This study examined relations between eye movements and accuracy scores in a delayed matching-to-sarnple procedure with multiple sample stimuli. Four adult humans responded with high accuracy when there were 2 samples per trial. When the number of samples was increased to 4 per trial, accuracy scores fell to intermediate levels for 2 of the subjects, and then recovered to high levels following practice. Eye-tracking analyses showed that subjects with high and low accuracy on the initial 4-sample trials made similar numbers of observations per trial , but high-accuracy subjects exhibited longer sample-stimulus observing durations. Practice and improvement to high accuracy was accompanied by relatively small changes in observing frequencies and large increases in sample-stimulus observing durations. The results are discussed in terms of independent stimulus control of different aspects of observing behavior topography. One topic of continuing interest in analyses of stimulus control concerns the range, breadth, or number of stimuli that can exert control simultaneously. This question has been addressod in such diverse areas as, for example, breadth of attention in animal cognition (e.g., Maki & Leuin, 1972); the effects of task complexity (number of stimuli) on reaction times in aging populations (e.g., Baron & Menich, 1985); and stimulus overselectivity, an atypically restricted breadth of stimulus control related to learning problems of some individuals with dHvelopmental disabilities Data collection and manuscript preparation were supported by NICHD Grants HD25995 and HD37055, and CNPq Grant 200552/96-1. The contents of this paper are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of NICHD. Some of the data were presented at the annual conference of the Southeastern Association for Behavior Analysis, Chapel Hill, NC, October, 1997. We thank Kevin Farren for assistance in data analysis, Bill Mcllvane for advice on the project, and Bill Mcllvane and Richard Serna for comments on the manuscript. For their generosity with technical support and assistance, we thank Rikki Razdan and
Students with mental retardation learned to write lists in order to perform a matching task that they could not do otherwise. After an initial assessment phase, reinforcement was arranged in the computerized tasks to follow selection of the six pictures that were identical to those in the six-picture samples presented. In Study 1, even though the participants wrote a list of the names of the six sample pictures on each trial, read a list, or did both, they often made errors when a brief delay preceded picture selection. In contrast, performance was nearly perfect when a list was written, read, and remained available at the time of picture selection, suggesting that the list served to mediate the delays. Study 2 examined the stimulus control by two- and six-picture samples over the list writing. Early during testing, 1 participant refrained from writing lists on two-picture trials but wrote lists on six-picture trials, thereby maximizing reinforcement and minimizing its delay; the other participant showed this pattern of list writing after supplemental training. The studies suggest methods for establishing a rudimentary repertoire of mediating behavior that has relevance for teaching instruction-following skills in natural settings.
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