Initial training with difficult items does not facilitate category learning

Abstract

In the phenomenon of transfer along a continuum (TAC), initial training on easy items facilitates later learning of a harder discrimination. TAC is a widely replicated cross-species phenomenon that is well predicted by certain kinds of associative theory. A recent report of an approximately opposite phenomenon (i.e., facilitation by initial training on hard items) poses a puzzle for such theories, but is predicted by a dual-system model (COVIS). However, across four experiments, we present substantial evidence that this counterintuitive finding was in error. Rather, the result appears to be a false positive and, as such, should not form part of the evidence base for COVIS nor be considered as a counter-example to the pervasive TAC phenomenon.