to ry tendency of a stim ulus

sum o f t h e

e x c ita to ry ten d en cies

of th e

component s t i m u l i . L e t u s now a n a l y z e a t y p i c a l d i s c r i m i n a t i o n p r o b l e m i n t e r m s o f S p e n c e Ts t h e o r y . p o ssib ilitie s,

p relim in ary tra in in g

stim u lu s-resp o n se

S tim u lu s S tim u lu s

( r ig h t b o x )— resp o n se (w ithdraw al) (t r i a n g l e ) — re s p o n se (w ith d ra w a l)

has the

A lso,

0,

on t h e

— resp o n se (approach) — resp o n se (approach)

l e f t box,

the t r i a n g l e

g r e a te s t e x c ita to r y ten d en cy .

n o t t h e w hole

n e g le ctin g

th e

co n n ectio n s• ( l e f t box) (circ le )

is

four

is

on t h e r i g h t

T h u s , w h ich C w i l l c h o o s e d e p e n d s on w h ic h c o m b i n a ­

tio n is

has e sta b lis h e d

S tim u lu s S tim u lu s

The c i r c l e box.

G iven f o u r d i s c r i m i n a t i o n

sto ry ,

sin ce i t

has b een s i m p l i f i e d by

such f a c t o r s a s d i s u s e and s p o n t a n e o u s r e c o v e r y .

i f the

c o n n e c tio n betw een th e r e l e v e n t

r e q u i r e d m o to r r e s p o n s e i s n o t le a rn in g w ill be d elay ed .

of th e

However, t h i s

cue s tim u lu s does not

sensorium a t th e

c ritic a l

s tim u lu s and

su ffic ie n tly

S im ilarly , g uarantee

c le a r to

t h e m ere p r e s e n c e

im p in g e m e n t on t h e

moment o f r e s p o n s e *

40 The a p p e a r a n c e o f S3^ s t e m a t i c o u tset

of le a r n in g

is

due t o

p rio r

e x c i t a t o r y t e n d e n c i e s w hich w i l l ence b etw een t h e s e by r e i n f o r c e m e n t th e

resp o n ses a t th e train in g

or in n a te

p e rs is t u n til th e d i f f e r ­

e x c i t a t o r y te n d e n c ie s becomes e lim in a te d

o r n o n -rein fo rcem en t.

occurrence o f sy stem atic

e x c ita to r y tendency fo r

A fter le a rn in g ,

responses is

g r a d u a l b u i l d i n g up o f a p r e f e r e n c e

(i.e .

due to th e a g reater

one s e t o f c u e s ) .

A T,d e d u c t i o n t? f r o m t h i s t h e o r y i s t h a t d e v e l o p s and m a i n t a i n s w ill,

w he n i t

fin a lly

a long p e r s is te n t abandons i t ,

c o rre c t d isc rim in a tio n response. Os who p e r s i s t

for

hy p o th esis w i l l ,

w ith o u t t r y i n g

s t i m u l u s was a lw a y s

sy stem atic in itia te But

p o sitio n h ab it

O r,

the

in K rechf s term s,

im m ed iately adopt the

o th ers.

i n s o l u b l e problem s

co rrect.

re s p o n s e s and t h a t

i n w hich

The d e v e lo p m e n t o f

r e s p o n s e s was an i n d i c a t i o n t h a t t h e

sy stem atic

to

a c o n s id e ra b le tim e in a p o s i t io n

K r e c h i n t r o d u c e d Os t o n o one

an 0 who

proceed d i r e c t l y

upon r e j e c t i n g i t ,

c o rr e c t h y p o th esis

ver}r

th ey a re not

0 m ust

f o r c e d upon him .

r e s p o n s e s i n su c h a s i t u a t i o n w ould b e a l s o

e x p e c te d by c o n t i n u i t y t h e o r y a c c o rd in g t o t h e p r e v i o u s ly m entioned e x c i ta to r y ten d en cy d i f f e r e n t i a l .

LI

Krech d e s c r i b e d t h e b e h a v i o r o f t h e p re-so lu tio n Use o f t h i s b ehavior:

tria l

of a series

term in v o lv e d th e n o tio n responses,

and s e l f - i n i t i a t e d

Krech

d o cile resp o n ses,

responses.

a c t s , having th e

p o sitio n

p r o b le m by s y s t e m a t i c a l l y t r y i n g

u n t i l the

so lu tio n

such c r i t i c a l

is

h i t upon.

of a n o th er,

and w h a t d e t e r m i n e s t h e

b e g in s to the

im p licatio n s.

se le c ts th e

and c o n c e n t r a t e s ,

experim ental

situ atio n

versa)

ju st at

ignores of a

d o e s , ho w­ if

the

the p o sitiv e

b e f o r e th e anim al slow er l e a r n in g

not n e c e s s a rily

in tu r n ,

It

(i.e .,

occur,

on c e r t a i n

or j u s t

th e

of

for 0

asp ects of

as o ffe rin g p o s s i b i l i t i e s

p r o v i d i n g s o l u t i o n and d o e s n o t r e a c t t o aspect u n til

rep erto ire

failu re

F or exam ple,

cue s t i m u l i a r e r e v e r s e d

problem sho u ld

its

a n d t r 3ri n g o u t

order.

sh o w a n y l e a r n i n g w h a t e v e r ,

reversed

solve the

Such a p o s i t i o n

l e a d s t o abandonment

s t i m u l u s made n e g a t i v e a n d v i c e

th at 0

o th ers are tr ie d

q u e s tio n s as what c o n s t i t u t e s

have t e s t a b l e

is

s e t s out to

one i s w ro n g ,

how t h i s

v a lu e s of th e

su p erio r to b lin d

o u t one o f

h y p o th esis,

ever,

selectiv e

A ccording to

( n o t n e c e s s a r i l y K r e c h 1s )

I f th at

of

ch aracter of in sig h t.

c a p a b le o f h a v in g such i n s i g h t ,

o f h y p o th eses.

of "hypotheses".

of c h a ra c te ristic s

says t h a t h y p o th e se s a re

and e r r o r

A p o ssib le is

as c o n s is tin g

sy stem atic

responses, Spence,

p eriod

r a t d u rin g th e

real

p re c e d in g th e tim e

of

cue

of so lu tio n .

42 But S p en ce* s t h e o r y p r o v i d e s an o p p o s i t e p r e d i c t i o n . Thus, i f

stim ulus

equal in

stre n g th ,

th an

stim ulus

p o sitiv e

of t r i a l s

it

(circ le )

becomes g r e a t e r

chance,

(tria n g le )

resu lt

a reversal

in of

(circ le )

to

t o b e co m e s u f f i c i e n t l y in su re a p e rs is te n t

i t .

M c C u l l o c h and P r a t t "'0 c a r r i e d th ese

co n d itio n s.

c o n t r o l g ro u p w here t h e r e

out an e x p e rim e n t

They found t h a t ,

was n o t

e r r o r s w ere made, w h i l e t h e th e

are

an d n e g a t i v e c u e s w i l l r e q u i r e a g r e a t e r number

s tro n g e r th an stim u lu s

approaching

(circ le )

b u t n o t so g r e a t a s t o

more o f t e n t h a n

fo r stim u lu s

response to

and s t i m u l u s

and s t i m u l u s

(tria n g le )

0 *s r e a c t i n g t o th e

(tria n g le )

a rev e rsa l,

experim ental

in the

fifty -tw o

gro u p i n which

s t i m u l i w e r e r e v e r s e d made s i x t y - f o u r e r r o r s ,

con­

firm in g th e c o n tin u ity th e o ry . T hus, Spence has tem atic

n a tu r e of th e b e h a v io r of anim als in

d i s c r im in a tio n problem s, co n sisten t h is

own.

shown t h a t t h e o r g a n i z e d a n d s y s ­

w ith a t r i a l Fro m t h i s

learn in g

d e m o n s t r a t e d by K r e c h , and e r r o r type

th eo ry

it

of theory

fo llo w s t h a t ,

is

e n tire ly

such as

p ro v id ed the

26 R. L . M c C u l l o c h a n d J . G. P r a t t , "A S t u d y o f t h e P r e - s o l u t i o n P e r i o d i n W eight D i s c r i m i n a t i o n by W hite R a t s , ” J o u r n a l o f C o m p arativ e P sv c h o lo g y , 1 $ :2 7 1 -2 9 0 , 1934.

43 e x c ita to r y tendency of th e

stim u li are

o r ap p ro x im ately

rela tiv e

d e p e n d on t h e

so,

th eir

re la tiv e

in itia lly

equal

stren gths w i l l d ir e c tly

number o f r e i n f o r c e m e n t s and non­

reinfo rcem en ts

su b seq u en tly re c e iv e d T h is im p lic a tio n oH h a s been t e s t e d by S pence. ' C him panzees w ere p r e s e n t e d w ith a s e r ie s d ifferen t first

of d isc rim in a tio n

stim ulus

form s:

A, B, C, a n d D.

Each 0 w a s

t a u g h t tw o p r e l i m i n a r y d i s c r i m i n a t i o n s ,

v e r s u s B, a n d a f t e r t h i s , th e

problem s i n v o l v i n g f o u r

learn in g

s e n te d w ith problem s

fiv e te s ts

in w hich t h e

w ere u se d . p o sitiv e

of th ese

The f i r s t

stim u li

The

v e r s u s D.

p re lim in a ry problem s,

same s t i m u l i

in v a rio u s com binations

o f t h e s e t e s t problem s

versus

second t e s t

C7

versus

i.e .

I. K rech, R eview , 39*516-332, 1932.

B,

v e r s u s D.

Os w e r e p r e s e n t e d w i t h in t e s t tw o,

h alf

of

C, a n d h a l f C ( p o s i t i v e )

now h a d B p o s i t i v e

been p o s i t iv e

in v o lv ed the

problem in v o lv e d th e

A p o s i t i v e now h a d D p o s i t i v e

problem ,

Os w e r e p r e ­

c o n s i s t i n g o f f i v e new l e a r n i n g

s t i m u l i B and D o f t h e p r e l i m i n a r y p r o b l e m .

C p o sitiv e ,

F ollow ing

o f t h e tw o p r e l i m i n a r y p r o b l e m s ,

Os h a v i n g A ( p o s i t i v e ) v e r s u s A.

C (p o sitiv e )

A (p o sitiv e )

the

n eg ativ e

T h o s e who h a d

and t h o s e who h a d In th e

stim u li

th at

B o r D, a n d t h e

th ird

test

had j u s t stim u li

TfH v p o t h e s e s i n R a t s , ” P s y c h o l o g i c a l

44 t h a t had been p o s i t i v e G or

a

, e tc e te ra .

on t h e two p r e v i o u s o c c a s i o n s ,

(See T able

I f Spence’s th eo ry is tio n sh ip

I) tru e,

th ere

e .g .

in itia l

r e s p o n s e and t h e t o t a l

number o f e r r o r s )

on p r e v i o u s p r o b l e m s .

I f th e p o sitiv e

e x c ita to r y tendency th e n ,

ex clu siv ely .

I f the

learn in g

and t h e r e l a t i v e nu m ber o f

r e i n f o r c e m e n t s and n o n - r e i n f o r c e m e n t s t h e

great

should be a r e l a ­

betw een t h e l e a r n i n g o f each o f t h e s e t e s t

p r o b i eras ( b o t h scores,

s t i m u l i had had

stim ulus has a

0 responds to

it

n e g a tiv e stim u lu s has the

alm ost

g reater

e x c i t a t o r y te n d e n c y , th e n a lo n g e r p e rio d of tim e i s to

i.e .

needed

develop a g r e a t e r e x c i ta t o r y ten d en cy in th e p o s i t iv e

stim u lu s. A m o d i f i e d fo rm o f t h e Bingham m a n u a l m u l t i p i e c h o i c e a p p a r a t u s was u s e d i n p r e s e n t i n g t h e

d isc rim in atio n

p roblem s. T r a i n i n g was c o n t i n u e d u n t i l a c r i t e r i o n cent

correct

w ere a l l

c h o i c e s w ere m ade, t h e l a s t t w e n ty o f w hich

co rrect.

a n d C, b o t h

In t e s t

stim u li

one,

Os a r e p r e s e n t e d w i t h A

o f w hich w ere p o s i t i v e

H a l f now h a v e A p o s i t i v e the

o f 90 p e r

and h a l f G p o s i t i v e .

had r e c e i v e d a c e r t a i n

and a s s u m in g t h a t t h e

stim u li p rev io u sly .

e x cita to ry

Each o f

number o f r e i n f o r c e m e n t s

t e n d e n c i e s w ere i n i t i a l l y

45

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN FOR TESTING DISCRIMINATION HABITS*

S tim u lu s P o sitiv e N egative

Test

Group

P relim in ary

T o tal

A C

B D

Test 1

A C

A C

C A

Test 2

A C

D B

B D

Test 3

A -l A-2 C -l C-2

A D C B

D A B C

T o tal

B D

A C

T e s ts 4 and 5

* K. y . S p e n c e , rrA n a l y s i s o f t h e F o r m a t i o n o f V i s u a l D i s c r i m i n a t i o n H a b i t s i n t h e C h im p a n z e e , fr J o u r n a l o f C o m p a ra tiv e P s y c h o l o g y , 2 3 : 7 7 - 1 0 0 , 1937*

46 eq u al,

Spence*s p o s tu la te

stren g th s

p red ic ts th a t th e ir

now w o u l d b e i n d i c a t e d b y t h e r e l a t i v e n u m b e r

of rein fo rcem en ts in th e

p r e lim in a r y problem .

number o f r e i n f o r c e m e n t s t h e n e g a t i v e ceived a re s u b tra c te d stim u lu s,

the

from t h e

rela tiv e

m easures of le a rn in g

p o sitiv e

p o sitiv e

d eterm in ed .

rela tiv e

fifty

(1) t h e p e r c e n t a g e o f r e s p o n s e s

s t i m u l u s on t h e

tria ls;

made i n l e a r n i n g t h e

is

e x c i t a t o r y t e n d e n c y and

first

day;

p e r c e n t a g e o f r e s p o n s e s made t o t h e p o s i t i v e the f i r s t

Three

a re re c o rd e d and a c o r r e l a t i o n

le a r n in g m easures:

m ad e t o t h e

is

I f the

s tim u lu s had r e ­

same o f t h e

stren g th

e s t a b l i s h e d betw een t h e th ese

re la tiv e

(3)

th e t o t a l

problem

(2) t h e

stim u lu s in

number o f e r r o r s

(responses to

th e n e g a tiv e

s t i m u l i )• Spence p r e d i c t s a p o s i t i v e c o r r e l a t i o n betw een t h e percen tag e of responses to th e e x t e n t t o w hich t h e

p o sitiv e

p o s i t i v e s t i m u l u s h a s h a d a. g r e a t e r

number of r e i n f o r c e m e n t th a n t h e bear th is

ou t,

hun d red th s,

s t i m u l u s and t h e

n eg ativ e

p ro v id in g c o rr e la tio n s

six ty -fiv e

one h u n d r e d t h s ,

one.

