Patterson & Kurtz (2016) Performance pressure and comparison in relational category learning

Abstract

An important objective in higher-order cognition research is to understand how relational categories are acquired and applied. Much of the research on relational category learning has investigated the role of within-category comparison opportunities in category acquisition and transfer – guided by predictions from structure mapping theory that alignment leads to highlighting and abstraction of shared relational structure (Gentner, 1983). Recent research has yielded a within-category comparison advantage under the supervised observational learning mode (relative to twice as many single-item trials), but not under the supervised classification mode (Patterson & Kurtz, 2015). In the present study we investigate the role that pressure to succeed at the training task – a critical difference between the two learning modes – plays in the apparent ineffectiveness of learning by comparison within the classification mode. In a 2x2 between-subjects design we crossed two levels of performance pressure (elevated and standard) with two presentation formats (single-item and within-category pairs). The main findings are: (1) a significant interaction showing a negative impact of increased performance pressure for single-item learners, but not for comparison learners; and (2) a theoretically predicted, but empirically elusive effect of comparison over single-item in the classification mode. We conclude that: (1) performance pressure exerts a deleterious effect on relational category learning (in accord with findings in the attribute category literature) that opportunities to compare may compensate for; and (2) pressure to perform does not appear to underlie lackluster comparison + classification performance (relative to observational learning). Further, we offer new evidence on the role that within-category comparison plays in relational category learning.