A Classroom Simulation of Transitivity Problems in Animals

Abstract

Transitive inference involves the ability to infer a serial relation between ordered events that have been presented only in successive pairs. Successful completion of this task has been reported for humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, pigeons, and rats. Although students easily solve transitivity problems in a verbal format, they often have difficulty appreciating how nonhuman subjects might successfully solve these tasks. This article describes a classroom simulation modified from transitivity experiments with animals; its purpose is to familiarize students with the procedures and results from transitive inference studies with nonhuman subjects. Students enjoy this activity and report that it helped illustrate different perspectives of the transitive inference problem.

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