Abstract
Concept attainment in the selection (SEL) and reception (REC) paradigms was compared with a modified reception (M-REC) condition in which Ss were provided appropriate hypotheses based on yoked-SEL Ss' verbalizations. M-REC performance was inferior to the SEL condition; no other differences were significant. The absence of a SEL-REC difference was not in agreement with findings of previous studies which have shown, in one instance, the REC groups superior (Huttenlocher, 1962) and in another the SEL group superior (Hunt, 1965). The instability of these findings was discussed in terms of an inherent bias in the yoked-Ss design, which acts against REC paradigms. REC performance was found to be contingent upon the nature of the SEL sequence assigned. When a nonsolved SEL sequence was assigned there was a decreased probability of REC-Ss solving.
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