Generalization of self-instruction training

Forty-eight preoperational and concrete operational first and second graders performed on a training task (Matching Familiar Figures Test) and a generalization task (a perceptual perspective taking task) prior to, and after serving in, one of two instructional groups. The instructional groups were: a no-training control group and a group which received general content self-instructions delivered through a directed discovery procedure. Both preoperational and concrete operational children in the self-instruction group improved significantly at posttest on the training task. On the generalization task only the concrete operational children in the directed discovery group performed significantly better following training. These findings are discussed in terms of the dynamic relationship between an individual's cognitive ability and the format of instructions. The need for provoking the cognitive involvement of the child on the basis of this relationship is stressed.     

Generalization of treatment effects in training public speakers

Three studies compared the efficacy of various treatments for public-speaking incompetence. These effects were evaluated for the target behavior as well as for generalization effects across situations (conversations), settings (different sizes and types of audiences) and time (6-month follow-up). The first study showed that Self-instructional Training, either alone or in combination with other procedures, produced little or no benefits. The second study demonstrated the superiority of a Skills Training program over flooding therapy, while the final study failed to detect any enhancement of treatment benefits for the addition of home-practice to the Skills Training. In the first two studies generalization occurred across the three dimensions (settings, situations and time), while in the final study it was shown that the program was effective for a clinical population as well as recruited volunteers.     

Generalization of equivalence relations from photos to objects by preschool children

Generalized equivalence classes are stimulus classes that consist of equivalent stimuli and other physically similar class‐member stimuli. The present study evaluated whether preschool children would form equivalence classes among photos of abstract objects (2D) and show equivalence generalization to the corresponding objects (3D), printed photos (2D stimuli), and to black‐and‐white drawn pictures (2D stimuli). Six typically developing children were taught arbitrary relations to establish three 3‐member equivalence classes with 2D stimuli presented on a computer screen. AB‐AC baseline relations (for half of the participants) and AB‐BC relations (for the other half) were taught using a multiple‐probe design to assess taught and tested relations. After class formation, three types of generalization probes were conducted: generalization to 3D stimuli, generalization between 2D (printed photos) and 3D stimuli, and generalization to drawn pictures (2D). All of the participants formed the equivalence classes. Two participants met the criterion for all three generalization probe types. Two participants presented mixed results across tests, and two participants did not exhibit equivalence generalization. The results demonstrated equivalence generalization from 2D to 3D stimuli in preschool children, although the variability across participants suggests that such generalization cannot be assumed a priori.     

Generalization gradients following two-response discrimination training

Stimulus generalization was investigated using institutionalized human retardates as subjects. A baseline was established in which two values along the stimulus dimension of auditory frequency differentially controlled responding on two bars. The insertion of the test probes disrupted the control established to the two S^Ds during training. The discrimination was recovered between each test probe and the resulting gradients were stable across 10 test sessions. These gradients, supported by other two-response generalization studies, indicate that this type of two-response discrimination training divides the stimulus dimension into two functional classes separated by a region of transition from one class to the other. Each stimulus value in a class, which extends from an S^D outward to the functional limit of the dimension, controls a similar proportion of the two responses as each other value in the class. All values on the stimulus dimension control identical response rates with an absence of the usual generalization decrement. The latency of the initial response, however, shows a bimodal gradient with the modes at the S^D values.     

Generalization of conditioned suppression after differential training

In a modified conditioned suppression procedure, clicks at one frequency (danger signal) preceded shocks, while no shocks followed clicks at a different frequency (safe signal). During generalization tests, the maximal response rate was frequently shifted from the safe signal in the direction away from the danger signal, and the minimal response rate was frequently shifted in the opposite direction, away from the safe signal. There was considerable variability in the results from one animal to another. The generalization tests also suggested different generalization functions according to whether the danger signal was a lower or a higher frequency than the safe signal. The results also showed the development of systematic differences in response rate during and after the safe and danger signals, notably a relatively high rate at the beginning of the safe signal and after the danger signal.     

