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Second-Order Discrimination Learning in Humans: Effect

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Second-Order Discrimination Learning in Humans: Effect SECOND-ORDER DISCRIMINATION LEARNING IN HUMANS: EFFECT OF PHYSICAL ARRANGEMENTS WITH COMPARISON STIMULI A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of California State University, Stanislaus In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Psychology By Richard Radliff June 2014 CERTIFICATION OF APPROVAL SECOND-ORDER DISCRIMINATION LEARNING IN HUMANS: EFFECT OF PHYSICAL ARRANGEMENTS WITH COMPARISON STIMULI By Richard Radliff Signed Certification of Approval Page is on file with the University Library ___________________________ ______________________ Dr. William Potter Date Associate Professor of Psychology ___________________________ ______________________ Dr. Bruce Hesse Date Professor of Psychology ___________________________ ______________________ Dr. Carey Dempsey Date Assistant Professor of Psychology ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank my thesis chairperson, advisor and friend, Dr. Bill Potter for the many hours he spent assisting in the development of the software necessary to run this study, and for his encouragement when I had come very close to abandoning the project. Second, I would like to thank my research assistants, Lacee Ann Johnson, Omar Garcia, Sandra Oshana, and Zang Xiong. Without their dedication, diligence, and help running participant sessions, the crucial process of collecting the data would not have been completed. Lastly, I would like to thank the CSU Stanislaus graduate committee for allowing me to carry on with the project after a long absence, during which completion of my thesis had become a faint hope. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Acknowledgements........................................................................................ iii List of Figures ................................................................................................ v Abstract.......................................................................................................... vi CHAPTER I. Introduction to the Study............................................................ 1 Overview................................................................................ 1 II. Review of the Literature............................................................. 3 Current Research.................................................................... 3 Symbolic Matching to Sample............................................... 5 Second-Order Conditional Discrimination ............................ 8 Human Discrimination Research ........................................... 11 Purpose of Study.................................................................... 15 III. Methodology .............................................................................. 17 Participants............................................................................. 17 Apparatus ............................................................................... 17 Stimuli.................................................................................... 18 Procedure ............................................................................... 21 IV. Results ........................................................................................ 30 First-order Discrimination Training ...................................... 30 Second-Order Baseline .......................................................... 33 Second-Order Discrimination Training ................................. 35 V. Discussion and Summary ........................................................... 41 Limitations ............................................................................ 48 Future Research ..................................................................... 50 Summary................................................................................ 51 References...................................................................................................... 54 iv LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE PAGE 1. Mixed element phase configuration............................................... 25 2. Second-order partitioned configurations........................................ 27 3. Second-order integrated configuration .......................................... 28 4. First-order trials to mastery............................................................ 30 5. Baseline results by condition for participants 1, 2, & 3................. 32 6. Baseline results by condition for participants 4, 5, & 6................. 33 7. Participant 1 and 2 second-order training ...................................... 35 8. Participant 3 and 4 second-order training ...................................... 36 9. Participant 5 and 6 second-order training ...................................... 37 10. Integrated and partitioned comparison configurations ................ 44 v ABSTRACT Conditional discrimination learning in animals has been the source of research for many decades. However, primary factors involving human discrimination learning remain obscure. It is the goal of the current research to investigate the effect physical properties of comparison stimuli have on the learning process in humans. This study extends to humans a line of research that utilized pigeons in second-order discrimination training, conducted on the California State University, Stanislaus campus. Six undergraduate students were recruited to test the effects of second-order comparison arrangements under two conditions. The integrated (superimposed) and partitioned (non-superimposed) conditions were presented after first-order training with 3 elements (color, shape, and pattern). As in the prior research, a symbolic- match-to-sample methodology is used to train, and test, participants in first and second-order conditional discriminations. Results from second-order trials are inconclusive, but demonstrate a pattern of responding which is affected by the comparison stimuli conditions. All participants demonstrated generalization of second-order conditional discrimination from first-order training. Results of first- order training confirmed the results of animal research, where significantly more trials were required to attain mastery with pattern comparisons. vi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY Overview The capacity to adapt to environmental changes, or learn, is a fundamental characteristic of all organisms. Skinner (1953) proposed that learning was a “reassortment of responses in a complex situation” (p. 65). He used this definition in describing principles supporting operant behavior. The underlying suggestion refers to an inherent flexibility to operant behavior. Because operant behavior affects the environment in a way that produces a particular effect, consequence, or reinforcement, the operant is characterized by the attributes upon which reinforcement is contingent (Skinner, 1953). However, the attributes of a behavior can vary and/or adapt. The variability of behavior may lead to alternate reinforcing consequences, further refining operant behavior. Adaptation occurs as a result of this refinement when more effective forms of behavior replace older ones (Skinner, 1953). Changes in the environment also produce changes in our behavior. Accordingly, operants are selected by the consequences (Pierce and Cheney, 2004). This relation between behavioral variability and contingent consequences comprise what may be generically defined as learning. That is, behavior in organisms is shaped, to a greater or lesser degree, by conditions that produce reinforcement in a variety of situations and environments. Examining conditions under which behavioral 1 2 adaptation is promoted or inhibited is fundamental to understanding behavior and learning. Operant behavior can be described without mention of antecedent conditions. However, to understand probabilities of operant behavior requires an understanding of functional connections to stimuli which evoke such behavior (Skinner, 1953). Skinner offers the example of a pigeon, where the presence of a light (stimulus) sets the occasion for a response (stretching the neck) which is followed by reinforcement. In the presence of the light, the pigeon’s neck-stretching is more probable because the light occasions the availability of reinforcement. The behavior is not emitted spontaneously in the presence of the light. The pigeon’s behavior develops from repeated exposure to the antecedent stimulus and subsequent availability of reinforcement. Skinner describes the process through which this occurs as discrimination. This example also describes the basis of the three-term or operant contingency, stimulus-response-consequence (S → R → S r). The process of discrimination is fundamental to most human behaviors. The principle of discrimination suggests that we will respond differentially to dissimilar situations if behavior is reinforced in one situation not another (Pierce and Cheney, 2004). It is through the process of discrimination, and the selection of operant behavior by consequence, that complex behaviors develop. Verbal behavior is a prime example of a complex behavior that is shaped by these principles. As Skinner (1957) notes, the selection of verbal behavior by contingent social consequences is a significant process fundamental to human communication. CHAPTER II REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Current Research In order to understand complex behaviors it is essential to examine the most fundamental aspects first. A review of behavior research reveals a substantial amount of material involving discrimination behavior (e.g., Blough, 1959; Carter
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