ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the proposition that the generalized invariance structure theory model (GISTM) is a strong candidate for a law of human conceptual behavior, at least with respect to parainformative concept-learning tasks. The experiments are intentionally described in considerable detail. Experiment 1 aimed to test, extend, and replicate the results obtained by Feldman in his study involving 76 category structures. Experiment 2 aimed to test and compare the aforementioned models on 24 category structures defined over three quaternary dimensions. Experiment 3 aimed to show that relative magnitude judgments of concept-learning difficulty are consistent with results on categorization performance as measured by error rates on para-informative tasks. In experiment 4 the eye-tracking technology is used to investigate the progression of gaze behavior while subjects were engaged in a para informative task similar to the task of Experiment 1. The aim of the experiment was to find evidence in support of dimensional binding, the core attention-shifting mechanism underlying the GISTM and its variants.
