{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/30966"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/30966","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Comparing comparisons in category learning","abstract":"Comparisons are central to category learning; yet very little research has been done to understand how comparisons affect what people learn. Prior work has established that different ways of learning affect what information learners acquire, suggesting that different types of comparisons may also affect learning in different ways. An important comparison-type distinction in category learning is between-category versus within-category comparisons. This paper draws on research from other domains that have looked at the role of comparisons in cognitive processes; however, the results of these studies are mixed, so it remains unclear how each type of comparison affects learning. Here, the highlighter theory of comparison learning is proposed based on the idea that studies showing a benefit for one type of comparison or the other are similar and different in systematic ways. Specifically, between-category comparisons highlight distinguishing information between categories while within-category comparisons highlight commonalities and the relational structure of items. In five experiments, one type of comparison or the other is shown to lead to higher classification performance at test and the effects of each depend on the type of information that needs to be emphasized during learning.","abstract_html":"Comparisons are central to category learning; yet very little research has been done to understand how comparisons affect what people learn. Prior work has established that different ways of learning affect what information learners acquire, suggesting that different types of comparisons may also affect learning in different ways. An important comparison-type distinction in category learning is between-category versus within-category comparisons. This paper draws on research from other domains that have looked at the role of comparisons in cognitive processes; however, the results of these studies are mixed, so it remains unclear how each type of comparison affects learning. Here, the highlighter theory of comparison learning is proposed based on the idea that studies showing a benefit for one type of comparison or the other are similar and different in systematic ways. Specifically, between-category comparisons highlight distinguishing information between categories while within-category comparisons highlight commonalities and the relational structure of items. In five experiments, one type of comparison or the other is shown to lead to higher classification performance at test and the effects of each depend on the type of information that needs to be emphasized during learning.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Higgins, Erin"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Cimpian, Andrei","Ross, Brian H.","Benjamin, Aaron S.","Federmeier, Kara D.","Hummel, John E."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012-05-22T00:18:55Z","date_published":"2012-05-22T00:18:55Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:29Z","subjects":["cognitive psychology","category learning and use","comparisons"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2012, Erin Jones Higgins"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/30966","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Cimpian, Andrei","Ross, Brian H.","Benjamin, Aaron S.","Federmeier, Kara D.","Hummel, John E."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Higgins, Erin"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2012-05-22T00:18:55Z","2012-05"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["cognitive psychology","category learning and use","comparisons"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2012, Erin Jones Higgins"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/30966"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Comparisons are central to category learning; yet very little research has been done to understand how comparisons affect what people learn. 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This paper draws on research from other domains that have looked at the role of comparisons in cognitive processes; however, the results of these studies are mixed, so it remains unclear how each type of comparison affects learning. Here, the highlighter theory of comparison learning is proposed based on the idea that studies showing a benefit for one type of comparison or the other are similar and different in systematic ways. Specifically, between-category comparisons highlight distinguishing information between categories while within-category comparisons highlight commonalities and the relational structure of items. 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