Abstract
Learning processes in conditional discriminations. In the last decade many studies have been published about the basic processes involved in conditional discrimination learning. Most people learn conditional discriminations when 4-term contingencies are applied; however, people with learning difficulties only learn with more elaborated procedures. Studies about learning without errors allowed knowing the intrinsic processes involved in learning conditional discriminations. The research about three blocking procedures demonstrated more processes. Finally, studies on stimulus equivalence and other transfer processes demonstrated how people acquire novel conditional discriminations without explicit reinforcement. From the knowledge of these basic processes it is possible to design a number of novel procedures. Thus, for example, procedures that involve stimulus shaping, a differential response to the sample, a delay prompt, presenting samples in blocks, presenting the comparisons at fixed locations, or a combination of these allow teaching conditional discriminations to people that do not learn with less elaborated interactions from their environment.