The role of nonlinear factor-to-indicator relationships in tests of measurement equivalence

Measurement invariance is a necessary condition for the evaluation of factor mean differences over groups or time. This article considers the potential problems that can arise for tests of measurement invariance when the true factor-to-indicator relationship is nonlinear (quadratic) and invariant but the linear factor model is nevertheless applied. The factor loadings and indicator intercepts of the linear model will diverge across groups as the factor mean difference increases. Power analyses show that even apparently small quadratic effects can result in rejection of measurement invariance at moderate sample sizes when the factor mean difference is medium to large. Recommendations include the identification of nonlinear relationships using diagnostic plots and consideration of newly developed methods for fitting nonlinear factor models.     

Generalization after intradimensional discrimination training in 2-year-old children

Two-year-old children received intradimensional discrimination training at initially distant points on a circle-ellipse continuum. This training often did not produce stimulus control by circle-ellipse differences smaller than the original training values. The lack of control did not reflect capacity limitations, however. Good control was established when the children were given further training at nearer points on the continuum. The data confirm results of earlier research on stimulus generalization, extending them to a developing human subject population.     

Peer relationships in counseling psychology training

Twelve students from APA-accredited counseling psychology doctoral programs were interviewed about their experiences with peers in their program, and about their values and beliefs about peer relationships in graduate school. Interview data were analyzed using consensual qualitative research. Participants reported a wide range of positive (e.g. collaborative and supportive) and negative (e.g. competitive and hostile) interactions with peers inside and outside of the classroom, in research, and in clinical work. Compared to advisory and supervisory relationships, peer relationships were typically less formal and more open. The sharing of common training experiences generally facilitated mutual understanding among trainees. In addition, a visual analog scale, the peer relationship scale (PRS), was used to measure participants’ closeness with peers. Results from the PRS appeared to be useful in distinguishing participants with the most positive and negative peer relationships, warranting further investigation of its psychometric properties and application in program evaluation and research on training. Implications for training are discussed.     

Generalization gradients of inhibition after different amounts of training

Five groups of pigeons received seven sessions of variable-interval reinforcement for pecking a blank white key, followed by either 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 sessions of training on a successive discrimination in which the positive stimulus was the blank white key and the negative stimulus was a black vertical line on the white key. After training, a generalization test was administered along the line-tilt continuum. Relative gradients of inhibition became steeper with increased amounts of training, and reliably nonhorizontal absolute gradients were obtained only from groups of subjects with at least four days of training. Therefore, inhibitory stimulus control improves with added training. Several problems with the concept of “inhibition” are examined and some implications of the results for theoretical analyses of operant discrimination learning are discussed.     

Generalization of posture training to computer workstations in an applied setting

Improving employees' posture may decrease the risk of musculoskeletal disorders. The current paper is a systematic replication and extension of Sigurdsson and Austin (2008), who found that an intervention consisting of information, real-time feedback, and self-monitoring improved participant posture at mock workstations. In the current study, participants worked in an applied setting, and posture data were collected at participants' own workstations and a mock workstation. Intervention in the mock setting was associated with consistent improvement in safe posture at the mock workstation, but generalization to the actual workstation was limited.     

Generalization of cross-modal stimulus equivalence classes: operant processes as components in human category formation.

This study employed a stimulus-class rating procedure to explore whether stimulus equivalence and stimulus generalization can combine to promote the formation of open-ended categories incorporating cross-modal stimuli. A pretest of simple auditory discrimination indicated that subjects (college students) could discriminate among a range of tones used in the main study. Before beginning the main study, 10 subjects learned to use a rating procedure for categorizing sets of stimuli as class consistent or class inconsistent. After completing conditional discrimination training with new stimuli (shapes and tones), the subjects demonstrated the formation of cross-modal equivalence classes. Subsequently, the class-inclusion rating procedure was reinstituted, this time with cross-modal sets of stimuli drawn from the equivalence classes. On some occasions, the tones of the equivalence classes were replaced by novel tones. The probability that these novel sets would be rated as class consistent was generally a function of the auditory distance between the novel tone and the tone that was explicitly included in the equivalence class. These data extend prior work on generalization of equivalence classes, and support the role of operant processes in human category formation.     

