Probability of Stimulus Equivalence as a Function of Class Size vs. Number of Classes

The Psychological Record - Two experiments were conducted to study stimulus equivalence as a function of class size and number of classes. In the first experiment, equivalence was tested in 50...     

Equivalence Class Formation in Accuracy or Speed Conditions: Immediate Emergence,Adduction, and Retention

The Psychological Record - Six pairs of participants were matched from a pool of 26 participants based on their performance in pretraining for conditional discrimination. One participant from each...     

Erratum: Stimulus familiarity and the delayed emergence of stimulus equivalence or consistent nonequivalence

The Psychological Record -     

Relation of spelling and writing in learning disabilities

The paper describes a study in which the relationship between the cognitive and psychomotor aspects of children's spelling and writing performances was investigated. By comparing data from various categories of children the relationship between the semantic and psychomotor functions could be examined, and differences between the skill performances of the three groups of students were predicted. A four-way 3 X 3 X 2 X 2 orthogonal design with categories of subjects, type, structure, and length of task as independent variables was used in the laboratory study, with 24 "normal", 24 dyslexic, and 24 dysgraphic nine-year-old children as subjects. Most of the 16 hypotheses were verified by data identifying some of the spelling and writing characteristics of the three groups of children and the effects of contextual parameters on their performances. Dyslexic children, for example, seemed to write more slowly than the others, and their mean score of spelling errors was the highest one, whereas the dysgraphic children had the lowest mean score in writing accuracy and rhythm.     

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.     

Go/No-Go Procedure with Compound Stimuli: Effects of Training Structure on the Emergence of Equivalence Classes

The Psychological Record - When the matching-to-sample (MTS) procedure is used, different training structures imply differences in the successive discriminations required in training and test...     

Expansion of arbitrary stimulus classes and function-transfer measured by sorting performances

Sorting (SRT) and matching-to-sample (MTS) tests have measured the formation of arbitrary stimulus classes. This experiment used SRT and MTS tests to document the expansion of class size. Thirty-two participants learned 12 conditional discriminations with a linear series training structure (A➔B➔C➔D➔E). SRT tests documented the formation of 5-member classes by 17 of the participants. Thereafter, 6-member class expansion was implemented by FC training. Nine of these 17 participants showed class expansion when tracked with a sequence of an SRT, MTS, and a final SRT test, and the other 8 showed expansion when tracked with a sequence of MTS and SRT tests. Thus, SRT tests documented class expansion, and the sequence of tests did not influence class expansion. The 15 participants who did not form the 5-member classes learned the baselines for new 3-member classes (A➔B➔C) and formed them as documented by an SRT test. Then, 4-member class expansion was implemented by FB training. Expansion was assessed using the above-mentioned testing sequences. All 15 showed class expansion with 100% correspondence between the SRT and MTS performances. Sorting documented the expansion of arbitrary stimulus classes, while the MTS tests showed that the stimuli also functioned as members of equivalence classes.     

Training play behavior in a 5-year-old boy with developmental disabilities

The purpose of the current study was twofold: (a) to investigate if it was possible to train three different games (both as a leader and as a participant) to a child with developmental disabilities through interaction with 4 typically developing peers, and (b) to examine if correct responding would be maintained after the training was faded. A multiple probe design across three games was used. The results showed that the child learned both skills as a leader and as a participant in all three games, and that skills were maintained for a period of 3 weeks after the training had stopped.     

Water Mist Punishment for Two Classes of Problem Behaviour

A study with multiple baseline design across situations and response-classes was used to evaluate the effects of a water mist procedure used for punishment of two classes of problem behaviour in a 50-year-old woman with severe mental retardation. Problem behaviour was reduced to less than 5% of baseline. After 19 months the problem behaviour was still reduced, and had stabilized at a level below 10% of baseline. Due to financial economies the local community authorities terminated the treatment, which resulted in a marked increase in the rate of problem behaviour.