PERFORMANCE ON MEASUREMENT AND PSEUDOMEASUREMENT TASKS BY FIVE- TO SEVEN-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN

Subjects trained by a non-verbal reinforcement method to select the longer one of a pair of sticks were given two genuine measurement (G) and two pseudomeasurement (P) tests. The first P-test involved the use of two measuring sticks, clearly different in length, and the second test addition or subtraction of a piece of the measuring stick between measurements. A single factor seemed to generate much of the performance in all four tests, suggesting that, since the P-tasks had to be solved by means of non-transitive inferences, the G-tasks were solved in the same way. It is concluded that non-verbal reinforcement methods may not yield a valid diagnosis of transitivity.