Representation and discrimination on an artificial dimension

How we represent stimuli that are drawn from either natural (e.g., hue) or artificial (e.g., morphed face) dimensions is an issue of great significance for human learning. In this paper we outline a model of human dimensional representation in conjunction with some supporting empirical evidence for transfer along a continuum in humans (following Lawrence, 1952) and the first recorded case of transfer after outcome reversal with human subjects (following Mackintosh & Little, 1970). Our results support an elemental representation for dimensional stimuli in conjunction with algorithms that modulate both the salience and the associability of those representations.