REPRESENTATIONAL CONSEQUENCES OF 2 MODES OF LEARNING

Two experiments tested the hypothesis that a non-strategic mode of rul e learning results in atomic representations. In each case subjects we re taught concepts under two different conditions, designed to favour either non-strategic or strategic learning. Following training, subjec ts demonstrated an equivalent ability to discriminate exemplars from n on-exemplars of the concepts acquired under each of these two learning conditions. However, performance on a decompositional inference task, which required access to critical constituent elements within the rul e representations, was disproportionately poor for a concept acquired under the training condition that favoured non-strategic learning. The se findings lend support to the view that rule acquisition can be medi ated by either of two modes of learning, and that the format of knowle dge representations is not equivalent across these two learning modes.