A model of transitive choice

We report a formal model of transitive inference based on protocols from experiments on squirrel monkeys solving the 5-term series problem (McGonigle & Chalmers, 1977, 1992). These studies generate databases featuring transitive choice, task transfer (where at first a significant decrement is observed, and later substantial improvement without explicit training), and, finally, a Symbolic Distance Effect (SDE) based on decision-time data. Using a rule-based (production) system, we first established rule stacks at the group, then at the individual level, on the basis of triadic transfer performance first recorded in the McGonigle and Chalmers (1977) study. The models for each subject then accommodated data from the more intensive, later study with the same subjects (McGonigle & Chalmers, 1992). We found the initial model capable of dealing with all choice and reaction-time phenomena reported thus far, with only small changes in a rule search procedure. In common with an independent assay by McGonigle and Chalmers (1992), our model-based reassessment of decision times indicates that a major source of reaction time variation is item prominence in the rule stack rather than interitem (ordinal) distance per se.