What does this research mean for the field?

Human acquisition of conditional relations occurs in a sequential, one-by-one pattern rather than simultaneously, a dynamic that is often masked by standard average accuracy scores. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

This study investigates whether conditional relations are learned simultaneously or sequentially in humans.

June 9, 2026Open Access

Molecular Analysis of Conditional Discriminations: The Sequential Pattern of Human Learning

Key Points

This study investigates whether conditional relations are learned simultaneously or sequentially in humans.
Participants included three undergraduate students trained on 12 visual conditional relations.
Used a trial-by-trial approach with an arbitrary zero-delay matching-to-sample (MTS) procedure.
Cumulative frequency curves were analyzed to assess the learning sequence of each relation.
All participants met acquisition criteria for each relation at different times during training.
Cumulative frequency curves indicated minimal overlap, showing a clear sequential learning pattern.
Average accuracy scores may obscure individual learning paths.

Abstract

Abstract Whether the acquisition of conditional relations occurs simultaneously or sequentially is often obscured by global accuracy measures. The present study analyzed the acquisition of conditional discriminations in humans using a molecular, trial-by-trial approach. Three undergraduate students were trained on 12 visual conditional relations, divided into two sets (AB and BC), using an arbitrary zero-delay matching-to-sample (MTS) procedure. Results showed that all participants reached the acquisition criteria for each conditional relation at different moments during training. The cumulative frequency curves for each relation showed minimal overlap, indicating a clear sequential pattern of acquisition where relations were learned one by one. These findings suggest that average accuracy scores can mask individual learning trajectories and that reinforcement histories develop uniquely for each relation during training. Understanding these fundamental learning processes in MTS is a crucial step toward elucidating the mechanisms governing the formation of equivalence classes and possibly improving the efficiency with which these classes are formed.

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