In Experiment 1, we trained four pigeons to concurrently discriminate displays of 16 same icons (16S) from displays of 16 different icons (16D) as well as between displays of same icons (16S) from displays that contained 15 same icons and one different icon (15S:1D). The birds rapidly learned to discriminate 16S vs. 16D displays, but they failed…

Delineates how the transition from one element to another facilitates the identification of individual form and function. Explains the process of bridging separate forms and functions to give meaning to what is seen. (KEH)

Four experiments investigated newborns' ability to discriminate, recognize, and learn visual information embedded in the schematic face-like patterns preferred at birth. Results indicated that newborns discriminated face-like stimuli relying on their internal features and recognized a perceptual invariance between face-like configurations in…

Errorless discrimination training is a technique in which the discriminative stimulus is supplemented with a salient cue which is gradually removed or faded during the course of training. In this study errorless discrimination training was used to teach preschool children the distinctive features of letters of the alphabet that are difficult to…

Two studies examined whether infants' category discrimination in an object-examination task was based solely on an ad hoc analysis of perceptual similarities among the experimental stimuli. Findings indicated that 10- to 11-month- olds' responses varied systematically only with the presence of a category change, but not with the degree of…

Three experiments compared infants' reactions to videos of normally responsive women varying in eye contact. Found that, relative to frontal faces, three-month olds smiled less at images averting head and eye (H&I), head alone (H), and closing eyes (ECL) but not at averting eyes (E). Five-month-olds smiled less at H&I, E, and ECL but not…

Describes ways for developing visual imagery in the early childhood education program, preparing children for discrimination learning and reading instruction. (RL)

Seventeen preschool children were administered two color-discrimination pretests, verbal and nonverbal. The five children who scored lowest were chosen to recieve the color program. Four scored elow 85 percent on the nonverbal pretest, whereas the other 12 children scored above 85 percent. On the verbal pretest, all five experimental subjects…

Four-, five-, and six-year-old children were used as subjects in this investigation. There were 192 experimental and 96 control children used, divided equally between the three age groups. The experimental children received a 1-minute pretest exposure procedure in which 1/4 of the children observed 4 two-dimensional stimuli (irregular pentagons),…

The material presented here is designed to be used as a training program in the preparation, selection, and use of visual aids in instruction. Some prior training in the application of behavioral principles to the preparation of instructional materials is assumed. The program consists of a handbook and a workbook. All the information in the…