Number of Pretraining Problems and Type of Instructions in Concept Identification

Abstract

To assess the effects of pretraining problems and type of instructions on concept identification 40 men and 40 women were given 0, 1, 2, or 3 pretraining problems prior to administration of an experimental concept problem. Instructions were either simply descriptive of the stimulus population and response requirements or elaborated such that S was told the rule defining problem solution and given a sample problem. Analyses showed a significant inverse relationship between number of pretraining problems and trials to criterion. Presolution data indicated that Ss changed problem-solving strategies both as a function of number of pretraining problems and type of instructions. Implications for theories of concept learning were discussed.