The r e s u l t s

of th irtv -o n e

and m in u s s i x t y - f i v e

one h u n d r e d t h s ,

resp ec tiv e ly .

The f a c t t h a t p e r f e c t

latio n s

e stab lish ed

due t o

are not

of i n i t i a l

in d iffe ren c e,

is

e tc etera .

one

corre­

such f a c t o r s a s la c k

47 To d e a l w i t h s t i m u l u s d i m e n s i o n s o f c o n t i n u o u s c h aracter, t i o n to

Spence~

th at

has

sta te d

(e.g .

in te n sity ,

regarded

as based

stim u lu s

situ atio n .

size,

on t h e

wave l e n g t h )

rela tio n a l

th a n to the T his

of th e s tim u lu s

sp ecific

p ro p erties

h a s lo n g been

respond to

situ atio n

stim ulus

sp ite

of th e

the

rath er o b jec ts. fa c t th at

s t u d i e s h a v e shown t h a t r e s p o n s e t o

re la tio n ­

sh ip s

i s b y no m e a n s u n i v e r s a l .

te sts

w here s t i m u l i have d i f f e r e n t a b s o l u t e v a lu e ,

same o b j e c t i v e r e l a t i o n t o

F or exam ple, t r a n s p o s i t i o n

to

re la tio n sh ip ,

i m p l i c i t l y assum es t h a t t h e r e i s

n o t r a n s f e r o f e x c i t a t o r y t e n d e n c}^ a c q u i r e d b}^ t h e th e n eg ativ e

tran sferred

but

do s o .

S p e n c e Ts t h e o r y

form t o

but the

one a n o t h e r h a v e sh ow n t h a t Os

som etim es r e s p o n d i n a c c o rd a n c e w ith th e many t i m e s f a i l

of

c h a ra c te r of th e

of th e

c o n c l u s i o n h a s b e en draw n i n

experim ental

The

and e a r l y A m erican i n ­

G e sta ltists

p ro p erties

opposi­

stim u li in v o lv in g d if f e r e n c e

v e s t i g a t o r s c o n c l u d e d t h a t Os l e a r n t o re la tiv e

o f view in

e x p re s s e d by t h e N e o - G e s t a l t i s t s .

d i f f e r e n t i a l response to degree

a p o in t

p o sitiv e

f o r m , and no i n h i b i t o r y t e n d e n c y

from t h e n e g a t i v e

form t o th e

p o s itiv e one.

2$ K. 17. S p e n c e , TtThe D i f f e r e n t i a l R e s p o n s e i n A nim als t o S t i m u l i V a ry in g W ith in a S in g le D im e n s io n ,” P s y c h o l o g i c a l R e v ie w , 4 4 : 4 3 0 - 4 4 4 , 1937*

43 In c o n tin u o u s ness,

th ere

is

dim ensions

such a s s i z e and b r i g h t ­

some t r a n s f e r o f t r a i n i n g

members o f a s e r i e s . rep o rted th a t,

In su p p o rt of t h i s p o i n t ,

wh en a n a n i m a l

o f a c e r t a i n wave l e n g t h , a c q u ir e th e c a p a c ity to more u n l i k e th e

b e t w e e n n e a r b 3^

is

to n es

c o n d itio n ed t o of a d ifferen t

evoke t h e r e s p o n s e .

t o n e s i n wave l e n g t h ,

of the

co n d itio n in g ,

on t h e

g e n eraliza tio n

th e

P avlov a stim u lu s w ave l e n g t h

F u rth er,

the

l e s s the t r a n s f e r

a c o n c l u s i o n v e r i f i e d by o t h e r w o rk e rs o f i n h i b i t o r y and e x c i t a t o r y

ten d en -

cie s • S p e n c e 1s t h e o r y o f t h e t y p e o f d i s c r i m i n a t i o n p r o b l e m in v o lv in g a s tim u lu s dim ension of c o n tin u o u s n a tu r e describ ed

in the

s t a te m e n t s t h a t a r e g iv e n below .

discussed

in term s

of a sp e c ific

situ atio n ,

is It

is

p resen ted

in

F igure 1. 1.

Vie s h a l l

or su ccessiv e

v e rs u s the

square th e

n eg ativ e

stim u lu s

istic s

th at

lin e

at th at

are th e

situ atio n .

stim u lu s

it

( o f one h u n d re d

s i x t 3^

te n d e re r to

o f t h e amount r e p r e s e n t e d

p o in t.

same f o r

(two

or the com bination

a c q u i r e s an e x c i t a t o r y

resp o n se of ap proaching so lid

th is

square c en tim e te rs)

cen tim e te rs),

by the

as a r e s u l t o f tr a i n in g

reinforcem ents, th e p o sitiv e

hundred f i f t y - s i x of it

assume t h a t ,

a ll

O ther s tim u lu s c h a r a c t e r ­ stim u li

are

ig n o red in

49

0-00

100

39

1 6 0

2 56

409

6 55

1049

FIGURE 1 DIAGRAMMATIC REPRESENTATION OF RELATIONS BETV/ESN THE HYPOTHETICAL GENERALIZATION CURVE, POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE, AFTER TRAINING ON THE STIMULUS COMBINATION 2 5 6 ( + } iiND 1 6 0 ( - ) 29

90

.oc

c it

50 2. of th is

We s h a l l a s s u m e t h a t t h e r e

a cq u ired tendency to th e

s i m i l a r s i z e and t h a t t h i s g rad ien t

stim ulus

g e n eralizatio n

such a s t h a t r e p r e s e n t e d by th e

3*

is

a g en eraliza tio n

o b jects

fo llo w s a upper curved l i n e .

We s h a l l p o s t u l a t e t h a t w i t h f a i l u r e

forcem ent of response to cen tim eters,

stim u lu s

of rein ­

one hundred s i x t y

square

e x t i n c t i o n w i l l f o l l o w a n d an i n h i b i t o r y

t e n d e n c y w i l l d e v e l o p t o t h e amount broken lin e

of

at the

p o int

on t h e

in d ic a te d by th e

a b s c i s s a m arked one

hundred s i x t y . 4*

S im ila rly ,

th ere is

a ge n eraliza tio n

in h ib i t o r y tendency a c c o rd in g to th e

g rad ien t

shown b y

lo w er curved l i n e • 5.

stren g th th ese

We s h a l l a s s u m e t h a t o f a stim u lu s

two p o s i t i v e

T h is v a lu e

is

is the

ex citato ry

sum m ation o f ten d en cies.

r e p r e s e n t e d by t h e d i s t a n c e betw een t h e

of co n clu siv e

curves a re p a r t i a l l y a r b i t r a r y . sensory process is (here

size)

c u r v e s and n u m e r i c a l l y b y

o f each l i n e .

Because o f th e la c k

dim ension

e ffectiv e

( e x c i ta t o r y and i n h ib ito r y )

t h e number to t h e r i g h t

th at

the

alg eb raic

u p p e r and lo w er g e n e r a l i z a t i o n

is

th e

of t h i s

ev id en ce,

th ese

One a s s u m p t i o n , h o w e v e r ,

a log fu n c tio n

and t h e r e f o r e t h i s

of th e

stim u lu s

has been p lo tte d

51 o n a lop: s c a l e ,

i n a m a n n e r s i m i l a r t o t h e o r i g i n a l V/eber-

F e c h n e r r e l a t i o n s betw een Thus, train in g six ty

e ffectiv e

sensory and stim u lu s d im e n sio n s.

stren g th s

of v ario u s

on two h u n d r e d f i f t y - s i x

n eg ativ e a re

such t h a t

stim u li

p o s i t i v e a n d one h u n d r e d

in th e tr a n s p o s itio n t e s t s

f o u r h u n d r e d n i n e and two h u n d r e d f i f t y - s i x , hundred of th e

s i x t y and one h u n d re d , l a r g e r stim ulus

e ffectiv e

ex citato ry

and f o r t y - e i g h t

e x cita to ry

as a g a in s t

is

t h r e e and s i x t e e n

in

the t e s t

one h u n d r e d

to t h e

S im ila rly , s i x t y and

th e y should resp o n d

c o m b i n a t i o n two h u n d r e d f i f t y - s i x

hundred n in e , Thus,

d ifferen ces

one

c o m b i n a t i o n one h u n d r e d and one h u n d re d s i x t y ,

and t h e t e s t

ded u ctio n s

The s t r e n g t h

Thus, 0 sh o u ld respond c o n s i s t e n t l y

n e g a t i v e l y t o two h u n d r e d f i f t y - s i x ,

six

one h u n d r e d t h s ,

one and f i f t y - t w o

p o s itiv e ly to

The

f o u r and e i g h t y -

f o r two h u n d r e d f i f t y - s i x .

o f one h u n d r e d i s

Os a r e t r a i n e d

tend en cy

g reater.

l a r g e r stim u lu s in the tr a n s p o s itio n t e s t s . if

a n d one

tendency of fo u r hundred n in e i s

o f one h u n d r e d s i x t y

hu nd redth s.

effectiv e

in each case th e

one h u n d r e d th s ,

f o u r one h u n d r e d t h s

w hile th a t

is

after

to

the

and fo u r

sm aller stim u lu s.

from s t i m u l u s - r e s p o n s e c o n c e p ts and p r i n c i p l e s ,

c a n b e m a d e t h a t Os w i l l r e s p o n d t o of degree

stim u lu s

in a m anner w hich has h i t h e r t o been

52

in te rp reted

as in v o lv in g a p e rc e p tio n

or response to

a stru ctu re-p ro cess

of a r e la tio n s h ip

(la rg e r, b rig h te r,

e tc e te ra )• The a p p a r a t u s statem en ts

u s e d by S p e n c e t o t e s t

co n sisted

o f two s m a l l f o o d b o x e s p r e s e n t e d

by p u sh in g t h e p la tf o r m a p o sitio n

T rain in g u n til

on w h ic h t h e y w e r e p l a c e d up t o

one i n c h fro m t h e c a g e w a l l ,

chim panzee co u ld

reach th ro u g h

on a p o s i t i v e a n d n e g a t i v e f o r m c o n t i n u e d

ch im panzees le a r n e d to

respond to th e

respond p o s itiv e ly to

o f the

c o m b i n a t i o n tY^o h u n d r e d

n in e.

Os t r a i n e d

on t h e

on s t i l l

co nsisten t

from e i g h t y - e i g h t

T hree o f two w h i t e

w h i l e two

th e sm aller square

fifty -six

larg er

and f o u r h u n d r e d

s t i m u l i Yvere g i v e n t e s t s on t h e

sm aller

sm aller com binations.

R e s u l t s showed t h a t t h e

eig h t

larg er

l a r g e r o n e s , and t h o s e t r a i n e d

w ere t e s t e d

responses

correct*

one h u n d r e d s i x t y and one h u n d r e d ,

w ere t r a i n e d to

on s t i l l

so t h a t t h e

and open t h e boxes*

d i s c r i m i n a t i o n was 90 p e r c e n t

squares,

th e above

w ith

the tr a in in g

and t h r e e

and th r e e te n th s

average p ercen tag e of t e s t

ten th s

per cent

w ere in c r e a s e d

in a b so lu te

f o u n d when t h e

sm aller t e s t

size.

response decreased

per cent

as th e t e s t

to

sev en ty -

com binations

A s i m i l a r d e c r e a s e was

c o m b in a tio n s w ere u s e d , t h e

53 tran sfe r fa llin g

o ff f a s t e r in th e l a t t e r case.

r e s u l t s w ere f u r t h e r v e r i f i e d m ent:

th ree

ch im p an zees l e a r n e d t o

s tim u lu s in the t e s t

test

fo llo w in g a rra n g e ­

choose t h e l a r g e r

s i t u a t i o n a l m o s t 100 p e r c e n t

t h e t i m e , b u t where t r a i n i n g in the

in th e

These

situ atio n

none

was t o

the

of

sm aller stim u lu s,

o f th e re sp o n se s to th e

sm aller

s tim u lu s w ere above c h a n c e . T his stim u li trary th e

in the

to th e

of t r a n s p o s itio n to

d irec tio n

farth er

of re la tio n a l

th e

tio n

th is

type

curves a t

the

problem .

in sig h t

facto r

changed,

o c c u rre n c e of sh a rp r i s e s

or j u s t p r e c e d i n g p ro b le m s o l u ­ and c h a r a c t e r i z e d a s

stim u lu s-resp o n se th e o r ie s , but th a t

o f rre x p l a n a t i o n "

o f the

is

2 and 3 ) *

h a s b e e n e x p l a i n e d by " i n s i g h t "

an e x c e p tio n t o

fig u re

c u r v e d r o p s o f f m o r e s l o w l y a nd e x t e n d s

(see F ig u res

learn in g

con­

t h e o r i e s and t o

p o s itiv e curve i s not

Spence*^ n o te s t h a t th e in th e

stim u li is

as fa r as the present

A cco rd in g ly ,

th e n e g a tiv e

t h e s m a l l e r o f tw o

o f sm aller siz e d

im p lica tio n s

p re se n t h y p o th esis

concerned. but

failu re

is

in

No t h e o r e t i c a l o p e ra te s to

fact

only a re s ta te m e n t

a c c o u n t o f how s u c h an

produce

such sudden l e a r n i n g

30 K . V/. S p e n c e , " G r a d u a l v s . S u d d e n S o l u t i o n o f D i s c r i m i n a t i o n P r o b l e m s by C h i m p a n z e e s , " J o u r n a l o f C o m p a ra tiv e P s y c h o lo g y , 2 5 : 213- 2 2 4 , 193$•

54

62

100

160

2 56

409

65 5

1049

FIGURE 2 DIAGRAMMATIC REPRESENTATION OF RELATIONS BETWEEN THE HYPOTHETICAL GENERALIZATION CURVES, POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE, AFTER TRAINING ON THE STIMULUS COMBINATIONS 1 6 0 ( + ) AND 256 ( - )31

31 K. W. S p e n c e , ,TThe D i f f e r e n t i a l R e s p o n s e i n A nim als t o S t i m u l i V a ry in g W ith in a S in g le D im en sio n ," P s y c h o l o g i c a l R e v ie w , 4 4 : 3 4 1 , 1937*

55

2.50

0 -0 0

62

100

160

256

609

655

1069

FIGURE 3 DIAGRAMMATIC REPRESENTATION OF RELATIONS BETWEEN THE HYPOTHETICAL GENERALIZATION CURVES, POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE, AFTER TRAINING ON STIMULUS COMBINATIONS 1 6 0 (+} AND 256 ( - ) . THIS DIAGRAM DIFFERS IN SCOPS FROM FIGURE 2 IN THAT THE NEGATIVE GENERALIZATION CURVE HAS A MORS GRADUAL SLOPS AND EXTENDS FARTHER32

32 I b i d * , p . 3 6 1 *

h a s e v e r been

g iven.

