Effects of Stimulus Complexity and Dimensionality on Children's Discrimination of Forms

Abstract

In each of 2 experiments, kindergarten children were presented with either simple stimuli (e.g., square, triangle, regular trapezoid) or complex stimuli (irregular pentagons) in a form-discrimination task. Half the Ss in each experiment were trained on 2-dimensional stimuli and half on 3-dimensional stimuli. Simple forms were significantly easier to discriminate than complex forms. Neither stimulus dimensionality nor the interaction between dimensionality and complexity was significant.