Abstract
The relative influence of preference and dominance (cue similarity) on mediated learning and transfer in kindergarten children was investigated in an optional intradimensional-extradimensional shift paradigm. Children were initially trained with a relevant dimension which was preferred-dominant, preferred-nondominant, nonpreferred-dominant, or nonpreferred-nondominant. In stationarity analyses, all groups appeared to learn the initial problem in a mediational fashion; preference and dominance did not differentially influence type of learning. Relevance of a preferred and/or dominant dimension resulted in mediated transfer, as reflected by the preponderance of intradimensional shifts. No mediated transfer in the nonpreferred-nondominant group despite mediated learning was explained in terms of differential response strengths of the observing responses specific to relevant and irrelevant dimensions.