| Abstract: | Two- and three-year-olds who did not group a set of geometric stimuli according to complete similarity on a pretest were divided into three experimental conditions: (a) a modeling condition in which the subjects observed a model group according to complete similarity while verbalizing his strategy, (b) a reinforcement condition in which the subjects were reinforced for sorting similar stimuli into boxes, and (c) a control condition. After the training sessions the Ss were given two posttests—one with stimuli identical to those used during the training session and one with a different set of geometric stimuli. On the posttests significantly more similarity classifications were obtained in the modeling condition than in either the reinforcement or the control conditions, which did not differ. It was concluded (a) that two- and three-year-olds can learn to group according to similarity, and (b) that modeling with verbalization is a very effective method for teaching young children to classify according to similarity. |
