In the field of stimulus generalization, an old yet unresolved discussion pertains to what extent stimulus misidentifications contribute to the pattern of conditioned responding. In this article, we perform cluster analysis on six datasets (four published datasets and two unpublished datasets, included N = 950) to examine the relationship between…

Most eyewitness identification research simulates single perpetrator crimes, but real-world crimes often transpire at the hands of multiple perpetrators. It is unclear how multiple perpetrators might impact the ability of eyewitnesses to discriminate between the guilty and innocent. To address this issue, we conducted two experiments in which…

According to the Diagnostic Feature-Detection (DFD) hypothesis, the presence of fillers that match the eyewitness's description of the perpetrator will boost discriminability beyond a showup, and very few fillers may suffice to produce the advantage. We tested this hypothesis by comparing showups with simultaneous lineups of size 3, 6, 9, and 12.…

Eyewitness researchers recommend that "not present" and "don't know" response options should be presented with police lineups. Although it is important that witnesses--most of whom are unlikely to be familiar with the identification task--are fully cognizant of all response options available to them, an understanding of how…

Generalization of learning can arise from 2 distinct sources: failure to discriminate a novel test stimulus from the trained stimulus and active extrapolation from the trained stimulus to the test stimulus despite them being discriminable. We investigated these 2 processes in a predictive learning task by testing stimulus discriminability…

This research aims to explore the ability of English majors to identify the four basic types of sentences. English language has four types of sentences, each kind of sentence for different kinds of messages. Sentences are combinations of words that express complete thoughts. Sentences are basic building blocks of writing and communication;…

Receptive identification is usually taught in matching-to-sample format, which entails the presentation of an auditory sample stimulus and several visual comparison stimuli in each trial. Conflicting recommendations exist regarding the order of stimulus presentation in matching-to-sample trials. The purpose of this study was to compare acquisition…

Children with autism may struggle in developing conditional discrimination repertoires. Saunders and Spradlin (1989, 1990, 1993) arranged "blocked" teaching trials in which they presented the same sample stimulus repeatedly across trials (in lieu of randomly alternating targets across trials) and then faded the number of trials in each block. We…

In recent years, operant discrimination training procedures have been used to teach giant African pouched rats to detect tuberculosis (TB) in human sputum samples. This article summarizes how the rats are trained and used operationally, as well as their performance in studies published to date. Available data suggest that pouched rats, which can…

In this paper, we report on two studies carried out to further explore the level of listening and discriminatory abilities present in very young children through the development of an age appropriate methodology. Working with children aged between 3 and 4 years of age, our first study explored the level of performance achieved on a matching task…

This paper, a Southwest Regional Laboratory (SWRL) technical note, contains preliminary guidelines for the development of spelling instruction for kindergarten through grade three. It includes information on program content and organization, word-attack instruction, written exercises, teacher materials, and supplementary activities. The material…

This research investigates frequency and type of contact young children have had with elderly persons. It also examines the relationship between this contact and children's frequency of contact with elderly persons and their ability to identify the elderly. (Author)

Eight experiments using as Ss either retarded children, normal children, or normal adults studied the relations of retardation and normal development to the perceptual process of identification. Two experiments were reported on the identification of stimuli varying in either one, two, or three dimensions. Retardates did not perform as well as…

Four experiments investigated activation of semantic information in action preparation. Participants either prepared to grasp and use an object (e.g., to drink from a cup) or to lift a finger in association with the object's position following a go/no-go lexical-decision task. Word stimuli were consistent to the action goals of the object use…