Generalization of delayed matching to sample following training at different delays

Four groups of pigeons were trained to perform a delayed matching-to-sample task with a single delay of 0, 2, 4, or 6 s from the outset of training. The longer the training delay, the more sessions were required for all birds to reach the same level of response accuracy. Following initial training, five test sessions that included nonreinforced trials with delay intervals of 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 s were interspersed between training sessions. Unlike typical forgetting functions in which accuracy decreases monotonically with increasing delay, the forgetting functions from test sessions resembled generalization gradients with the peak of the functions occurring at the training delay. Following additional training for all birds with a 0-s delay, forgetting functions decreased monotonically with increasing delay. The results suggested that remembering can be trained at a specific delay interval, and generalizes to similar delay intervals. Generalization along the temporal dimension of delay may contribute to typical forgetting functions in which accuracy decreases from 0-s delay.     

Generalization effects of social skills training in chronic schizophrenics: An experimental analysis

Social skills training was administered to three (one male and two female) chronic schizophrenic patients in a Partial Hospitalization Service. Treatment consisted of instructions. feedback and modeling, and was administered in 25. 26 and 31 sessions, respectively, for the three patients. Target behaviors were identified for each patient based on his/her responses to role-played interactions involving male and female partners in situations requiring commendatory or hostile assertion. Five to seven target behaviors were selected for each subject and were treated sequentially in a multiple baseline format. Skills training was highly successful for the two female patients but was only partially effective for the male patient. Two forms of generalization measures were included, indicating that the effects of training generalized from trained to untrained, and trained to novel role-played interactions. Follow-up assessments for the two female patients indicated that most of the effects persisted over 8–10-week post-treatment periods.     

The role of multiple-exemplar training and naming in establishing derived equivalence in an infant

The conditions under which symmetry and equivalence relations develop are still controversial. This paper reports three experiments that attempt to analyze the impact of multiple-exemplar training (MET) in receptive symmetry on the emergence of visual-visual equivalence relations with a very young child, Gloria. At the age of 15 months 24 days (15m24d), Gloria was tested for receptive symmetry and naming and showed no evidence of either repertoire. In the first experiment, MET in immediate and delayed receptive symmetrical responding or listener behavior (from object-sound to immediate and delayed sound-object selection) proceeded for one month with 10 different objects. This was followed, at 16m25d, by a second test conducted with six new objects. Gloria showed generalized receptive symmetry with a 3-hr delay; however no evidence of naming with new objects was found. Experiment 2 began at 17m with the aim of establishing derived visual-visual equivalence relations using a matching-to-sample format with two comparisons. Visual-visual equivalence responding emerged at 19m, although Gloria still had not shown evidence of naming. Experiment 3 (22m to 23m25d) used a three-comparison matching-to-sample procedure to establish visual-visual equivalence. Equivalence responding emerged as in Experiment 2, and naming emerged by the end of Experiment 3. Results are discussed in terms of the history of training in bidirectional relations responsible for the emergence of visual-visual equivalence relations and of their implications for current theories of stimulus equivalence.     

Reorganization of equivalence classes: effects of preliminary training and meaningful stimuli

In Condition 1, adults learned the baseline relations for the three equivalence classes A1‐B1‐C1‐D1‐E1, A2‐B2‐C2‐D2‐E2, and A3‐B3‐C3‐D3‐E3. Classes contained abstract shapes in the ABS and four preliminary training groups. Each class in the PIC group contained one picture and four abstract shapes. Before class formation for four other groups, preliminary training involved establishing identity (CC) or arbitrary (CX) relations either with or without a delay. Without preliminary training, classes formed with low and high likelihoods in the ABS and PIC groups, respectively. Preliminary training with no delay produced modest increases in class formation, while preliminary training with delay produced large increases in class formation. Condition 2 replicated Condition 1 but with training of reassigned BC and CD relations that linked C from one class to B and D from another class: B1‐C2, B2‐C3, B3‐C1, C2‐D1, C3‐D2, and C1‐D3. Subsequent tests assessed the emergence of the reorganized classes A1‐B1 ‐C2 ‐D1‐E1, A2‐B2‐ C3 ‐D2‐E2, and A3‐B3‐ C1 ‐D3‐E3. All preliminary training procedures increased likelihood of forming the reorganized classes to the level seen in the PIC group. Greater gains were produced by preliminary training with no delays than with delays. Test performances also showed how preliminary training influenced baseline acquisition speed and participant‐defined relations.