Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

Environmental restrictions often permit the sampling of some items while excluding others. Such restrictions are termed sampling frames, whereby items can be selected based on their category membership (category frame), or possession of a target property (property frame). According to Bayesian principles, narrower property generalization is expected when a sample is subject to property sampling than category sampling. The current work examined whether sensitivity to such sampling frames could be increased through training with worked examples and practice. Experiment 1 found that training in property or category sampling enhanced sensitivity to that frame relative to a no-training control. Experiment 2 employed a pre-post design where all participants received training in both frames. A positive training effect was found, but only for those with a poor understanding of sampling frames on the pre-test. This work indicates the viability of appropriate training for increasing understanding of the implications of sample selection mechanisms.