Fading procedures and conditional discrimination in children.

The researchers taught kids to pick one picture over another. Then they flipped the rules so the old correct choice became wrong.

Some kids learned the flip through fading. The wrong picture slowly changed to look more wrong. Other kids learned by trial and error with no extra help.

Fading cut mistakes during the flip. Kids made fewer wrong picks while the rules changed.

Later the kids faced a harder task. They had to pick one picture only when a light was on. The kids who got trial-and-error training did better on this new task.

Schneider et al. (1967) also used fading, but with children who had intellectual disabilities. In that study fading beat trial-and-error for everyone. The new study shows the same trick helps typical kids too, yet the benefit may not last when rules get tricky.

Foster et al. (1979) later tested fading against shaping on the exact hard task. Shaping won. Their work backs the warning here: fading can block later learning if you stay with it too long.

Mulder et al. (2020) reviewed 28 later studies. Most still pick fading for first teaching. They cite the 1968 paper as proof fading lowers errors, but they leave out the warning about transfer.

Use fading to keep errors low while rules change, then drop it. Plan a switch to trial-and-error or shaping before you ask the learner to use context cues. Watch for rigid stimulus control. If the child only responds when prompts are present, pull back and let natural errors return for a few trials.