Separable and unitary stimuli in nonmetric multiple-cue probability learning

• Published in: Organizational behavior and human decision processes Vol. 51; no. 1; pp. 118 - 132
• Main Authors: Edgell, Stephen E, Morrissey, John M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Inc 01.02.1992; Elsevier; Elsevier Science Publishing Company, Inc
• Series: Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Decision making; Experiments; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Learning; Learning. Memory; Probability; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Statistical analysis; Task difficulty; Human; Acquisition process; Decision making; Stimulus size; Intellectual learning; Information processing; Cognition; Behavior; Stimulus probability
• ISSN: 0749-5978; 1095-9920
• DOI: 10.1016/0749-5978(92)90007-T

Two experiments were run to study the effects of separable and unitary stimuli dimensions in a probabilistic, decision-making-like environment. Using a nonmetric multiple-cue probability learning task with two relevant dimensions and additional relevant configural information, no differences in utilization were found for these two types of stimuli. However, in an environment that subjects find more difficult, one in which one dimension is relevant along with the pattern of two additional dimensions, an effect was found. Unitary stimuli were found to facilitate utilization of configural information, but no difference was found for utilization of dimensional information.