The effect of age on children's learning of problems that require a configural association solution

Elemental associations permit subjects to solve problems when the significance of the relevant stimulus elements are consistent from trial to trial but do not allow subjects to solve problems that require them to construct and use representations of stimulus conjunctions or configurations to guide their behavior. Recent research with brain-damaged and developing animals has led several theorists to propose that elemental and configural associations depend on different neural systems. Some evidence suggests that changes in children's learning that occur when they are about 4.5 years old may be partially due to developmental differences in access to the elemental and configural association systems. Two experiments are reported that support this hypothesis. Children at least 4.5 years old were able to solve the transverse patterning problem and a conditional discrimination, two problems that require configural association solutions. Younger children did not solve these problems but were able to solve problems constructed from the same stimulus materials that permitted an elemental association solution. These results suggest that children may not gain access to the configural association system until they are about 4.5 years old and support the hypothesis that the configural association system depends on different, later developing neural structures than does the elemental association system.