Strength of dimensional preferences as a predictor of nursery-school children's performance on a concept-shift task

The strength of nursery-school children's dimensional preferences for form and color was scaled by a multidimensional technique, revealing a wide range of strength of preference. Unlike earlier studies, many Ss were found to have equivalent preference for both dimensions. All Ss were then given a two-choice simultaneous discrimination learning problem with either form or color relevant to solution followed by an intradimensional (ID) or an extradimensional (ED) shift. In general, the effects of scaled preferences were in the same direction as, but stronger than, the effects of preference reported in previous studies. The performance of the equal-preference Ss on the original learning task was equivalent to that of Ss who strongly preferred the relevant dimension, and equal-preference Ss learned ID and ED shifts equally well, suggesting that equal-preference Ss may be more flexible in their problem-solving than Ss with a preference for a single dimension. It was further suggested that an age-related hierarchy of preferences progresses from color- to form- to equal-preference.