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Amounts of Fixation and Discovery in Maze Learning Behavior

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2025

Herbert A. Simon
Herbert A. Simon*
Affiliation:
Carnegie Institute of Technology
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Abstract

The proposed quantitative description of maze learning rests on the assumption that two independent processes are involved: (i) a discovery process based on trial-and-error search for the correct response, (ii) a fixation process equivalent to that observed in serial learning. The model leads to predictions that are consistent with the available experimental data. In particular, the number of trials required for fixation is independent of the number of alternatives at each choice point (and hence independent of the number of bits of information contained in each correct response).

Type
Original Paper
Information
Psychometrika , Volume 22 , Issue 3 , September 1957 , pp. 261 - 268
Copyright
Copyright © 1957 The Psychometric Society

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Footnotes

*

I am grateful to W. J. Brogden, G. A. Miller, R. F. Thompson, and J. Voss for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.

References

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