A test was made of the hypothesis that Ss who are required to discriminate highly ambiguous sonar pip shapes early in training will be less accurate in discriminating unambiguous pip shapes following training than will Ss who are not required to attempt these difficult discriminations. 28 male college students were used as Ss: 14 were trained on ambiguous materials and 14 were trained on unambiguous materials. Results indicate that Ss trained on ambiguous materials were less accurate in judging unambiguous pip shapes than Ss trained on unambiguous materials. There was no difference between groups in the judgment of ambiguous pip shapes.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
HarrimanA. E.MacLeodR. B.Salt discrimination thresholds in normal and adrenalectomized rats under conditions of thirst motivation and electric shock punishment. Amer. J. Psychol., 1953, 66, 465–471.
2.
LashleyK. S.The mechanism of vision: XV. Preliminary studies of the rat's capacity for detail vision. J. genet. Psychol., 1938, 18, 123–193.
3.
LawrenceD. H.Generalization gradients and the transfer of discrimination along a continuum. J. comp. physiol. Psychol., 1952, 45, 511–516.
4.
LiddellH. S.Conditioned reflex method and experimental neurosis. In HuntJ. M. (Ed.), Personality and the behavior disorders. New York: Ronald, 1944. Pp. 389–412.
