Instructional control of generalized relational matching to sample in children.

The team worked with preschoolers who had no known disabilities.

They used a matching game on a computer.

The screen background color told the child which rule to use.

Green meant pick the longer, bigger, or farther item.

Red meant pick the shorter, smaller, or nearer item.

After teaching with color hints, the kids saw new pictures with no hints.

The children still picked the right item even when the color cue was gone.

They could do it with brand-new objects they had never seen before.

This shows the kids learned an abstract rule, not just a memorized answer.

Sanders et al. (1989) found adult monkeys could not shift from static to moving pictures in a similar game.

The monkeys got stuck, but the preschoolers flexed to new items.

Species and age matter when you test broad rules.

Arntzen et al. (2015) later showed that adding a six-second pause and using meaningful pictures boosts equivalence class formation in college students.

The pause gives older learners time to think, something preschoolers may not need.

Ribeiro et al. (2024) went further and had undergraduates solve quick math problems during the pause.

Those tiny math acts acted as glue, linking even more items into the class.

Together the line of studies shows: young kids generalize fast, adults need a little extra time or help, and monkeys hit a ceiling.

You can teach abstract concepts like bigger or closer to young learners with simple cues.

Start with clear signals such as color backgrounds, then fade them out.

Check that the child can still do the task with new objects and no cues.

If they can, you have built a flexible concept, not rote memorization.