S i m i l a r l y , no a s s o c i a t i o n t h e o r y

h a s e v e r a d e q u a te ly a c c o u n te d f o r t h i s phenomenon, b u t it

i s t h e p u r p o s e now t o

do j u s t t h a t *

The d a t a h e r e a n a l y z e d w e r e o b t a i n e d f r o m t h e v iou s

e x p e r i m e n t by S p e n c e , - w h e r e

a series ent

s u d d e n jumps at

ch im pan zees l e a r n e d

o f d i s c r im i n a t io n problem s in v o lv in g

stim u lu s

form s--A , in th e

B, G, D.

learn in g

The d a t a

four d i f f e r ­

illu stra te d

some

c u r v e s , and so a r e o f i n t e r e s t

p resen t• Tw elve c h im p an z ee s w ere p r e s e n t e d w ith

d iscrim in atio n learn in g .

p rob lem s, tw en ty c a se s

Of t h e r e m a in in g

" i n s i g h t f u l TT l e a r n i n g lea rn in g , per cent a novel ing

pre­

fifty -six ,

and t h i r t y - s e v e n

p ro c e ss independent

should

learn in g

e x c ita to ry ten d en cies the

learn in g

sh o w ed

sh o w e d m o r e g r a d u a l criterio n

of a sso c iativ e

of the

of th e of the

in v o lv ed

and n o n - r e i n f o r c e m e n t s , any r e l a t i o n ­

p ro b lem and t h e

stim u li. test

o f 90

changes r e s u l t ­

not be in any of th e s e in s ta n c e s

s h i p betw een t h e

p o rted ,

n in eteen

I f th ese cases of "in sig h t"

from s u c c e s s i v e r e i n f o r c e m e n t s

th ere

show ing no e x te n d e d

a s d e t e r m i n e d b y an a r b i t r a r y efficien cy .

seven ty -six

re la tiv e

As p r e v i o u s l y r e ­

p ro b lem s was r e l a t e d t o

33 K. A. S p e n c e , " A n a l y s i s o f t h e F o r m a t i o n o f V i s u a l D i s c r i m i n a t i o n H a b i t s i n t h e C him panzee," J o u r n a l o f C o m p a r a t i v e P s y c h o l o g y , 2 3 *.7 7 - 1 0 0 , 1 9 3 7 *

57 th e e x c ita to r y ten d e n cies of th e an aly sis

o f th e

The f i r s t the

case

p o int

tiv e

four).

th e

g iv e n in T able I I . of so lu tio n ,

stim u lu s

stim u lu s in a l l

F u rth er,

a sso ciativ e

rank o rd e r c o r r e l a t i o n

h u n d r e d t h s betw een t h e

one

in t e n o f elev en in

cases, rela­

A nother in d e x of a d e f i n i t e

betw een th e l e a r n i n g o f th e

rela tiv e

is

but

o c c u rre d im m ed iately fo llo w in g a s h i f t

rela tio n sh ip

tiv e

fo r th e p o sitiv e

e x cita to ry ten d en cies.

and t h e

is

A p articu lar

i s th a t a t th e p o in t

for the n eg ativ e

(M im i, t e s t

learn in g

is

" i n s i g h t f u l rr s o l u t i o n s

e x c ita to r y tendency

g r e a t e r th an

stim u li.

d iscrim in atio n

s t r e n g t h s o f t h e two s t i m u l i o f m inus

s e v e n t y - n i n e one

n u m b e r o f e r r o r s m ade a n d t h e

rela ­

e x c ita to r y te n d e n c ie s a t th e b eg in n in g of le a rn in g .

T h is f ig u r e six tjr-fiv e

com pares w e ll w ith a l l th e

one h u n d r e d t h s , m i n u s s e v e n t y - n i n e

and m inus n i n e t y - s i x

from g r a d u a l l e a r n i n g

v o lv in g th e

one h u n d r e d t h s ,

sudden l e a r n i n g i s

in th e

process of a novel fa c to r

o f r e i n f o r c e m e n t s and f r u s t r a t i o n s . response w ill s h if t

(m inus

one h u n d r e d t h s ) .

T his e v id e n c e i n d i c a t e s t h a t d ifferen t

su b jects

sense of i t s (in sig h t),

W hether th e

suddenly or g ra d u a lly to t h e

ch o ice o f th e p o s itiv e

stim u lu s

not

in ­

independent s u b j e c t Ts co n sisten t

d e p e n d s on s e v e r a l

facto rs:

58

TABLE I I ANALYSIS OF "INSIGHTFULi SOLUTIONS IN CHIMPANZEES3 ^

Test 1 1 1 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5

S u b ject Mimi May Pan May Bokar Jo sie L ia Mimi May Jack Pan Bokar M ira L ia Jack

20 t r i a l s preceding so lu tio n fo R e s p o n s e . 55 15 55 35 60 50 40 55 20 60 50 60 55 50 50

20 t r i a l s on w h i c h so lu tio n t o pos • S 100 95 95 95 100 95 100 95 90 100 100 10 0 100 90 90

R elativ e e x c ita ­ to ry ten d en cies o f p o s . and n e g . 3 B egxnning Fnd 21 2A 10 -2 -14 -1 -20 -67 -16 -4 -14 -14 -3 -10 14

41 44 30 Id 6 19 0 -45 4 16 6 6 17 10 34

7; F K. W. S p e n c e , " A n a l y s i s o f t h e F o r m a t i o n o f V i s u a l D i s c r i m i n a t i o n H a b its in th e C h im panzee," J o u r n a l o f C o m p a r a ti v e P s y c h o l o g y , 2 3 : 7 7 - 1 0 0 , 1937*

59 1 . * The e x t e n t t o w h ich v a r i a b l e ( e x p e rim e n ta l and i n t e r n a l ) tio n .

stim u lu s fa c to rs

are o p e ra tiv e in the

situ a­

I r r e g u l a r c o n t r o l o f t h e s e f a c t o r s w i l l c a u s e an

ir r e g u la r learn in g

curve,

for

some o f t h e s e i r r e l e v a n t

f a c t o r s w i l l by c h a n c e f a v o r t h e n e g a t i v e s t i m u l u s . the

d i f f e r e n c e betw een

stim u li in creases, 2.

e x c ita to r y te n d e n c ie s of th e

th is

flu ctu atio n decreases.

The r a p i d i t y w i t h w h i c h t h e

e x cita to ry

e x c i t a t o r y ten d en cy v a r ie s w ith a norm al p r o b a b i l i t y c u rv e . much e x p e r i e n c e w i t h t h e

or i f

The r a t e

its

T h is means t h a t l i t t l e

favors

in the

rap id le a rn in g ,

experim ents re p o rte d

of acq u isitio n

in h ib ito ry ten d en cies are

th is

less

freq u en t,

in

s t r e n g t h a l r e a d y b}^

of ex cita to ry

slig h t,

slow e x c i t a t o r y te n d e n c y a c q u i s i t i o n , are

in th e

or

stim u li fav o rs gradual le a rn in g ,

w h e r e a s medium e x p e r i e n c e

3*

d ifferen ce

te n d e n c y d e v e l o p s t h e amount o f i n c r e a s e

h a v in g been v e r i f i e d

As

ev id en ce a ls o

is

i.e.

th is above. ten d en cy ,

i f th ere

is

sudden s o l u t i o n s

p re s e n te d co n firm in g

p o in t. C o n d itio n e d Response p o s i t i on: H u l l .

sta te d th e

C o n t i n u i t y H y p o t h e s i s by s a y i n g t h a t

th e r e w i l l be a co n tin u o u s a sso c iatio n

H ull f i r s t

as a fu n ctio n

stre n g th e n in g of th e

in le a rn in g relev an t

o f t h e number o f t im e s t h a t

60 com bined a s s o c i a t i o n fu n d am en tal

h a s o c c u r r e d . 35

p ro p o sitio n th a t

a ll

T his

i s b a s e d on t h e

stim u li a ctin g

a t the

t i m e o f r e i n f o r c e m e n t t h e m s e l v e s w i l l r e c e i v e an i n c r e m e n t of rein fo rcem en t.

He h a s

s ta te m e n t by a d d in g t h e actio n .

A cco rd in g ly ,

sin ce

rev ised h is

o rig in a l

concept

of afferen t

n e u tral

h is

present p o sitio n

by q u o tin g h i s m ost r e c e n t O

p rin cip le s th a t

is

in te r­

stated best

are here

f.

r e l e v a n t . - 50 P o stu late

III

P rim arv R ein fo rcem en t

■ ■■— i..—

■

x Mn

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

------

-

-

W h e n e v e r a n e f f e c t o r a c t i v i t y (R) i s c l o s e l y a s s o c ia te d w ith a stim u lu s a f f e r e n t im pulse or t r a c e (3) and t h e c o n j u n c t i o n i s c l o s e l y a s s o ­ c ia te d w ith th e d im in u tio n in th e r e c e p to r d i s ­ charge c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of a need, th e r e w ill r e s u l t an i n c r e m e n t t o a t e n d e n c y f o r t h a t s t i m u ­ lu s to evoke t h a t re s p o n s e . C o ro llary

ii

S e c o n d a r y R e i n f o r c e m e nt A n e u t r a l r e c e p t o r im p u ls e w hich o c c u r s r e ­ p e a t e d l y and c o n s i s t e n t l y i n c l o s e c o n j u n c t i o n w ith a r e i n f o r c i n g s t a t e o f a f f a i r s , w h e th er prim ary or seco n d a ry , w ill i t s e l f a c q u ire th e p o w e r o f a c t i n g a s a r e i n f o r c i n g a g e n t .37

35 H u l l ,

cro• c i t . ,

pp. 468-511.

36 c . L . H u l l , " B e h a v i o r P o s t u l a t e s a n d C o r o l l a r i e s , " ( u n p u b l i s h e d p a p e r , 1 9 4 9 ) , P* 2* 37 I b i d . ,

p • 2.

6.1 How ever, H u ll p o i n t s out t h a t rein fo rcem en ts are not o f th e w ith

p articu lar

tic u la rly

and s u f f i c i e n t w hich,

T his

c o n d itio n s fo r

statem en t i s

par­

secondary re in fo rc e m e n t, is

t h e key t o

the -

co n tro v ersy .

H ull l i s t s out t h a t th e r e but th a t

acquired

f o r t h e problem o f d e f in in g t h e n e c e s s a ry

as p o in te d out in C hapter I ,

co n tin u ity

of the

same m a g n i t u d e , b u t v a r y

s i t u a t i o n s .3^

relev an t

a ll

th ey

is

th ese

s i t u a t i o n s a s fo llo w s and p o in ts

little

e x p e r im e n ta l e v id e n c e f o r them ,

should be re g a rd e d

s o le ly as p o in ts

of

d ep artu re: 1. w ithout

Ss w hich have c o n ti n u e d t o

change fo r

cap a city

for

(unchanging) of h ab it 2. o p erate one

some t i m e h a v e a g r e a t l y d i m i n i s h e d

acq u irin g h a b it

lo ad in g s.

elem en ts a re l e s s

stre n g th

than

potent

same r e c e p t o r

h ab it

The m o d a l i t y

stre n g th

in crem ent,

elem en ts. in te n sity

sim u ltan eo u sly , th e

of the i.e.,

sta tic

in th e a c q u is itio n

of d if f e r e n t

re c e iv e s a g r e a t e r increm ent 3*

That i s ,

a r e t h e m ore dynamic

When t w o S e n e r g i e s

on t h e

a c t on a r e c e p t o r

stro n g er

of h ab it stre n g th .

S d e t e r m i n e s t h e amount o f tac tu a l

Ss r e c e i v e a g r e a t e r

3$ C. L. H u l l , P r i n c i p i e s o f B e h a v i o r D . A p p l e t o n - C e n t u r y C o m p a n y , 1 9 4 3 T > 4O9 p p .

(New Y o r k :

62 in crem en t

than th e rm a l S s,

and a u d i t o r y

Ss a g r e a t e r

i n c r e m e n t t h a n v i s u a l Ss* 4* d itio n in g to

Does t h e S a p p e a r i n a l a r g e num ber o f c o n ­ situ atio n s

w hich r e q u i r e a w ide v a r i e t y

b rin g about need r e d u c tio n ,

tio n s

and a l s o

r e q u i r i n g no R w h a t s o e v e r ?

d ay lig h t)

o f Rs

i n m any s i t u a ­

A S of th is

w ould n o t l i k e l y be c o n d it i o n e d t o

sort

(e.g.

any R i n

p articu lar. 5* a reactio n

An S w h i c h p r e v i o u s l y h a s b e e n c o n d i t i o n e d t o in v o lv in g

asp ects w ill

s t r o n g autonom ic

presum ably a c q u ir e ,

or "em o tio n al"

in t h i s

i n d i r e c t way,

a s t r o n g e r h a b i t l o a d i n g th a n would a com ponent n o t co n d itio n ed *

The d i s c h a r g e o c c a s i o n e d b y t h e

r e a c t i o n w ould c o n s t i t u t e w ould a c q u i r e acco rd in g to S lac k in g

a rela tiv e ly 2 above.

a re la tiv e ly in ten se

"A tten tio n ",

vigorous c o m p e titio n ,

l o a d i n g w hich c o n t r o l s

so

"em otional"

i n t e n s e 3 w hich

h ab it

stre n g th

increm ent,

t h e n , w o u l d b e a we ak

o r h av in g a stro n g h a b it

a reactio n *

C o n d itio n ed Response p o s i t i o n : E hrenfreund *

K rech^

h a d r e p o r t e d a s t u d y on t h e c o n t i n u i t y d i s c u s s i o n w h i c h

39 I . K r e c h , "A S t u d y o f t h e C o n t i n u i t y o f t h e P r o b l e m - S o lv i n g P r o c e s s , " P s y c h o l o g i c a l R eview , 4 5 :1 0 7 -1 3 3 , 193S.

