Establishing Equivalence Relations Using a Respondent-Type Training Procedure III

Abstract

In this study, 12 5-year-old normal functioning children were exposed to a respondent-type training procedure and tested for emergent conditional discriminations. During respondent-type training, arbitrary stimuli were presented in pairs, one at a time, using a table-top procedure. On a given trial, for example, the arbitrary stimulus A1 was presented on an observation card for 1 s, followed by the arbitrary stimulus B1 presented on another observation card for 1 s (represented as A1→B1), Emergent conditional discriminations were tested using a standard matching-to-sample procedure. On one test trial, for example, B1 was presented as a sample, with A1 and A2 as comparisons. Choosing A1 (rather than A2) was defined as the correct choice (represented as B1-A1), based on the previous respondent-type training (A1→B1). In Experiment 1 (linear condition), subjects were trained and tested in the following sequence: train A1→B1, A2→B2, testB1-A1, B2-A2; train B1→C1, B2→C2, test C1-B1, C2-B2, C1-A1, C2-A2; train C1→D1, C2→D2, test D1-B1, D2-B2, D1-A1, D2-A2. In Experiment 2 (one-to-many condition), subjects were trained and tested in the following sequence: train B1→A1, B2→A2, test A1-B1, A2-B2; train B1→C1, B2→C2, test C1-B1, C2-B2, C1-A1, C2-A2; train B1→D1, B2→D2, test D1-C1, D2-C2, D1-A1, D2-A2. In Experiment 3 (many-to-one condition), subjects were trained and tested in the following sequence: train A1→B1, A2→B2, test B1-A1, B2-A2; train C1→B1, C2→B2, test B1-C1, B2-C2, C1-A1, C2-A2; train D1→B1, D2→B2, test D1-C1, D2-C2.D1-A1, D2-A2. The study demonstrated that respondent-type training is an effective means of generating equivalence classes with young children. Results also showed that it is possible to extend an equivalence class using the respondent procedure without testing for the “mediating” symmetry relations. The training protocols (linear, one-to-many, and many-to-one) were found to be equally effective, although a possible ceiling effect needs to be taken into account.