Abstract: | In two experiments, participants acquired one of two target configural discriminations (a biconditional or negative patterning
discrimination) in a predictive learning task. In Experiment 1, participants were pretrained with either a configural or an
elemental discrimination; in Experiment 2, they were pretrained with a configural discrimination, an elemental discrimination,
or a control discrimination that was not expected to bias them toward elemental or configural processing. In both experiments,
acquisition of the target configural discriminations was faster after configural pretraining than after elemental pretraining.
In addition, the negative patterning discrimination was acquired faster than the biconditional discrimination. Finally, the
results of Experiment 2 were more consistent with the notion that elemental pretraining hindered acquisition of the target
discriminations than with the notion that configural pretraining enhanced their acquisition. Implications of these findings
are discussed. |