63 confirm ed th e fo llo w in g th e at

n o n -co n tin u ity p o s itio n .

Silence,

im pingem ent th e tim e

th is

su g g ests th a t

of a l l

relev an t

E h ren freu n d ,^

th e requirem ent stim u li

concerning

on t h e . s e n s o r i u m

o f r e i n f o r c e m e n t h a d n o t b e e n m e t by K r e c h i n

stu d y .

He a c c o r d i n g l y r e p e a t e d

K rech’ s experim ent

e m p lo y in g p a t t e r n v i s i o n u n d e r tw o c o n d i t i o n s

o f stim u lu s

recep tio n . In the

first

w ere a r r a n g e d to

fall

th e

so t h a t t h e

on t h e

L ashley

exp erim en t, th e relev an t

sensorium a t

the

jum ping a p p a r a t u s ,

d i s c r i m i n a t e b e t w e e n an u p r i g h t

stim u lu s co n d itio n s s t i m u l i w ere n o t l i k e l y

start h is

of t r a i n i n g .

rats

w ere t a u g h t to

a n d an i n v e r t e d t r i a n g l e .

T h e e x p e r i m e n t a l g r o u p h a d b e e n .giv en f o r t y i n w hich r e s p o n s e s t o w hile tim e

h is

c o n tro l

on e a c h

Under t h e s e i n t h e two g r o u p s , In the

p revious t r i a l s

t h e n e g a t i v e form w ere r e w a r d e d ,

g r o u p was r e w a r d e d 50 p e r c e n t

stim u lu s

U sing

form i n t h e s e

co n d itio n s,

p re-test

of th e

tria ls.

no d i f f e r e n c e was fo u n d

and K r e c h ’ s r e s u l t s w e re c o n f i r m e d .

second

situ atio n ,

s t i m u l i ” w e r e ” f o r c e d fT u p o n t h e

the

tTt o - b e

relev an t

s e n s o r iu m by r a i s i n g t h e

D. E h r e n f r e u n d , ” An E x p e r i m e n t a l T e s t o f t h e C o n t i n u i t y Theory of D i s c r i m i n a t i o n L e a r n in g w ith P a t t e r n Vi s i o n , ,f J o u r n a l o f C om p a r a t i v e P s y c h o 1 o ~ y , 4 1 : 40 $ - 4 2 2 ,

1943

•

64 jum ping

stand .

appearance.

T his

c a u s e d t h e Os t o

T h u s a f,t r u e ?f t e s t

fix ate

of th e

upon t h e i r

C o n t i n u i t y Theory

could be e f f e c t e d . Under t h e s e l a t t e r

co n d itio n s,

the

experim ental

g r o u p v/as r e t a r d e d a f t e r r e v e r s a l w a s d e m a n d e d , d ifferen ce was v e r y

from t h e

and t h e

c o n t r o l pro up i n l e a r n i n g t h e r e v e r s a l

sig n ific an t-

T h is r e s u l t

supported th e C o n tin u ity

T heory. E h re n fre u n d ^ re a ffirm s th e p o s i t i o n whe n he s a y s t h a t any stim u lu s

prim ary

situ atio n s,

rein fo rcem en ts,

the

or s u rro g a te rew ard.

v a r i o u s cues have seco n d ary

p ro p e rtie s as a re s u lt

cues d i f f e r e n t i a l l y are

under the p ro p er c o n d itio n s ,

c a n be com e a s u b s t i t u t e

I n m ost l e a r n i n g rein fo rcin g

c o n d itio n ed response

of c o n ti g u i t y w ith

p resen ce or absence of th e s e

a f f e c t i n g th e

learn in g

rate.

I f th ere

s t i m u l i p r e s e n t w hich had a c q u i r e d a re w a rd v a l u e ,

th ese

cues w ill

a cq u isitio n of the

p r o v i d e b e t w e e n tw o o r m o r e r e s p o n s e s ,

o f the

c o rre c t response

secondary r e in fo rc in g E hrenfreund

above s ta te d

of th e

stre n g th

ag en t.

th en re p o rts

p o sitio n .

fu n ctio n

the

a stu d y w hich t e s t e d

A rein fo rcem en t

wa s b u i l t

th e

up f o r

W D. E h r e n f r e u n d , " E f f e c t o f a S e c o n d a r y R e i n ­ f o r c i n g Agent i n B l a c k - W h ite D i s c r i m i n a t i o n , " J o u r n a l o f C o m p a r a t i v e P s y c h o l o g y t 4 2 : 1 - 5 , 1949 *

65 th e

food cup in an a l l e y

d i s c r i m i n a t i o n box p a in t e d g r e y .

R a ts w ere th e n t r a i n e d

t o make an a l l e y d i s c r i m i n a t i o n

i n w hich a w h i t e a l l e y

led to

food,

not•

Group I was t h e n o n - s e c o n d a r y

(i.e.

no food cup was p r e s e n t

secondary reinforcem ent

present

in the

in g

reinforcem ent

group

(i.e.

should be r e t a r d e d

f o r c e m e n t was p r e s e n t The r e s u l t s

Group I I

was c h o s e n ) .

ag en t,

th e l e a r n ­

sin c e a secondary r e i n ­

when 0 m ade a n e r r o n e o u s r e s p o n s e .

i n d i c a t e d t h a t G r o u p I I m ad e t v / i c e a s

m an y e r r o r s a s d i d G r o u p I * r e s p o n s e was r e t a r d e d

Thus,

as a r e s u lt

food cup even th o u g h i t

learn in g of the

th e co rrect

presence of th e

c o n t a i n e d no f o o d .

r e s p o n s e was r e w a r d e d , t h o u g h response.

The e r r o n e o u s

n o t a s much a s t h e

l e a r n i n g was s u p p o r t e d .

L2

C o n d itio n e d R esponse p o s i t i o n : P r e n t i c e . th a t the

problem ,

^ Journal

correct

E hren freu n d concluded t h a t S p en ce’ s th e o ry of

d iscrim in atio n

feels

group

a fo o d cup was

g o a l box no m a t t e r w h ic h a l l e y

food cup s e rv e d as a r e i n f o r c i n g

o f Group I I

a b l a c k o ne d i d

in th e g o a l box)*

was t h e

I f th e

w hile

pedagogical

and i m p l i c a t i o n s

im p lic a tio n s of the about d if f e r e n t

P r e n t i c e 1' co n tin u ity

cen tral

nervous

V/. C . PI. P r e n t i c e , " C o n t i n u i t } / i n Human L e a r n i n g , tf o f E x p e r i m e n t a l P s y c h o l o g y , 3 9 : 1 6 7 - 1 9 4 , 1 939 •

66 m echanism s u n d e r ly i n g d e a lin g w ith th e

lea rn in g ,

some e x t e n t

some t i m e a

p r o b l e m on t h e human l e v e l .

s i m i l a r l y been p o in te d to

demand a t

out t h a t a c r u c i a l

It

has

experim ent is

im p o s sib le a t th e anim al l e v e l

s in c e any

but

i n f e r e n t i a l e v i d e n c e o f Tfh y p o t h e s e s ,f o r t h e

th e

p r e - s o l u t i o n p e r i o d make p r e v i o u s e x p e r i m e n t s on

both

sides

somewhat s h a k y .

s tu d y assum ing t h a t th e

end o f

A c c o r d i n g l y , he p r e s e n t s a

facto rs

relev an t

f o r problem

s o l v i n g may b e i n f e r r e d w i t h m o r e a c c u r a c y f r o m t h e verbal

rep o rts

of th e

s u b j e c t s th a n from t h e i r

c h o ice

o f b e h a v io r alo n e I f t w o g r o u p s o f hum an s u b j e c t s a r e b o t h t a u g h t th e

same p ro b le m t o t h e

same c r i t e r i o n ,

h as p r e v io u s ly been t r a i n e d

on p r e c i s e l y

p ro b le m , what w i l l be th e d i f f e r e n c e o n a common t a s k ? com pare i n th e red

from t h e

verbal

if

the

in t h e i r

one o f th e m

opp o site perform ance

how w i l l t h e i r

scores

s a m e c a s e when o n e g r o u p h a s b e e n t r a n s f e r ­

r e v e r s e p ro b le m b e f o r e he h a s

any sy s te m a tic by h is

M o re p a r t i c u l a r l y ,

but

response to th e reactio n s

e i t h e r shown

re le v a n t cues or in d ic a te d

t h a t he i s

a w a re o f them?

^ I t should be p o in te d out t h a t t h i s i s not a s t r i c t t e s t of th e c o n ti n u i ty th e o r y b ecau se t h i s th e o ry was f o r m u l a t e d t o d e s c r i b e d i s c r i m i n a t i o n l e a r n i n g i n a n im als.

67 C o n tin u ity th eo ry holds th a t

0 w i l l h a v e b u i l t up

some t e n d e n c y t o make t h e w r o n g r e s p o n s e b y t h e t i m e is

reversed.

a n eu ira l for the

T h at t e n d e n c y w i l l h a v e t o b e overcom e to

point

a t w h i c h t i m e he m i l

correct

stim ulus .

b u ild

T h i s means t h a t

up t e n d e n c i e s if

Os a r e

given p r a c tic e

on a p r o b l e m t o b e e x a c t l y r e v e r s e d ,

la te r

sh o u ld be slow ed u p ,

learn in g

to

the

to

a tte n d t o the

relev an t

in d ic a te d by v e rb al

th e

to

ch o ices th e tru e

p arts

the

change

Os h a v e b e g u n

of th e s i t u a t i o n ,

as

rep o rts.

N o n -co n tin u ity

la tio n

e v en when t h e

r e v e r s e d problem o c c u r s b e f o r e th e

m aking h i s

he

th e o ry holds t h a t

on t h e

basis

a n 0 who h a s b e e n

o f c u e s t h a t h a v e no r e ­

s o l u t i o n a n d who h a s n o t y e t n o t i c e d

e x iste n ce of those

re a lly relev an t

c u e s , m ight be

q u i t e u n a f f e c t e d by r e v e r s a l .

For him , t h i s

p r o b l e m he h a d b e f o r e ,

c h a n g e s h a v i n g b e e n made

behind th e

a ll

s c e n e s and n o t

the

a f f e c t i n g him a t

i s th e

same

a ll.

G r o u p I w a s a l l o w e d t o m ak e a c h o i c e b e t w e e n a circ le

a n d a s q u a r e , when a s e r i e s

cards d iffe rin g If

of e ig h t d if f e r e n t

i n s i z e and sh a d e w ere p r e s e n t e d t o

they chose c o r r e c t l y ,

a l i g h t was shown;

them .

in co rre ctly ,

a buzzer. Group I I was g i v e n t w e n t y p r e l i m i n a r y t r i a l s , the

buzzer sig n ify in g

a c o r r e c t c h o i c e and a l i g h t ,

w ith a wrong

6$ ch oice*

At t h e

ex actly lik e

end o f t h e t w e n t y t r i a l s ,

Group I*

In o th e r w ords,

Os w e r e t r e a t e d

th e

in d icato rs of

rew ard w ere r e v e r s e d . P ro to co ls

o f Os t h i n k i n g w e r e r e c o r d e d .

one c a n n o t r i g o r o u s l y r u l e m u ltip le

hypo theses

rep o rtin g

o n l y one

(the p o s s ib ility

th e

out th e

e arlie st

Fluency o f th e

p o ssib ility

b asis

of his

co n clu sio n s •

in clu d ed ,

observers

took

learn in g

re su lts,

P re n tic e reached

If a ll tria ls

o f Group I I w e r e

appeared to

runs a f t e r fo rty -o n e

six ty -tw o

b e s l o w e d down a n d t h e

tria ls.

t r i a l s , w hile

How ever, i f

two g r o u p s , and t h e n o n - c o n t i n u i t y

a ten tativ e o f the

th e

p o s i t i o n was

in terv iew s

so lu tio n

preceding

th ree

con­

appeared as

h y p o t h e s i s b a s e d on s u m m a r i z i n g t h e

resu lts

or f o u r t r i a l s .

The n o n - c o n t i n u i t y th at

t h e r e was no d i f f e r e n c e

po st-ex p erim en tal

g e n eraliza tio n th a t

Group I I

p relim in ary

in the

F u rth er,

in clu d ed ,

the

tria ls

firm ed th e

w ere n o t

G r o u p I made

tw enty

confirm ed.

supposedly

t h a t tim es o f appearance of

c o n t i n u i t y h y p o t h e s e s was c o n f i r m e d . erro rless

0 m ight be

h y p o th e s e s w ere m is ju d g e d .

On t h e several

th at

of

o f s e v e r a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s t o w hich

he was a t t e n d i n g ) * ru les

out th e p o s s i b i l i t y

How ever,

p o sitio n r e s ts

on t h e

r e w a r d s .and p u n i s h m e n t s w i l l b e e f f e c t i v e

assu m p tio n only f o r

69 stim u li

th at

fash io n . in d icate are

P ren tice, th at

in

th is

responded to

how ever,

some w a y ,

form ed w ith o u t t h e

a c tiv itie s to

are bein g

of the

th in k s th a t

his r e s u l t s

e a r l 3r a s s o c i a t i v e

in te rv en tio n

learn er,

in an o rg a n iz e d

co n n ectio n s

o f sy stem atic

w hich o b v i o u s l y i s

c o n trary

p o sitio n . P re n tic e ’s re s u lts

firm in g

are

obviously

in d ec isiv e ,

e a c h p o s i t i o n o n some p o i n t s , w h i l e f a i l i n g

do so a t

o th ers.

d iscu ssio n

He sums u p t h e

situ atio n

con­ to

here under

as fo llo w s:

The p l a i n f a c t i s t h a t t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n c o g n i t i o n and a c t i o n i n c o m p lex l e a r n i n g s i t u a t i o n s s t i l l n eeds to be e lu c id a t e d . M c C l e l l a n d h a s sho w n t h a t i n t e n t i o n a l r e v e r s a l of re s p o n s e s o ccu rs w ith e a s e once a d i s c r i m i n a t i o n h a s been m a s te r e d , w hich i n d ic a te s t h a t c o n tin u ity is confined to th e e a rly s ta g e s of l e a r n i n g . R e co n c iliato ry a tte m p ts . s t u d i e s h a v e b e e n made w i t h t h e v ario u s th e o rie s

for

the

present

in stan ce,

goal of r e c o n c ilin g th e

of le a rn in g , b u t sin c e th e s e a ttem p ts

have been very g e n e r a l, ing to

A number of v e r y u s e f u l

o n ly a few s p e c i f i c

p o in ts r e l a t ­

problem w i l l be p r e s e n t e d .

