Soto Fabián A, Quintana Gonzalo R, Pérez-Acosta Andrés M, Ponce Fernando P, Vogel Edgar H
Department of Psychology, Florida International University, United States.
Universidad de Talca, Chile.
Cognition. 2015 Oct;143:163-77. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2015.07.001. Epub 2015 Jul 9.
Compound generalization and dimensional generalization are traditionally studied independently by different groups of researchers, who have proposed separate theories to explain results from each area. A recent extension of Shepard's rational theory of dimensional generalization allows an explanation of data from both areas within a single framework. However, the conceptualization of dimensional integrality in this theory (the direction hypothesis) is different from that favored by Shepard in his original theory (the correlation hypothesis). Here, we report two experiments that test differential predictions of these two notions of integrality. Each experiment takes a design from compound generalization and translates it into a design for dimensional generalization by replacing discrete stimulus components with dimensional values. Experiment 1 showed that an effect analogous to summation is found in dimensional generalization with separable dimensions, but the opposite effect is found with integral dimensions. Experiment 2 showed that the analogue of a biconditional discrimination is solved faster when stimuli vary in integral dimensions than when stimuli vary in separable dimensions. These results, which are analogous to more "non-linear" processing with integral than with separable dimensions, were predicted by the direction hypothesis, but not by the correlation hypothesis. This confirms the assumptions of the unified rational theory of stimulus generalization and reveals interesting links between compound and dimensional generalization phenomena.
复合泛化和维度泛化传统上是由不同的研究团队独立进行研究的,他们提出了各自的理论来解释每个领域的研究结果。谢泼德(Shepard)维度泛化理性理论的最新扩展使得在单一框架内能够解释来自这两个领域的数据。然而,该理论中维度整体性的概念化(方向假设)与谢泼德在其原始理论中所支持的概念化(相关性假设)有所不同。在此,我们报告了两项实验,这些实验对这两种整体性概念的不同预测进行了检验。每个实验都采用了复合泛化中的一种设计,并通过用维度值替换离散刺激成分,将其转化为维度泛化的设计。实验1表明,在维度泛化中,对于可分离维度会发现一种类似于求和的效应,但对于整体维度则会发现相反的效应。实验2表明,当刺激在整体维度上变化时,双条件辨别类比在刺激在可分离维度上变化时能更快得到解决。这些结果类似于整体维度比可分离维度具有更多“非线性”加工,是由方向假设预测的,而不是由相关性假设预测的。这证实了刺激泛化统一理性理论的假设,并揭示了复合泛化和维度泛化现象之间有趣的联系。