Abstract
Equivalence formation, expansion, and reversal were investigated as a result of arbitrary matching associated with specific reinforcers. Four 4- and 5-year-old normal children were taught identity matching with stimuli, A, B, C, and D, and stimulus-specific reinforcement. Then the children were taught two conditional discriminations AB and BC. All subjects showed formation of the ABC stimulus classes; one subject, however, did not show expansion to ABCD classes. This subject was taught to name the D stimuli, he then demonstrated the expanded class. Next, 2 subjects who showed expanded classes were taught identity matching with the reinforcers reversed for the D stimuli. In tests that followed, their matching responses remained consistent with the original equivalence classes. These subjects were then taught to reverse the names for the D stimuli. As a result, the children reversed the classes. The results suggest that class expansion and subsequent reformation of classes may be facilitated when stimulus within each class controls a common naming response.
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The experiments were made possible by post-doctoral scholarships from the Kronenhalle Foundation (Luxemburg) and CNPq (Brazil). Manuscript preparation was supported by FAPESP Grant 98/1730-0
The work described here would not have been possible without the contributions from Fergus Lowe and the University College of North Wales, Bangor; Mr. Roberts, headmaster; and Mrs. Reagan, classroom teacher, of Ysgol Y Faenol. A very special ‘thank you’ goes to the children who participated and their parents. I am greatly indebted to Joe Spradlin, for his competent editorial work and conceptual contributions to this paper. I am also grateful to Bill Dube for his careful reading and critical comments on earlier versions of the manuscript, and to Rita Spradlin and Pat White for proofreading it
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Goyos, C. Equivalence Class Formation Via Common Reinforcers Among Preschool Children. Psychol Rec 50, 629–654 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03395375
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03395375