Effects of Differential Criterion Levels on the Discrimination of Letters
The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of criterion level on the discrimination of highly confusable letters in beginning reading. Forty children were randomly assigned to four conditions. One-half of the subjects were exposed to simultaneous discriminations and the other one-half to successive discriminations. The groups were equally divided as to criterion level, i.e., four vs. nine consecutively correct responses. A verbal associates transfer task followed criterion on visual discrimination. The simultaneous mode produced fewer trials to criterion than the successive mode on visual discrimination but not on transfer. On successive discriminations, a criterion of four required fewer trials than a criterion of nine on visual discrimination but a significantly greater number of trials on transfer.