Discrimination and Reversal Learning by Toddlers Aged 15-23 Months

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Child Learning

Background:

• Research on early learning in toddlers (under 2 years) is limited.
• Discrimination reversal learning presents challenges for this age group.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate simple discrimination and discrimination reversal learning in toddlers.
• To assess the efficacy of social reinforcement and correction procedures for teaching these tasks.

Main Methods:

• Eight typically-developing toddlers (15-23 months) participated.
• Tasks involved simultaneous discrimination and reversal learning with animal pictures.
• Procedures utilized social reinforcement and correction.

Main Results:

• All participants mastered at least one discrimination or reversal task.
• Four children demonstrated learning set formation by mastering all tasks.
• Discrimination reversals were occasionally learned more quickly than original discriminations.

Conclusions:

• Toddlers can effectively learn simple discrimination and reversal tasks.
• The employed methodology shows promise for studying complex relational learning in early childhood.
• Findings challenge assumptions about the difficulty of reversal learning in young children.