D a sh ie ll,^

s u g g e s ts t h a t t h e d i f f e r e n c e s betw een

learn -

^ J . F . D a s h i e l l , f,A S u r v e y an d S y n t h e s i s o f L e a rn in g T h e o r i e s , n P s y c h o lo g ic a l B u l l e t i n , 32:261-275* 193 5 -

in g th e o rie s

is

lev el

su b jects

of the

not

due t o

d ifferen ces

stu d ied ,

can b e d e m o n s tra te d a t a l l lik e ly

Lbat t h e

since a l l

le v e ls.

ex p lan atio n

is to

experim ental d esig n u t i l i z e d . in te rp retatio n Tr i a l

of a s p e c if ic

and .erro r

on d o g s ,

cats,

F u rth er,

th e

lea rn in g , and r a t s ,

situ atio n

d id not p rovide c all

out

powder to

types of learn in g

R ath er,

it

Each t h e o r y

is

for in stan ce,

g re w o u t o f work

was one r e q u i r i n g

a so lu tio n th a t

sa liv a ry

an im al,

for

situ atio n

(e .g .

attem p ted , from t h e

rest

of th e

The i n s i g h t th e

w hole a n i m a l ,

scale

th e n e c e ssity

no m ea t

out of

on a p a r t

or m o to r u n it

same t i m e i s o l a t i o n

was

of a stim u lu s

e n v ir o n m e n t was e f f e c t e d .

d o c trin e

grew o u t o f o b s e r v a tio n s

p r i m a r il y t h o s e high

which w ere l e f t

t h e y would#

tio n ,

o f a gland

and a t t h e

a n i m a l Ts

reflex ) .

a p h y sio lo g ical lab o ra to ry

iso latio n

t h a t w ould

a p a rt of the

The C o n d i t i o n g d . . JRss.p.ons.a. d o c t r i n e a r o s e experim ents in

sim ply th e

p a r t i c u l a r l y w hole a n i m a l s .

and a d e q u a t e t o t h e the

sp ecific

ex p erim en tal te c h n iq u e .

or in clu d e a stim u lu s p a tte rn

e lic it

i s more

be fo u n d i n t h e

a r e s p o n s e t h a t was a l r e a d y

rep e rto ire ,

in th e p h y lo g e n e tic

at lib e rty

to

in the

on

p h y lo g en etic

adopt w hatever resp o n se

The s o l u t i o n w a s n o t i n d e f i n i t e l y

d e l a y e d by

o f d e v e l o p i n g a new s e n s o r i - m o t o r c o o r d i n a ­

b u t was r e n d e r e d

p o ssib le

a s soon as 0 n o t ic e d

some

71 sig n ific an t

rela tio n sh ip .

The p r o b l e m was t h e r e f o r e n o t

a s much a m o t o r one a s i t Thus, d if f e r e n c e m atters

of d e g re e.

f a r you want to in g .

o th ers.

B ut h e r e

fo r th e

y o u want t o you fin d

it

is

still

th e

a m a t t e r o f how a n aly sis

of le a rn ­

s im p le s t segm ents o f

some r e f l e x e s

su b stitu te d

for

q u e s t i o n o f w h e t h e r y^ou

of th e p a r t s . a q u e stio n

cap acity to

o f how f a r y o u w a n t t o

respond to

re la tio n sh ip s.

h ig h er reach es

y o u r s e l f w orking w ith c o n cep tu alizatio n ,

M cC o n n ell^

task s

is

study th e

a b strac tio n ,

of th e

is

whole out

F u rth er, test

g e t down t o t h e

%>

c a n form t h e

it

go i n y o u r e x p e r i m e n t a l

vou can f in d

j

in l e a r n in g t h e o r i e s a re m erely

F o r one t h i n g ,

I f you want t o

lea m in r.

was a p e r c e p t u a l one .

If

o f such c a p a c i t i e s ,

in te lle c tu al

processes of

i n f e r e n c e and i n s p i r a t i o n .

sayrs t h a t d i f f e r e n c e s

in the

d iffic u lty

task w ill re q u ire d iffe re n t ty p es of le a rn in g . a re sim p le,

in sig h t w ill

occur.

I f th ey

If

are d i f f i -

c u lt, the e s s e n t ia l c lu e s o f th e s i t u a t i o n a re l i k e l y to b e im bedded i n t h e crim in ate,

g ro s s s t r u c t u r e and ' d i f f i c u l t to

and t h e r e f o r e t r i a l

d is­

and e r r o r l e a r n i n g w i l l

r5 T . i(. M c C o n n e l l , " R e c o n c i l i a t i o n o f L e a r n i n g T h e o r ie s ," N a tio n a l S oci ety f o r S tu d ie s in E d u c a tio n , f i s t Y e a r b o o k , P a r t I t , 1 9 4 2 , p p . 2 4 3 _ 2dfoT

^

appear• K e llo g g ^ ing i s

su g g ests th a t

clo sely re la te d

i n g t o m o r e t h a n o ne actio n . on t h e

o th e r hand, o b jectiv e

p retatio n s

is

are

and t r i a l

and a u t o m a t i c from

(i.e .

own i d e a s a s i n t h e

case

process

tendency o f the of th e

is

afferent

is

a gradual

issu e

betw een t h e

in creasin g

o rg an izatio n

is

elem en ts

evoke a r e s p o n s e ,

a t a n y g i v e n t i m e onl}?- a

stim u lu s

determ in e th e

to

w hether

of th e

c o m p ou n d i n w h i c h a l l

such t h a t

l i m i t e d number o f t h e

id eas).

of h ig h e r le a r n in g .

s tim u lu s com plex p a r t i c i p a t e

or w hether i t

in te r­

le s s a co n trib u tio n

c o n t i n u i t y and t h e n o n - c o n t i n u i t y t h e o r i s t s learn in g

because

m echanistic

s y m b o l i s m and

f o r c e d upon 0 and i s

re­

and e r r o r l e a r n i n g ,

sim ple t y p e s o f l e a r n i n g

Blum a n d B lu rn ^? sa}^ t h a t t h e

the

of learn ­

s t i m u l u s , m aking a r e l a t i o n a l

g en erally freed

The l e a r n i n g

sym bolic ty p e

th e G e stalt ty p e : 0 is respond­

C on d itio n ed r e f l e x

th ey a re

of h is

to

the

elem en ts in a p a r t i c u l a r

reactio n .

Each s i d e ,

they

^-6 V / . N. K e l l o g g , !,An E c l e c t i c V i e w o f Some T h e o r i e s o f L e a r n i n g , ” P s y c h o l o g i c a l R e v ie w , 45**105-1$4, 193$ •

^

R . A . Blum a n d J . S . B l u m , " F a c t u a l I s s u e s i n t h e ’C o n t i n u i t y 1 C o n t r o v e r s y , ” P s y c h o l o g i c a l R eview , 5 6 :3 3 - 5 0 , 1949 •

73 show, h a s c o n t e n t e d fects

itse lf

w ith p o in tin g

out p o ssib le

in

e x p e r im e n ts w hich c o n t r a d i c t

th eir

How ever,

such m ethods a s t h e r e v e r s a l

of stim u li

p retra in in g

w o u l d seem t o b e q u e s t i o n a b l e

o th e r ex p erim en tal v a ria b le s e stin g

are

own p o s i t i o n .

in flu e n c e the

1.

The d e s i g n

u n d e r w hich t h e

sp ecified .

It

is

in te r­

facto rs

amount o f g e n e r a l i z a t i o n :

o f th e ap p aratu s

stim u li

during

u n less c e rta in

t o n o t e t h a t H u l l m e n t i o n e d some o f t h e s e

w hich w i l l

de­

(i.e .

co n d itio n s

a r e r e c e i v e d and t h e k i n d o f

r e s p o n s e 0 must m ake. 2. d ifferen t

The d e g r e e o f s i m i l a r i t y stim u li.

3.

D ifferen ce

4.

The d i f f i c u l t y

a s d e te rm in e d by th e Thus,

h a b it

is

the

number o f jn d s b etw een t h e slope

of th e

is

g en erated

d iscrim in ate

b e tw e e n two

stim u li.^

f r o m o ne

betw een them in

asso ciated

acco rd in g ly i t

sim ila r stim u li.

H u l l , gyp • c i t . , p . 4 0 9 •

problem

of g e n e ra l­

farth er ap art.

in th e

when t h e y a r e c l o s e r t o g e t h e r ; to

g rad ien t

o t h e r when t h e d i s t a n c e

s m a l l t h a n when t h e y a r e

stren g th

stim u li.

of th e d is c rim in a tio n

t h e r e w ould b e more g e n e r a l i z a t i o n

stim u lu s to jnds

in th e background o f th e

according to th e

iza tio n ,

of re sp o n se to th e

More

stim u li is

harder

74 Thus,

regarding H u ll’s f i r s t

Blum s u g g e s t t h a t

under co n d itio n s

punishm ent and d i f f i c u l t learn in g

port

th e

o f spaced t r i a l s ,

th e

re su ltin g

c o n tin u ity th eo ry .

the H u llian is

of m assed t r i a l s ,

d isc rim in atio n s,

Under c o n d i t i o n s

and e a sy p r o b l e m s , the

a b o v e , Blum a n d

effect

on

fo llo w in g r e v e r s a l w i l l su p p o rt the n o n -c o n tin u ity

p o sitio n . m ent,

po in t

p o stu late

Tt.

not u n iv e rs a lly tr u e ,

la te

se ttin g

th at

it

is

the

They c o n c l u d e t h a t ,

it

sup­

even though • ."

m ight w e ll be a u s e f u l p o s t u ­

case under id e a l

co n d itio n s.

They a r g u e

L aws o f G r a v i t a t i o n w h i c h a r e

be e m p iric a lly t r u e ,

p h y sic ist.

learn in g w ill

.A ll s tim u li a re a s s o c ia te d .

analagous t o the

n e v e r found t o use to th e

.

no p u n i s h ­

and y e t a re

The p r e s e n t d i f f i c u l t y

of g re a t

is th at

such o th e r v a r i a b le s a s m entioned above have not been oAu a n t i f i e d

and t a k e n

S choenfeld, the

p rin cip le

respondent its

in to

A n to n itis,

and B e r s h ^

of secondary rein fo rcem en t

and o p e ra n t

statem en t

acc o u n t.

is

co n d itio n in g

point

out t h a t

co v ers both

situ atio n s,

but th a t

som ewhat a m b ig u o u s an d l a c k i n g i n d e t a i l .

w. N . S c h o e n f e l d , J . J . A n t o n i t i s , and P . B e r s h , TIA P r e l i m i n a r y S t u d y o f T r a i n i n g C o n d i t i o n s N e c e s s a r y f o r S e c o n d a r y R e i n f o r c e m e n t , ’1 J o u r n a l o f E x p e r i m e n t a l P sych o lo g y « 40:4 0 -4 5 , 1950.

75 They a c c o r d i n g l y p ro p o se a s e r i e s in g to th is

b e tte r d efin e

the

of in v e s tig a tio n s

e s s e n t i a l c o n d i t i o n s u n d e r w hich

phenomenon can b e o b t a i n e d . In a m o d ified S k in n e r box, an e x p e rim e n ta l

o f r a t s was p r e s e n t e d w ith (rein fo rcem en t

of the

ex perim ental

was n o t

bar p ressin g

group w ith th e

p resen ted

pressin g

every b a r p re ssin g second

a t any tim e .

r e s p o n s e was t h e n

response)

eatin g

occurred.

i n t h e sa me m a n n e r a s ex cep tio n th a t E x tin ctio n

o b tain ed ,

th e lig h t

of th e b a r

f o llo w in g w hich

response receiv ed a lig h t

o f one

d u ratio n . The r e s u l t s

in d ic ate

d i f f e r e n c e betw een th e and

group

a l ig h t a t th e tim e th a t

The c o n t r o l a n i m a l s w ere t r e a t e d th e

seek­

th at

t h e r e was no s i g n i f i c a n t

e x p e rim e n ta l and c o n tr o l

groups,

s e c o n d a r y r e i n f o r c e m e n t was t h e r e f o r e n o t d e m o n s t r a t e d .

T h e y c o n c l u d e t h a t two n e c e s s a r y a n d s u f f i c i e n t w e re n o t m et i n t h e i r p r e c is e ly d eterm in ed .

50

s tu d y and t h a t

co n d itio n s

th e y need to

These c o n d itio n s

are

b e m ore

concerned w ith

^ As y e t , l i t t l e u n d e r s t o o d i s t h e e f f e c t o f e x t i n g u i s h i n g t h e p r im a r y r e i n f o r c i n g r e s p o n s e upon secondary re in fo rc e m e n ts. I t i s p o ssib le t h a t by ex­ tin g u i s h i n g the b a r p re s s in g re s p o n s e , any re in fo rc e m e n t g a i n e d by th e l i g h t would a l s o b e e x t i n g u i s h e d , t h u s ex p lain in g t h e i r n eg ativ e r e s u l ts .

50

76 th e tem poral fo rcin g late

rela tio n s

stim u li,

7

n e u tra l

betw een

and t h e t y p e J

of train in g

x

an d r e i n f o r c i n g

the n e u tra l

be su c h t h a t 0 c an d i s c r i m i n a t e stim ulus

tio n

51

by sa y in g

corre-

out th e n e u t r a l

demanded.

adds a note in th e i n t e r e s t

of re c o n c ilia ­

t h a t t h e r e n e ed n o t be any c o n f l i c t betw een

S p e n c e ’ s th e o ry of d is c r im in a tio n le a r n in g and h is p o sitio n .

TTT h i s

d o e s n ’t mean t h a t

S p en ce ’ s proposed t h e o r e t i c a l t h a t we a r e That

is,

th ere

it

re a lly talk in g

Krech u s e d

’’a t t e m p t e d

accept

o f my d a t a ,

but

s u c h t e r m s a s ’’p u r p o s i v e ” , ’’d o c i l e ” , d efin ed o b je c tiv e ly ,

Spence a tte m p te d to

deduce th e s e

but th at

is

and

acts,

a c ts lo s e t h e i r em p irical

K r e c h s a 3rg t h a t h e n e v e r t r i e d

em p iric a l d ata,

own

a b o u t two d i f f e r e n t t h i n g s . ”

w h i c h d o e s n o t mean t h a t t h e s e bases.

