ABSTRACT
The use of fading techniques to transfer discrimination poses a challenge to traditional methods of teaching and to traditional theories of discrimination learning. As an example, a time-honored concept of teaching normal children is that they learn through trial and error. The first phase of fading then involves the gradual introduction of the negative stimulus, starting with bare perceptibility, until it is easily perceivable. The size of the interval between gradations of stimuli on a particular dimension affects the ease with which they can be faded in and out. There has been little formal research on the latter point, however; the gradations are usually chosen for a particular experiment on the basis of pilot work. Four sets of variables seem important and relatively simple to analyze in initial experiments: stimulus characteristics affecting dimensional salience; sequential factors in fading; practice and training effects; and the reinforcement contingencies.
