An exploration of the feature-positive effect in adult humans

Experiment 1 compared the acquisition of a feature-positive and a feature-negative discrimination in humans. In the former, an outcome was signaled by two stimuli together, but not by one of these stimuli alone. In the latter, the outcome was signaled by one stimulus alone, but not by two stimuli together. Using a within-group design, the experiment revealed that the feature-positive discrimination was acquired more readily than the feature-negative discrimination. Experiment 2 tested an explanation for these results, based on the Rescorla-Wagner theory, by examining how novel discriminations, based on a combination of a feature-positive and a feature-negative discrimination, were solved. The results did not accord with predictions from the theory. Alternative explanations for the results are considered.