I n ece ssa rily

ex p lan atio n

so lu tio n ” , e tc e te ra ,

ended.

rein ­

The l a t t e r m u s t

or s e l e c t

f o r w hich r e i n f o r c e m e n t i s

K rech

used to

'— j

stim u li.

and t h e

to

e x p la in his

th e problem Spence s e t f o r

h im self• S p en ce and Krech a g r e e t h a t th ere

is

in

an i n s o l u b l e

a s y s t e m a t i c m ode o f r e s p o n s e .

problem

Spence c a l l s t h i s

51 I . K r e c h , ” A N o t e C o n c e r n i n g D i s c r i m i n a t i o n L e a r n i n g i n A n i m a l s , ” P s y c h o l o g i c a l R e v ie w , 44**97-104, 1937*

77 an I n i t i a l in itia l to

e x c i t a t o r y t e n d e n c y and Krech c a l l s

h y p o th esis

the neurology

one o f th e b eg in n in g

of th e

stim u li of the

preference

is

rat,

th ese

th e

c la ss.

The f i r s t

th eo ry ,

C om posite P h o to g rap h T heory, of o b j e c t s

out

a r e w a s h e d o u t . " 53 i m p r e s s e d by t h e lin e

w ith th e

o b jec ts.

o b jec ts not

"The f e a t u r e s

i n w h i c h t h e common f e a ­

p assiv e,

T h is i s

c h arac teristics

le ttin g

h im se lf be

o bviously a p o s itio n

c o n tin u ity th e o r is ts .

52 R. s . W o o d w o r t h , E x p e r i m e n t a l P s y c h o l o g y (New Y o r k : H e n r y H o l t a n d C o m p a n y , 1 9 3 $ ) 7 o£>0 pp • 53 p oc . c i t .

common

i m p r e s s i o n s on 0 , who

w hile th e v a ria b le

o is thus

response to

s o m e t i m e s known a s The

su m m a t e t h e i r

stro n g ly ,

sta te s

in in d u c tio n ,

response to

says th a t

g rad u ally acq u ires a p ic tu re stand

su c cin c tly

0 m ust d e v e lo p a c e r t a i n

in

tu res

of

o th e r a t the

He s a y s t h a t

o f o b j e c t s and a d i f f e r e n t

thus

stre n g th

o f r e c o n c i l i n g two

fo rm atio n ,

a class

a c la ss

causes p e c u lia r

e x cita to ry

in te rest

of concept

o r concept fo rm atio n ,

to

an

ex p erim en t).

tw o t h e o r i e s a s f o l l o w s .

th is

for

s tro n g e r th an th e

W o o d w o r t h , 52 i n t h e opposed t h e o r i e s

(i.e .,

It

in

The s e c o n d t h e o r y c o n c e i v e s o f 0 a s b e i n g a c t i v e in t r i a l

and e r r o r b e h a v i o r .

a h y p o t h e s i s w hich 0 t e s t s specim ens o f th e c o n tin u ity

c la ss.

p o sitio n

The p r e s e n t the

by t r y i n g

T his i s

as a p p lie d to

it

o rig in a te s as

on d i f f e r e n t

a statem en t concept

of th e non­

fo rm atio n .

c h a p t e r was c o n c e r n e d w i t h e l a b o r a t i n g

two m a j o r p o i n t s

The r e s u l t s

The c o n c e p t

of view w ith r e s p e c t to l e a r n in g .

p r e s e n t e d b y m e m b e r s o f e a c h camp h a v e b e e n

e ith e r in co n clu siv e or c o n tra d ic to ry .

CHAPTER I I I EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN AND STATEMENT OF RESULTS I.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

As w a s p o i n t e d o u t e a r l i e r , v alu e

can be a s s i g n e d to

im p in g in g upon th e

no u n e q u iv o c a l

th e p ro p o sitio n th a t a l l

sen soriurn a t t h e t im e

w i l l th e m s e lv e s r e c e i v e an in c re m e n t W hat i s

needed is

sta tin g

the

w hich i t

a red e fin itio n

n e c e s s a r y and

th e

stim u li

o f rein fo rcem en t

of reinforcem ent.

of th e

p ro p o sitio n ,

s u f f ic ie n t co n d itio n s under

can be term ed v a lid .

co n d itio n ,

tru th

In in v e s tig a tin g

obviousness dim ension,

the

one s u c h

fo llo w in g

ex­

p e r i m e n t a l d e s i g n was u t i l i z e d . S u b jects. stu d en ts at

The s u b j e c t s ,

in t h e i r

random i n t o

f u r th e r d iv id ed

first

one h u n d r e d f o r t y

co lleg e

y e a r of p s y c h o lo g y , w ere d iv id e d

th ree general

groups,

each group b e in g

i n t o an e x p e r i m e n t a l a n d a c o n t r o l g r o u p .

The s u b j e c t s v o l u n t e e r e d b e c a u s e o f c u r i o s i t y , p o i n t s w ere given f o r t h e i r

fin al

grade,

because

or b o th .

a s s u m p t i o n i s made o f n e c e s s i t y

th at th is

se lec tiv e

is

re su lts.

The

not

such a s to

in flu e n c e the

w ere p r e s e n t e d t h e i r t a s k s th ro u g h o u t t h e

The facto r

su b jects

day in a

so flo rescen t

lig h te d

room , u s i n g a d a rk brown t a b l e

to

w ork upon* M a t e r i a l a an d ty p es

experim ental p r e s e n ta tio n *

o f c a r d s were u s e d ,

of obviousness.

each

The f i r s t

type

em ploying t h r e e

Two

degrees

w a s m ade u p o f s y m b o l s

w hich 0 s e e s a b o u t him e v e r y d a y , w hich m ig h t b e c a l l e d m e a n in g f u l sym bols an g les) (i.e .

w hile th e

(e .g .,

c a rd s w here s i x

card and th e

relev an t

given th e

cards

card,

relev an t

th e

sym bols w ere c o n t a i n e d

sym bols w ere l a r g e .

c alled

"su b tle"

to

sm all.

and t h e

Group I I was

relev an t

sym bols v a r i e d

in

degrees of obviousness,

per

s i z e and th e Group

c a r d s w here f o u r t e e n

F o r a m ore p r e c i s e d e s c r i p t i o n

resp ec tiv e

on e a c h

"m edium ly o b v i o u s . "

w e re c o n t a i n e d on e ac h c a r d an d t h e irrelev an t

"very

sym bols num bered e i g h t

sy m b o ls w e r e medium i n

c a r d s w ere t h e r e f o r e

s m a l l A l l

and t r i ­

Group I was g iv e n t h e

on w h i c h t h e

was g i v e n t h e

crosses,

se co n d was com posed o f n o n s e n s e sym bols

C hinese c h a r a c t e r s ) .

obvious"

III

squares,

sym bols

sy m b o ls \vere

size

from l a r g e

of th e

cards

see T able I I I

The num ber o f sy m b o ls c o n t a i n e d on eac h c a r d w as s l i g h t l y d i f f e r e n t f o r t h e two p r o b l e m s . For a m ore p r e c i s e s ta te m e n t see T a b le I I I .

TABLE I I I

RELEVANT STIMULI ON THE PROBLEM CARDS ( StMBOLS IN TRUE SIZE)

"Very Obvious" Problem 1 Number o f symbols on each card S o lu tio n A

S o lu tio n B

Problem 2 Number o f symbols on each card S o lu tio n A

"Medium O bviousness"

"Subtle" 14

and F i g u r e s 4,

5, 6 , 7,

a nd

3.

m e a n in g f u l sym bols w ere u s e d , each c o lo re d

scarlet

medium y e l l o w .

red,

the

relev an t

sym bols w ere or

sym bols w ere c o lo r e d

r a n d o m so t h a t

o f c o l o r s w ere p r e s e n t

w here th e

r o y a l b l u e , m ed iu m g r e e n

A ll ir r e le v a n t

of th ese c o lo rs a t

m ean in g less

In problem 1,

a b o u t an e q u a l number

on e a c h c a r d .

sym bols w ere u s e d ,

one

In problem 2 , w here

t h e y were a l l

of a s c a rle t

red c o lo r. In each c a s e , w ith a s e t That

is,

th e

experim ental

of cards co n tain in g

the

su b ject

in t h i s

tw o s o l u t i o n s ,

g ro u p could

c a r d s w h ich h a d one c h a r a c t e r i s t i c arrow

or a c r o s s ,

in problem 1 .

th e

su b ject

so lv e th e

task

h e sa w t h a t

also

a c c o rd in g to

fo u r of the

in stru ctio n s,

eig h t

on e s i d e but

each

e ith e r of th ese

je c t arriv ed a t

fash io n ,

so t h a t

tab le

of th ese

for

exam ple,

sa m e f o u r c a r d s w o u l d o th e r cards con­

Once a n e x p e r i m e n t a l

so lu tio n s,

for t r i a l

he

in acco rd an ce w ith

None o f t h e

sym bols.

rem oved and r e p l a c e d a g a i n

If,

unknow ingly,

card s co n tain ed arrow s,

of th e

one o f t h e s e

four

T h e s e two s o l u t i o n s

s o l u t i o n B.

c o n ta in a cro ss a p ie ce .

tain ed

out

c h o s e s o l u t i o n A, h e w o u l d a l s o ,

w o u l d m ove t h e m t o th e

pick

A a n d B.

i n common, e i t h e r a n

w ere l i n k e d t o g e t h e r in a o n e -to -o n e if

g r o u p was p r e s e n t e d

th e c a r d s w ere

tw o, w ith o u t h i s

sub­

FIGURE J|. SAMPLE PROBLEM SARDS FOR OBVIOUS CONDITION, PROBL.lSM 1 .

ft w

>c

I

j

*

1 1

V FIGURE p SAMPLE PROBLEM CARDS FOR OBVIOUS CONDITI

35

FIGURE 6 SAMPLE PROBLEM CARDS FOR MEDIUMLY OBVIOUS CONDITION, PROBL M 1 .

*

i*

• K

&

J Q J jf

-H

¥

*H

FIGURE 7

AMPLE PROBLEM CARDS FOR MEDIUMLY OBVIOUS CONDITION, PROBLEM 2 .

■

I z

.

4

B IBk

FIGURE 8 SAMPLE PROBLEM CARDS FOR SUBTLE CONDITION, PROBLEM 1 .

know ing v /h e th e r t h e w ere s u b s t i t u t e d .

same c a r d s c o n f r o n t e d h i m , A f t e r 0 had s o lv e d th e

tw o , t h e y were r e p l a c e d f o r tio n

A in the

first

t r ia l th ree.

th ree t r i a l s ,

him a s e t o f c a r d s c o n t a i n i n g s o l u t i o n B.

On t h e

fifth ,

th e

or c r i t i c a l

fo u r brought so lu tio n

first

th ree t r i a l s ,

th e

first

tria l,

o f the

fifth

lish ed ,

so lu tio n

tim e it

is

the

lik e ly th at

B alo n e,

a c ritic a l

test

from t h e

c riterio n

tim e

was a l s o e s t a b ­

four.

only about

If th is

on t r i a l

at

an}r t i m e ,

th ree,

fifth

t r i a l w ith o u t

9 pe^r* c e n t

for th is

reason.

one.

he was n o t u s e d ,

could n o t th en be e f f e c t e d .

0 sta rt h is

w ere e lim in a te d

0 chose d u rin g

v e r b a l r e p o r t was a t r u e

know ledge about t h e a l t e r n a t i v e noted th a t

w hile

a v e r b a l r e p o r t was demanded a f t e r

t i m e t a k e n on t r i a l

the

so lu tio n s

th at

first

A alo n e.

A b eh av io ral

showed a d e c r e a s e

0 saw b o t h

tia l

B

a n d a c h e c k up w a s a l s o m a d e a t t h e e n d

tria l.

nam ely,

brought

so lu tio n

B on t h e

I n o r d e r t o d e te r m in e w hich s o l u t i o n the

tria l

tria l,

th ree t r i a l s ,

f iv e brought

I f 0 chose s o lu ­

o n l y s o l u t i o n A, l a c k i n g

I f he c h o s e s o l u t i o n

tria l

c a r d s on t r i a l

fourth

a lo n e was o f f e r e d . tria l

o r new o n e s

so lu tio n .

th en If

since

I t was e s s e n ­

any c o n scio u s I t may b e

of t h e t o t a l

su b jects

39 The c o n t r o l g r o u p w a s t r e a t e d t h e p erim en tal one

group w ith th e

ex cep tio n t h a t

s o l u t i o n w ere p r e s e n t e d

E v e r y t i m e a m em b er o f t h e so lu tio n ,

of the

two g r o u p s ,

if

so lu tio n

A on t h e

e x p e rim e n ta l group chose a

in o rd e r to

and v i c e v e r s a

first

th ree

tria ls,

eq u aliz e the

(se e T able IV ).

a member o f t h e

s e l e c t e d a t random , was g iv e n a

c a rd s c o n ta in in g only s o l u tio n A fte r every s o lu tio n ,

"th at

Is

a v e r b a l re w a rd was g iv e n t h e

rig h t,"

to th e

su b ject,

or " fin e ."

s t a t e m e n t s was o f f e r e d on a d i f f e r e n t

m onotony.

C orrect

so lu tio n brought th e

o f p o i n t s t o w a r d 0 Ts f i n a l s o c ia l approval for h is ad d itio n ,

grade in h is

th e problem ,

ex p erim en ter’ s re p o rt

"th at

tria l

sp ecific course,

to

avoid

rew ards and In

own r e a l i z a t i o n

irresp e ctiv e

and p r i o r

of c o rre c tn e ss.

Two s p e c i a l r e q u i r e m e n t s a l s o h a d t o

Is

Each o f

p ro b le m .so lv in g a b i l i t y .

a r e w a r d was g a i n e d b y h i s

t h a t he h a d s o l v e d

set of

A p o ssib le .

The e x p e r i m e n t e r s t a t e d

c o r r e c t , rf " g o o d , "

to th e

th ree t r i a l s .

a member o f t h e e x p e r i m e n t a l g r o u p c h o s e

c o n tro l group,

th ese

c a rd s w ith only

in th e f i r s t

same s o l u t i o n

That i s ,

su b ject.

ex­

a member o f t h e c o n t r o l g r o u p w as g i v e n c a r d s

co n tain in g th a t size

same a s t h e

be m et.

