Abstract
Long-Evans rats were trained on an easy simultaneous discrimination problem and then transferred to a hard discrimination problem. The discriminanda were different orientations of stripes. In Experiment I, transfer was intradimensional with stimulus generalization controlled. The easy-to-hard effect was not found. In Experiment II transfer was intradimensional and either compatible (nonreversal) or incompatible (reversal). With compatible transfer, rats trained on a prior easy problem learned the hard problem faster than rats trained only on the hard problem. Persistent negative transfer was found with incompatible transfer. Attention was not supported as underlying the easy-to-hard effect. Explanations based on specific sources of intradimensional transfer, such as stimulus generalization or adaptation level, are suggested.
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Turney, T.H. The easy-to-hard effect: Transfer along the dimension of orientation in the rat. Animal Learning & Behavior 4, 363–366 (1976). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03214422
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03214422