Test performance in optional shift and configural acquired equivalence are positively correlated
Sara Bru García1, David N George2, Jasper Robinson1
1School of Psychology, University of Nottingham.
Summary
This study found a common mechanism underlies performance in configural acquired equivalence and optional-shift tasks. Attention to predictive elements in training enhanced attentional-set effects in testing, linking attention to task performance.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Learning Theory
- Behavioral Neuroscience
Background:
- Configural acquired equivalence and optional-shift tasks are used to study learning and decision-making.
- Previous research suggests potential overlaps in the cognitive mechanisms underlying different learning paradigms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between performance in configural acquired equivalence and optional-shift tasks.
- To explore the role of attention in these tasks, particularly in the optional-shift procedure.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments were conducted using computer-based tasks: configural acquired equivalence and optional-shift.
- Experiment 2 incorporated eye-tracking to monitor participant attention to stimuli during the optional-shift training.
Main Results:
- Test performance in both tasks was positively correlated, even after controlling for extraneous variables.
- Participants who focused attention on predictive compound elements during optional-shift training exhibited stronger attentional-set effects during testing.
Conclusions:
- A shared underlying mechanism likely influences performance across both configural acquired equivalence and optional-shift tasks.
- Attention plays a crucial role in learning and performance within these tasks, supporting attentional learning theories.
Related Concept Videos
00:49Complementation Tests
4.9K
A complementation test is a simple cross to identify whether the two mutations are located on the same gene or different genes. It was first performed by Edward Lewis in the 1940s while working on fruit flies. He developed the test to identify the location and arrangement of different mutations on chromosomes.
Organisms heterozygous for different mutations are crossed pairwise in all combinations. If present on different genes, the mutations can complement each other by providing the missing...
Organisms heterozygous for different mutations are crossed pairwise in all combinations. If present on different genes, the mutations can complement each other by providing the missing...
4.9K
01:16Goodness-of-Fit Test
3.3K
The goodness-of-fit test is a type of hypothesis test which determines whether the data "fits" a particular distribution. For example, one may suspect that some anonymous data may fit a binomial distribution. A chi-square test (meaning the distribution for the hypothesis test is chi-square) can be used to determine if there is a fit. The null and alternative hypotheses may be written in sentences or stated as equations or inequalities. The test statistic for a goodness-of-fit test is given as...
3.3K
01:53Cause and Effect
10.9K
While variables are sometimes correlated because one does cause the other, it could also be that some other factor, a confounding variable, is actually causing the systematic movement in our variables of interest. For instance, as sales in ice cream increase, so does the overall rate of crime. Is it possible that indulging in your favorite flavor of ice cream could send you on a crime spree? Or, after committing crime do you think you might decide to treat yourself to a cone?
10.9K
01:18Principle of Equivalence
2.2K
According to Albert Einstein (1897-1955), free-falling and feeling weightless are intrinsically linked. If a person were in free-fall under gravity, for example, diving towards the Earth from an airplane, they would feel completely weightless. Similarly, a person descending in a lift may feel partially weightless. Broadly speaking, it is assumed that an object in a uniform gravitational field and an object undergoing constant acceleration in the absence of gravity are under the same...
2.2K
01:19Expected Frequencies in Goodness-of-Fit Tests
2.5K
A goodness-of-fit test is conducted to determine whether the observed frequency values are statistically similar to the frequencies expected for the dataset. Suppose the expected frequencies for a dataset are equal such as when predicting the frequency of any number appearing when casting a die. In that case, the expected frequency is the ratio of the total number of observations (n) to the number of categories (k).
2.5K
02:20Correlations
32.7K
Correlation means that there is a relationship between two or more variables (such as ice cream consumption and crime), but this relationship does not necessarily imply cause and effect. When two variables are correlated, it simply means that as one variable changes, so does the other. We can measure correlation by calculating a statistic known as a correlation coefficient. A correlation coefficient is a number from -1 to +1 that indicates the strength and direction of the relationship between...
32.7K