TABLE IV

EXPERIMENTAL PRESENTATION OF PROBLEM CARDS

Group

T rial 1

T rial 2

T ria l 3

T rial 4

T rial

5

E xperim ental

(1 )

S olution A and B

S olution A and B

S olution A and B

S olution A

S olution B

Experim ental

(2)

Solution A and B

S olution A and B

Solution A and B

S olution B

S olution A

C ontrol (l)

Solution A

S olution A

S olution A

S olution A

S olution B

C ontrol

Solution B

S olution B

S olution B

Solution B

S olution A

(2)

L ash l e y ~ demands t h a t

0 p a y maximum a t t e n t i o n t o t h e

stim u li in

in ferio r

order th at

poor a tte n tio n . w orked q u i t e

learn in g

is not

due to

T h i s c o n d i t i o n was m et s i n c e a l l

f a s t and

fev erish ly ,

Os

presum ably b e c a u se

t h e r e was an a d e q u a t e d e g r e e o f m o t i v a t i o n . Spence a lso

req u ires th a t

m ust im p in g e upon t h e r e t i n a 3 th e r e f o r e , rew ard. If th is o b v io u sly th e p o s s ib ility secondary rein fo rcem en t is doubt but what t h i s

th e

relev an t

a t th e tim e

of response,

requirem ent

i s n o t m et,

p o in t

0 Ts f i e l d

preclu d ed .

T here i s

r e q u ir e m e n t was s a t i s f i e d ,

a t th e tim e o f re w a rd ,

little sin ce a l l

a w ay f r o m t h e

fix a­

a d is ta n c e w ell w ith in

of v isio n .

In stru ctio n s. read to

and

of a stim u lu s a c q u irin g a

s t i m u l i w e re no more t h a n f o u r i n c h e s tio n

stim u li

The f o l l o w i n g

i n s t r u c t i o n s w ere

e a c h 0:

Do n o t l o o k a t t h e s e c a r d s u n t i l I t e l l y o u t o . S o r t t h e s e c a r d s i n t o two g r o u p s o f f o u r e a c h a c c o r d ­ i n g t o some c h a r a c t e r i s t i c . A c t u a l l y move t h e m i n t o

^ K. S . L a s h l e y , " T h e M e c h a n i s m o f V i s i o n : x v P r e l i m i n a r y . S t u d y o f t h e R a t Ts C a p a c i t y f o r D e t a i l V i s i o n , " J o u r n a l o f G e n e ra l P s y c h o lo g y , 1 3 :1 2 3 -1 9 3 , 193$• 3

J On t h i s on p a g e 4 0 •

p o in t,

see E h ren freu n d f s d isc u ssio n

92 two s e p a r a t e g r o u p s . C olor Is n o t a r e l e v a n t f a c t o r . The s o l u t i o n i s a n e a s y o n e , s o d o n o t make i t t o o d iffic u lt. No a t t e m p t w i l l b e made t o t r i c k y o u i n any way. A l l t r i a l s w i l l b e t i m e d ,9 s o w o r k a s f a s t as you can . I f you s o lv e a l l problem s f a s t enough, y o u w i l l b e g i v e n some p o i n t s t o w a r d y o u r f i n a l g r a d e in the c o u rse. I f you f i n d a s o l u t i o n t h a t w o rk s, keep u s i n g i t a s lo n g a s you c a n , a s you w i l l be g i v e n t h e same p r o b l e m m o r e t h a n o n c e . Are t h e r e any q u e s tio n s ? Ready, g o . V

v

T h eo re tica l th at

P red ictio n s.

an S-R c o n n e c t i o n

stim u lu s

and t h e

is

estab lish ed

a c t u a l r e s pX o n s e

t w o g r o u p s on t h e

first

Each t h e o r y would p r e d i c t

o f s o r t i n g\_) t h e

four t r i a l s .

would p r e d i c t a d i f f e r e n t

resu lt

retin a w ill if

receiv e

an e x p e r i m e n t a l

th ree

tria ls,

and i f

be so lv ed

fiv e

su b ject

receiv e

in p a r t i c u l a r ,

f a s t e r w here t h a t

i.e .,

th e

The

th at tr ia l

fiv e

s o l u t i o n was p r e s e n t

group.

first

A should be r e i n ­ should

in th e

th a n w here i t

e x p erim e n tal group should co n tro l

A in th e

some r e i n f o r c e m e n t ,

bu t not responded t o ,

f a s t e r th an th e

tria l.

In p a r t i c u l a r ,

chooses S o lu tio n

S o lu tio n B should

T his m eans,

each th e o ry

o th e r s t i m u l i im p in g in g upon th e

some r e i n f o r c e m e n t .

th ree t r i a l s ,

was n o t ;

fifth

cards In to

s a y t h a t a t t h e moment

h e c h o o s e s S o l u t i o n B, S o l u t i o n

forced.

first

a ll

how ever,

on t h e

C o n d i t i o n e d - R e s p o n s e t h e o r i s t w ould of rein fo rcem en t,

betw een t h e r e l e v a n t

so lv e t r i a l

93 The a l t e r n a t i v e t h e o r y c a l l s d ictio n .

That i s ,

in

m ental s u b je c t has He h a s ,

e .g .,

"se lec te d

f o r m u l a t e d an

S o l u t i o n A o n ly and i t rein fo rced .

so lu tio n ,

experim ental

in th e

first

effect

on t h e

"h y p o th esis"

is th is

ex p eri­

or " se t"

sym bol a lo n e

i.e .

S o l u t i o n B.

th at

for w ill be

S im ilarly ,

if

the

the

th ree

presence of th e

tria ls

fifth

should spread to S o lu tio n

tria l,

a ltern a tiv e

s i n c e 0 was n o t r e s p o n d i n g t o

e x p e rim e n ta l and th e

p r o b le m f a c i n g them on t r i a l

in th e tim es re q u ire d

c o n tro l

group to

of th e

n e ith e r theory ta k e s th is II.

fa c to r in to

reasons th a t w ill

sin ce

co n sid era tio n .

STATEMENT OF RESULTS

sta tistic s

groups under th e th r e e

in a l l th re e

degree of o b v io u sn ess,

F o r a summary o f r e s u l t s , s ta te s various

so lv e the

fiv e.

These p r e d i c t i o n s n e c e s s a r i l y hold reg ard less

so lu tio n

s h o u l d h a v e no f a c i l i t a t i n g

T h ere sh o u ld b e no d i f f e r e n c e

situ atio n s

th e

o u t " o n l y one c l a s s o f c u e s .

no r e i n f o r c e m e n t

In p a r t i c u l a r ,

fo r th e

tria ls,

s u b je c t has chosen S o lu tio n B in th e f i r s t

th ree t r i a l s ,

it.

th ree

No r e i n f o r c e m e n t w i l l b e a c q u i r e d b y t h e

a ltern a tiv e

A.

th e f i r s t

fo r a co n trary p re­

s e e T a b le V.

T his t a b l e

f o r t h e c o n t r o l and e x p e r i m e n t a l

co n d itio n s

o f o b v io u sn ess.

s o o n become a p p a r e n t ,

For

four d iffe re n t

table v

RESULTS IN TERMS OF TRIAL 5

C o n d i t i on:

Obvious

Subtle

Medium O b v i o u s n e s s

Test

P r o b .1

P r o b .2

Prob .1

Mean

S 2 6 . 6 3 ,r G 26 . 6 $ ,f

E 37 -00 n C 69 *6 0 "

c 6 9 . 07

c 109.46

E 267.93 22.07

E 19 G 19

E 18 C 20

E 26

c 27

E 29 G 30

E 15 c 15

0.00 2.02

1.24 2.02

2.70

.9 0 2.00 2.66

2.47 2.04

2.70

.96 2.01 2.66

• 26

3.21 4.10

6 *51

10.72

7 -3 3

.14 4 .0 1 7.13

4.00 7.09

4-17 7-56

1.44

.6 9

• 79

6 .0 9

2.38

.35

2.05

5-37

1\ t ratio Tr i a l 5 N ecessary fo r sig n ific an c e at 5 a n d 1/j l e v e l s F ratio T r ia ls 1-4 N ecessary fo r sig n ifican ce a t 5 and 1,1 l e v e l s F ratio T rial 5

4.10 703

0.00

A djusted F r a t i o S eq u en tial A nalysis

E t5 Ct5 R eject a t ' /.= N

2t5 Ct5 Rej e c t a t 10=1!

Et5

ih 41 •73

ct5

R eject a t !•=5

Prob. 2 E

71*63

E t5 Ct5 R eject a t N=10

P ro b .l

2.75

I t 5 Ct5 lie s e r v e decision a t N=15

P ro b .2

te sts F -test ness,

of

sig n ific an c e

suggest th a t

th e

fiv e.

XIV-

c o n tro l group,

of "su b tle "

s u p e r io r to

5 per cent an aly ses

under th e th ree co n d itio n s

in term s

The o n l y s i g n i f i c a n t

co n d itio n s

group is

lev el

the

of v a ria n ce are

p resen ted

r e s u l t s was t h e t o t a l

th e

first

four t r i a l s -

a g r e a t amount o f tim e

It

be d e sira b le

to

obtain

i n T a b l e s VI t h r o u g h

in th e appendix. th at

is

have e ff e c te d

fiv e.

le a r n in g tim e

v ariab le

if

first

in crease his

on t r i a l

h is

of th is

m ight

p o ssib le th a t

in so lv in g th e

so lu tio n

It

set of

w ould t h e r e f o r e

of t r i a l

an aly sis

o f c o v a r i a n c e w as made i n w h ic h t h e

resu lt

an 0 s p e n t

learn in g

effect

e x p o su re tim e d u r in g t r i a l s

rem oved.

cards in

problem

w ith th e

elim in ated .

on

i n w hich t h e c o n t r o l

exposure tim e to th e

h im , t h i s w ould s i g n i f i c a n t l y a ltern a tiv e

o f tim e ta k e n

T he s u m m a r i e s o f t h e

p resen ted

th e

th e

of obvious­

e x p erim e n tal group beyond th e

of co nfid en ce-^

The r a w d a t a a r e

to ta l

and t h e

d iffe re n c e appears under

stim u li,

One u n c o n t r o l l e d v a r i a b l e

th e

The t - t e s t

e x p e r i m e n t a l g r o u p was n e v e r s i g n i f i c a n t l y

th e

s u p e rio r to th e tria l

w ere com puted-

fiv e

A cco rd in g ly ,

one t h r o u g h

effect

of

f o u r was

The a d j u s t e d F v a l u e i n T a b l e V r e p r e s e n t s of th is

^ T his

o p e ra tio n .

d ifferen ce

is

It

can be n o te d t h a t t h i s

discu ssed

i n C h a p t e r IV.

an

96 v a ria b le

d id not a p p re c ia b ly change th e

The su m m a rie s o f t h e

an aly ses

i n T a b l e s XVI t h r o u g h

o rig in a l

F v a lu e .

o f co v arian ce a re p resen ted

XIX .

III.

seq uential

a nalysis

S e q u e n tia l A n a ly sis has been used p rim a rily d e te rm in in g w hether a lo t accep ted

or re je c te d ,

sam p les.

th e

lo t

is

as

cent

it

presen ts

an a n a l y s i s

resu lts

of th e

of th e

(i.e .

T h i s m ethod h a s field s

w i t h a b o u t 50 p e n

a con firm atio n

in an a tte m p t t o

are

of i t s

step

in

found t o

study

d eterm in e th e

p sy c h o lo g ic al

re­

agree e m p ir ic a lly ,

e ff e c tiv e n e s s w ill be e s ta b lis h e d .

seq u en tial a n a ly sis

i n s u c h a way t h a t

or deny i t .

The p r e s e n t

d a t a by s e q u e n t i a l a n a l y s i s

fo rm e r m ethod t o

I f t h e s e m ethods

an h y p o t h e s i s

an aly sis.

and F t e s t s ,

The f i r s t

firm

or r e j e c t e d ) .

ad v an tag eo u sly in n o n -p sy c h o lo g ic al

of s ta tis tic a l

ap p lic a b ility

th en

or n o n - d e f e c tiv e

num ber o f c a s e s r e q u i r e d by t h e m ore c l a s s i c a l

and by t h e t

su lts.

su c c e ssiv e ly of a p ro du ct,

e ith e r d efectiv e

can o b ta in s i g n i f i c a n t

of th e

tech n iq u es

a re tak en

e it h e r accepted

been used q u ite because

o f i n d u s t r i a l goods should be

by o b s e r v i n g a s m a l l n u m b e r o f

O b serv atio n s

and c l a s s i f i e d

in

each 0 w ill

is

to

e ith er

s e t up con­

Our h y p o t h e s i s w i l l b e c o n c e r n e d w i t h a

97 TABLE VI ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE FOR OBVIOUS STIMULI (PROBLEM 1 , TRIAL 5)

D ecrees of V arian ce Freedom estim ate

Source

Sum o f squares

W ith in v a ria n c e

93,735

36

2,7 4 4

0

1

0

93,7$5

37

B etw een v a r i a n c e T o tal

v arian ce

F=

0 2 ,7 4 4

= 0

93 TABLE V II ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE FOR OBVIOUS STIMULI (PROBLEM 1 , TRIALS 1 - 4 )

Sum o f squares

Source W ith in v a r ia n c e

1 ,0 3 0 ,5 0 1

36

3 0 ,0 14

7 ,345

1

7,345

1 , O S S, 346

37

B etw een v a r i a n c e T o tal v a ria n c e

D egrees o f V ariance Freedom E stim ate

F=

7 ,345 3T),0T4"

= *26

99

TABLE V I I I ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE FOR OBVIOUS STIMULI (PROBLEM 2 , TRIAL 5 )

Source

Sum o f squares

W ithin v a ria n c e

252,093

36

7,003

10 .0 6 3

1

1 0,063

2 62,613

37

B etw een v a r i a n c e T o tal v a ria n ce

F=

1 0 ,06 3

7 , 00?

