Learning how to learn: the significance and current status of learning set formation

In honor of the memory of Harry F. Harlow, this paper reviews the current status of learning set formation, the discovery of which represents one of Harlow's major contributions to behavioral science. Learning set formation or "learning how to learn" refers to the learning of visual and other types of discrimination problems progressively more quickly as a function of training on a series of such problems. The general procedure that Harlow used, his original learning set finding, and its significance are described first. A brief review of theories of learning set formation follows. Lastly, the attempt to use learning set formation as a tool for studying comparative behavior is discussed.