Developing Representations of Compound Stimuli

Frontiers in Psychology

Ingmar Visser¹ 

关键词: category learning;    multiple systems;    rule-based representation;    similarity-based representation;    strategy analysis;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00073

学科分类：心理学（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Classification based on multiple dimensions of stimuli is usually associated with similarity-based representations, whereas uni-dimensional classifications are associated with rule-based representations. This paper studies classification of stimuli and category representations in school-aged children and adults when learning to categorize compound, multi-dimensional stimuli. Stimuli were such that both similarity-based and rule-based representations would lead to correct classification. This allows testing whether children have a bias for formation of similarity-based representations. The results are at odds with this expectation. Children use both uni-dimensional and multi-dimensional classification, and the use of both strategies increases with age. Multi-dimensional classification is best characterized as resulting from an analytic strategy rather than from procedural processing of overall-similarity. The conclusion is that children are capable of using complex rule-based categorization strategies that involve the use of multiple features of the stimuli. The main developmental change concerns the efficiency and consistency of the explicit learning system.

【 授权许可】

CC BY