Oddity learning in developmentally delayed children: facilitation by means of familiar stimuli

Four of 8 low-functioning, developmentally delayed children initially failed to demonstrate oddity responding under conditions in which ostensibly similar children did show oddity responding (e.g., Soraci et al., 1987). In the context of a multiple baseline across-subjects design, each of the 4 previously unsuccessful children demonstrated statistically significant increases in the percentage of correct oddity responses immediately upon introduction of familiar stimuli. These results indicate that perceptual differentiation enhances relational learning of the type required by the oddity task.