Training with differential outcomes enhances discriminative learning and visuospatial recognition memory in children born prematurely.
Pair each correct picture with its own unique prize to speed learning and memory in children born prematurely.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Martínez et al. (2012) tested a simple twist on discrimination training. They gave children born early a special reward that matched the correct picture. If the child picked the boat, they always got a tiny toy boat. If they picked the shoe, they always got a sticker of a shoe.
The team ran the same game with children born on time. Both groups had to learn which picture went with a spoken word. Later, the kids tried to point to pictures they had seen ten minutes earlier.
What they found
The early-born kids learned the picture-word links faster when each picture had its own prize. They also remembered the pictures better after the short wait.
The full-term kids did not get the same boost. For them, the matching prize made little difference.
How this fits with other research
Leon et al. (2021) also sped up discrimination for kids with autism. They changed the order of sounds and pictures, not the prize. Both studies show small tweaks can unlock learning.
Eldevik et al. (2020) tried a different twist. They let each child pick their own favorite toy as the prize. Five of eight kids learned faster, but three still failed. Lourdes used fixed, picture-matched prizes and helped every early-born child. The difference: fixed, unique outcomes may beat child-chosen ones when memory is weak.
Ding et al. (2017) looked at face memory in low-birth-weight children and found poorer scores. Lourdes shows the damage is not fixed; the right teaching method can lift visuospatial memory even in this group.
Why it matters
If you teach preschool or kindergarten kids who were born early, try pairing each correct picture with its own small toy or sticker. Keep the prize the same every time. This tiny change can cut learning trials and boost memory in a group that usually needs extra help.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Previous studies have demonstrated that discriminative learning is facilitated when a particular outcome is associated with each relation to be learned. When this training procedure is applied (the differential outcome procedure; DOP), learning is faster and more accurate than when the more common non-differential outcome procedure is used. This enhancement of accuracy and acquisition has been called the differential outcome effect (DOE). Our primary purpose in the present study was to explore the DOE in children born with great prematurity performing a discriminative learning task (Experiment 1) or a delayed visuospatial recognition task (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, participants showed a faster learning and a better performance when differential outcomes were used. In Experiment 2, a significant DOE was also observed. That is, premature children performed the visuospatial recognition task better when they received differential outcomes following their correct responses. By contrast, the overall performance of full-term children was similar in both differential and non-differential conditions. These results are first to show that the DOP can enhance learning of conditional discriminations and recognition memory in children born prematurely with very low birth-weight.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2012 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2011.08.022