Conditional Relational Learning in Preschool Children

Summary

Preschool children between 3 and 5½ years of age participated in a learning task in which a conditional relational problem was presented in either a blocked or random series. For cards of one color (e.g., yellow), the sample of 81 children had to point to the picture that matched, or was the same as, the standard picture. For the second card color (e.g., black), the children had to point to the nonmatching, different picture. Prior to presentation of the conditional problem, the children were trained on either one or both components of that task. The older children learned the first relational problem, identity or difference, faster than the younger children. The second problem, a relational reversal, was learned very quickly and no perseverative errors to the previously correct cue were observed. Acquisition of the conditional problem was shown to be facilitated by previous learning of both components of that task, but only for the random presentation. Under the random presentation, mastery occurred early in the series or not at all. A pattern of later learning was observed under the blocked presentation.