D egrees of V arian ce Freedom E stim ate

= 1 .4 4

TABLE IX ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE FOR OBVIOUS STIMULI (PROBLEM 2 , TRIALS 1 - 4 )

Source W ith in v a ria n c e B etw een v a r i a n c e T o tal v a ria n c e

Sum o f squares

D egrees o f V arian ce Freedom E stim ate

$6,2 3 6

36

2 ,3 9 7

7,692

1

7,692

93,9 7 $

37

101 TABLE X ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE FOR TfMEDIUMLY OBVIOUS” STIMULI (PROBLEM 1 , TRIAL 5)

V arian ce E stim ate

Source

Sum o f squares

W ith in v a ria n c e

566,033

51

1 1,100

9,903

1

9 ,903

575,936

52

B etw een v a r i a n c e T o tal

v arian ce

ON

to•

9,903

11

F=

D egrees of Freedom

102

TABLE XI ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE FOR "HEDIUMLY OBVIOUS” STIMULI (PROBLEM 1 , TRIAL 1 - 4 )

Sum o f squares

Source Y /ithin v a r i a n c e B etw een v a r i a n c e T o ta l v arian ce

F=

De-Trees o f Freedom

V arian ce E stim ate

2 ,4 6 1 ,2 7 5

51

4 5 ,2 60

6,566

1

6,566

2 ,4 6 5 ,1 4 4

52

6 ,5 6 6

= .14

103 TABLE X I I ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE OF "MEDIUMLY OBVIOUS" STIMULI ( PROBLEM 2 , TRIAL 5)

Sum o f squares

Source 'W i t h i n v a r i a n c e Betw een v a r i a n c e T o tal variance

V ariable E stim ate

1 ,5 1 9 ,9 7 5

57

26,5 9 6

2 0,$91

1

20 ,$ 9 1

1 ,5 3 6 ,6 6 6

F=

D egrees o f Freedom

2 0 ,$ 9 1 56,596

5$

= -79

104 TABLE X I I I ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE OF "MEDIUMLY OBVIOUS” STIMULI (PROBLEM 2 , TRIALS 1 - 4 )

Source

Sum o f squares

W ith in v a r ia n c e

743,376

57

1 3 , 0^2

34,345

1

84,8 4 5

3 2 3 ,2 2 1

58

Betw een v a r i a n c e T o tal

v arian ce

F=

34,3 45 — IJTOZh ?

D egrees o f Freedom

= 6 .5 1

V ariab le E stim at e

TABLE XIV ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE OF SUBTLE STIMULI (PROBLEM 1 , TRIAL 5)

Source W ith in v a ria n c e B etw een v a r i a n c e T o tal v a ria n ce

Sum o f squares

D egrees o f Freedom

V ariab le E stim ate

2 ,4 3 3 ,7 6 6

23

37,099

530,132

1

5 3 0 ,13&

2 ,3 1 6 ,0 2 3

29

106 TABLE XV ANALYSIS CF VARIANCE FOR SUBTLE STIMULI (PROBLEM 1 , TRIALS 1 - 4 )

Sum o f squares

Source W ith in v a ria n c e B etw een v a r i a n c e T o tal

varian ce

F=

D egrees of Freedom

V ariab le E stim at e

2 ,1 1 8 ,6 3 2

2$

75,6 6 5

811,479

1

811,479

2 , 9 3 0 ,1 1 1

29

811,479

= 10.72

75 *665 '

107 TABLE XVI COVARIANCE OF’ " o b v i o u ;3 !T ST m u L I (PR.OBLEM 2)

T o tal

W ithin

B etv/een

-2 1 ,9 7 5

-3 0 ,7 7 6

3,301

2 62,613

252,093

10 ,0 6 3

9 3 ,9 7 3

£6,236

7 ,692

37

36

1

Source Sum o f P r o d u c t s S^om o f s q u a r e s f o r T r i a l Sum o f s q u a r e s T r i a l s *1-4 D egress

5

for

o f Freedom

A d j u s t e d sum o f s q u a r e s for T ria l 5

257 ,4 3 0

D e g re e s o f Freedom

-

241,116

36

Sum o f squares

W ith in v a r ia n c e

2 41,116

35

1 6 ,3 6 4

1

257,430

36

T o tal

v arian ce

A d j u s t e d F= —

16.364 6 ^ 9

16,369 1

35

Source

B etw een v a r i a n c e

=

D egrees o f Freedom

= 2*33 '

V arian ce E stim ate 6

,

16,3 6 4

103 TABLE X V II COVARIANCE FOR "MEDIUMLY OBVIOUS" STIMULI (PROBLEM 1)

Source

T o tal

W ith in

B etw een

Sum o f P r o d u c t s

3$ ,9 3 5

30,739

3 ,2 4 6

575,936

566,033

9,903

Sum o f s q u a r e s f o r T r i a l s 1-4

2 ,4 6 3 ,1 4 4

2 ,4 6 1 ,2 7 3

6 ,366

D e g r e e s o f Freedom

52

51

1

575 , 3 7 0

5 65,699

9,671

51

50

1

Sum o f s q u a r e s f o r T r i a l

A d j u s t e d sum o f s q u a r e s fo r T rial 5 D e g re e s o f Freedom

5

Source

Sum o f squares

W ith in v a ria n c e

565,699

50

11,314

9,671

1

9 ,6 7 1

5 75,370

51

Betw een v a r i a n c e T o tal

varian ce

D egrees of Freedom

A d j u s t e d F= " " T9r.^6 i7i1T "

= *65

V ariance E stim ate

TABLE X V III COVARIANCE FOR "MEDIUMLY OBVIOUS" STIMULI ( PROBLEM 2)

%

Source Sum o f p r o d u c t s

T o tal

W ithin

-2 0 1 ,6 2 3 A

-243 ,7 2 3

4 2 ,1 0 0

1 ,5 3 6 ,366 B

1 ,5 1 5 ,9 7 5

20,3 9 1

B etw een

Sum o f s q u a r e s T rial 5

for

Sum o f s q u a r e s T ria ls 1-4

for

323,221 C

743 ,3 7 6

34,345

D e g re e s o f Freedom

57

53

1

A d j u s t e d sum o f s q u a r e s for T ria l 5

1 ,4 3 7 ,7 3 3 -- 1 ,4 3 6 ,0 6 3 = 51,715

D e g re e s o f Freedom

Sum o f squares

Source W ithin v a ria n c e B etw een v a r i a n c e Tot a l

56

v a r I an c e

57

D egree o f Freedom

1 ,4 3 6 ,0 6 3

57

51,715

1

1 ,4 3 7 ,7 3 3

56

A d j u s t e d F=

5 1>7 1 5

1

V arianc e E stim ate 2 5,194

-

2.05

110 TABLE XIX COVARIANCE FOR "SUBTLE" STIMULI (PROBLEM 1)

T otal

W ithin

13 2 , 2 3 3

-1 0 0 ,7 9 4

233 ,0 3 2

2 ,9 6 3 ,9 0 4

2 ,4 3 3 ,7 6 6

530,133

Sum o f s c u a r e s f o r T r i a l s *1-4

2 , 9 3 0 ,1 1 1

2 ,1 1 3 ,6 3 2

3 11,479

D e g r e e s o f Freedom

29

23

1

2 ,9 6 2 ,9 3 6

2 ,4 3 3 ,9 7 1

523,965

23

27

1

D egree o f Freedom

V arian ce E s t i m at e

Source Sum o f p r o d u c t s Sum o f s o u a r e s T rial 5

for

A d j u s t e d sum o f s q u a r e s fo r T rial 5 D e g r e e s o f Freedom

Sum o f squares

Source >/i t h i n v a r i an c e

2 ,4 3 3 ,9 7 1

27

9 0 ,147

523,965

1

523,965

2 ,9 6 2 ,9 3 6

23

B e t w een v a r i a n c e T o tal

v arian ce

B e tv / e e n

A d j u s t e d F=

523,965 W

T ^ 7~

= 5*37

Ill test If

of secondary re in fo rc e m e n t

an e x p e r i m e n t a l

su b ject,

it

fo rcem en t. is

apparent

in t r i a l

s u b je c t ta k e s l e s s tim e th an

fiv e.

a co n tro l

may b e t a k e n a s e v i d e n c e o f s e c o n d a r y r e i n ­ T h e h y p o t h e s i s t h a t we w i s h t o t e s t ,

th en ,

t h a t t h e t i m e t a k e n b y an e x p e r i m e n t a l s u b j e c t

th a n t h a t ta k e n by a c o n tr o l A c h a rt o f regions be c o n s tru c te d ,

w ith th e

su b ject.

a b s c is s a in d ic a tin g th e is

confirm ed, is

a resu lt

h y p o th esis,

in a c c o rd w ith th e

d en ied .

one w i l l b e a s s i g n e d a n d p l o t t e d , i n t h e tio n .

A lin e th u s

co llec ted

up t o

resu lts

th at th e

p o in t.

P rio r to

actu al

re su lts,

areas:

an u p p e r p o r t i o n w h e r e i n t h e

great th at

the

is

t h e number o f n e g a t i v e h y p o th esis

is

rejected ;

reserved;

accep ted .

resu lts

is

accep ted .

in to th re e

d ata

is

so

a m id d le p o r tio n

so s m a l l t h a t

The s p e c i f i c

P l" a p r o p o r t i o n o f o n es so is

d irec­

and a l o w e r p o r t i o n w h e r e i n

m in e d by p l o t t i n g l i n e s b a s e d on t h e

h y p o th esis

of

number of t im e s t h e

has not been in acc o rd w ith th e

w herein d e c is io n

a v alu e

any know ledge o f th e

h y p o th esis

is

Each tim e

th e in fo rm atio n

o r d i n a t e can be d iv id e d

h y p o th esis

o rd in ate,

a p p ro p riate

in d icatin g a ll

can

number

and t h e

t h e number o f t i m e s t h e h y p o t h e s is not

less

o f a c c e p ta n c e and r e j e c t i o n

of tim es th a t th e h y p o th esis

is

is

th e

reg io n s are fo llo w in g

sm all t h a t

d e te r­

v a lu es: th e

112

P 2 ~ a p r o p o r t i o n o f o n e s so l a r g e t h a t t h e h ypothesis is r e je c te d . - t h e r i s k o f r e j e c t i n g t h e h y p o t h e s i s when it

is tr u e .

[i it

- t h e r i s k o f a c c e p t i n g t h e h y p o t h e s i s when

is false,

w h e r e : p 2^ p x ; o ( + | 3 = 1 The two l i n e s d i v i d i n g o u r t h r e e r e g i o n s h a v e th e f o llo w in g form ulae: D^= - h ^ / s n (Belov/- w h ich i s a c c e p t a n c e r e g i o n ) °2=

hz /3n log

(Above w h i c h i s r e j e c t i o n r e g i o n )

(

^"Pl

)

1-P2

s= log

V

P2

( I ~pl

P1

1 ~P2

1 0 5 ( ..

■>

l o 2 1S_

( l-P i

&

io s |

log

)

-i= tr

pi

„ 2.

)

1

J j.

( 1 ~P1

P1

x- p 2

)

113

R^ - t h e r e g i o n w h ere t h e P^_ h y p o t h e s i s i s a c c e p t e d w i t h a r is k " n o t g r e a t e r t h a n 2

Rm - t h e r e g i o n w h e re t h e

?2

h y p o th e s is i s a c ce p ted w ith

a r i s k n o t g r e a t e r t h a n ^3 • Where P-^ i s t h e h y p o t h e s i s t h a t " s e c o n d a r y r e i n f o r c e m e n t is

e f f e c t i v e i n c o n c e p t f o r m a t i o n " and P£ i s t h e h y p o t h e s i s

t h a t "secondary re in fo rc e m e n t i s not e f f e c t i v e in concept fo rm atio n ." The s e q u e n t i a l a n a l y s i s i s t e r m i n a t e d a t t h e s m a l l ­ e s t v a l u e o f N f o r w h ic h t h e d a t a l i n e l i e s 2

o r Rm.

e i t h e r i n R^j

The v a l u e o f N a t t h e p o i n t o f i n t e r s e c t i o n o f

a n d D-0 g i v e s t h e m in i m a l number o f o b s e r v a t i o n s w h ic h could le a d to th e ac ce p tan c e of our h y p o th e s is . of N a t th e p oint of i n t e r s e c t i o n o f

T>2

The v a l u e

anc* D=N g i v e s t h e

m i n i m a l num ber o f - o b s e r v a t i o n s w h ic h c o u l d l e a d t o t h e r e ­ je c tio n of the h y p o th e s is .

U s u a l l y , an N g r e a t e r t h a n

e i t h e r of th e s e is n e c e ssa ry to reach a c o n c lu sio n . In an aly zin g th e p rese n t d a ta , th e fo llo w in g p r o b a b i l i t y v a lu e s w ere chosen: Pq = - 25 P2 «

. 50

e { =

.0 1

0

-0 5

=

114 R a n d o m l y , an 0 f r o m t h e com pared w i t h an 0 from t h e th e tim e

taken

in d ic a te the resu lts

on t r i a l

re su lts

w ith th o se

experim ental

c o n t r o l p ro up w i t h r e s p e c t t o

five*

of th is

F ig u res

I I through

an aly sis.

each

o th er.

d e r iv e d by s t a n d a r d m ethods

VJe c a n c o n c l u d e t h a t

se q u en tial an aly sis

is

of p sych ologycal d a ta It

is

procedures it

in te restin g

e s tim a te th e v alu e

i n d e p e n d e n t l 3>-.

v alu es

You m u s t a l s o

of pq,

(s),

sta tistic a l

i.e.

compare

and draw a c o n c lu s io n

In s e q u e n tia l

tw o h y p o t h e s e s

an aly sis

rejectio n

decide, a p r io r i ,

P 2 > ^ ^ a n d^3 , w h i l e i n

the

y o u must

or accep tan ce cru cial

stan d ard s t a t i s t i c s

p ro b ab ility lim its

for

p below and p above s . From t h i s

to

so m e t y p e s

stan d ard

Each o f t h e

you m ust c h o o se s and a c c e p t a b l e both

lea st

o f p from a sa m p le ,

d e c i d e b e tw e e n two h y p o t h e s e s , to g eth er.

a r e i n harm ony th e m ethod i n

at

to n ote th a t

a c c e p ta n c e or r e j e c t i o n .

te ste d

to

(T ab le V ),

and s h o u ld b e f u r t h e r i n v e s t i g a t e d .

w ith a sta n d ard p ro p o rtio n

as to is

a p p licab le

15

By c o m p a r i n g t h e s e

we c a n s e e t h a t t h e c o n c l u s i o n s r e a c h e d w ith

g r o u p s mas

d iscu ssio n ,

choose e q u iv a le n t

c e d u r e s an d

appears th a t

p ro b a b ility v alu es fo r

we m u s t t r y stan d ard p ro ­

se q u e n tia l a n a ly sis b efo re a r e a lly co n clu siv e

c o m p a r is o n c a n be made. in v estig ate

it

e sse n tia l

In

o r d e r t o do t h i s ,

c h aracteristics

we m u s t

of resp ectiv e

115

oHz

u »U Q »

oK U xI

□

o

rD H ► Z D rnn » zD rr