The Redundancy Effect on Human Predictive Learning: Evidence against a Propositional Interpretation

Abstract

The redundancy effect is the finding of greater learning when an X stimulus is trained in an A+ AX+ blocking procedure, than when a Y stimulus is trained in a BY+ CY- discrimination procedure. These findings are new and theoretically challenging for all conditioning theories that calculate learning based on a common error. For this reason, we alternatively examined the possibility that the phenomenon is the result of a propositional reasoning. In an experiment, we replicated the basic effect and we found out that the addition of instructions on the occurrence of the consequences at a submaximal level does not have a significant impact on the redundancy effect. These findings are discussed with regard to a propositional and associative approach based on the assumption that the experimental stimuli share a common feature.