The Effect of Order and Rate of Presentation of Stimuli Upon the Establishment of a Conditioned Discrimination

The modified interfering cue theory put forward by Fletcher et al. (2) to explain performance in the ambiguous cue problem (ACP) was examined. Eight-year-old children were first trained to acquire response tendencies to the individual cues of this problem. When presented subsequently with the problem, the children showed marked differences in the number and type of errors made. The results were interpreted as supporting the theory of Fletcher et al. It was also suggested that the cues with clear positive or negative values were employed by the subjects to limit or neutralize the interference caused by the ambiguous cue.