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Updated: Jul 18, 2026

A Two-interval Forced-choice Task for Multisensory Comparisons
Published on: November 9, 2018
The comparator theory fails to account for the selective role of within-compound associations in cue-selection
Klaus G Melchers1, Harald Lachnit, David R Shanks
1Universität Zürich, Switzerland. k.melchers@psychologie.unizh.ch
Abstract:
In a human causal learning experiment, we investigated cue selection effects to test the comparator theory (Denniston, Savastano, & Miller, 2001; Miller & Matzel, 1988). The theory predicts that the occurrence of cue selection is independent of whether the relevant learning trials are presented in a standard forward manner or in a backward manner and that within-compound associations are of equal importance in both cases. We found that the strength of the cue-selection effect was positively correlated with knowledge of within-compound associations in the backward condition but not in the forward condition. Furthermore, cue-selection effects were less pronounced in the former than in the latter condition. These results are at variance with the comparator hypothesis but are in agreement with a modified associative theory and with the suggestion that retrospective revaluation might be due to rehearsal processes.
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