Abstract
At present, there is no clear demonstration of equivalence class formation in elderly participants with neurocognitive disorders. We attempted to establish equivalence classes with a patient with Alzheimer’s disease, starting with relations maintained in her repertoire, so that she could learn by exclusion. After baseline training she acquired arbitrary conditional discriminations and tests suggested the emergence of symmetry and transitivity. Inclusion of a third comparison disrupted performance. Some methodological aspects of this exploratory study may contribute to future research with this particularly challenging population.
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Acknowledgements
Natalia Maria Aggio was supported by a postdoctoral felowship from Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES; Grant # 88882306799/2018-01). Isabela de Oliveira Teixeira was supported by a master’s fellowship from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq; Grant # 132589/2017-6). This research was part of the Scientific Program of Institute of Science and Technology on Behavior, Cognition, and Teaching (INCT/ECCE), supported the São Paulo Research Foundation FAPESP (Grant #2014/50909-8) and by CNPq (Grant # 465686/2014-8). We thank Deisy de Souza, leader of INCT/ECCE, for support and encouragement. Support from CAPES (Grant # 88887.136407/2017-00) is also gratefully acknowledged.
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Aggio, N.M., de Oliveira Teixeira, I. & de Rose, J.C. An Exploratory Study of Directly Taught and Emergent Relations in an Elderly Woman with Alzheimer’s Disease. Psychol Rec 71, 493–497 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-020-00441-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-020-00441-y