This experiment was conducted to determine the extent to which Ss encode relevant stimulus attributes and abstract conceptual rules in a pattern-recognition task involving complex multidimensional histoforms which are deviants of three different population prototypes. Task-memory requirements were varied in a multiple-alternative discrimination task by presenting stimuli either simultaneously or sequentially for comparison. Results showed that Ss learned the relevant dimensions along which the stimuli varied to the extent that they could only recognize histoforms as having approximately the same magnitudes of deviation from the prototypes. Performance was higher, however, under the simultaneous condition, suggesting that Ss failed to combine learned attributes into conceptual rules to a degree sufficient for a reduction in information processing and storage requirements to occur.