Over-selectivity decreases with increased training: A role for within-compound associations

Abstract

Over-selectivity occurs when one element of a complex-stimulus controls behavior at the expense of other equally elements of that stimulus; a phenomenon common in populations subject to cognitive challenge. However, lack of theoretically-based analysis, may have hindered understanding and remediation of the practically-important over-selectivity phenomena. Current studies examined whether associative theories applied to overshadowing, a similar phenomenon in the context of conditioning experiments, could be applied to over-selectivity effects to open theoretical analysis of over-selectivity. Three experiments investigated whether length of training impacts over-selectivity in the same way as overshadowing, which has theoretical implications for understanding that latter phenomenon. All studies employed variants of a judgment procedure in which participants had to judge the relationship between a predictor and an outcome, and the predictors were presented either on their own, or in compound with another predictor. In all studies, the elemental cue (A) was rated similarly to one of the components of the compound (B), but higher than the other component (C). The difference in the extent to which the components of the compound (B and C) were judged as predictors became smaller as levels of training increased, which is an effect that is also seen in discrimination learning studies of over-selectivity. Moreover, it was apparent that as the strength of the within-compound association increased, the level of over-selectivity decreased. These results are similar to those seen for overshadowing, and are discussed with respect to the possible associative mechanisms controlling over-selectivity.

Keywords: Judgment; Length of training; Overshadowing; Within-compound associations.