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Effects of preliminary class membership on subsequent stimulus equivalence class formation
Author(s) -
McPheters Carol J.,
Reeve Kenneth F.,
Fienup Daniel M.,
Reeve Sharon A.,
DeBar Ruth M.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of the experimental analysis of behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.75
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1938-3711
pISSN - 0022-5002
DOI - 10.1002/jeab.650
Subject(s) - functional equivalence , equivalence class (music) , stimulus (psychology) , psychology , equivalence (formal languages) , stimulus control , communication , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , mathematics , pure mathematics , neuroscience , linguistics , philosophy , nicotine
The present study examined the effects of including stimuli previously trained as members of functional classes or equivalence classes on subsequent equivalence class formation, and isolated the effects of preliminary training from those of the acquired function stimuli. Fifty‐six adults were assigned to 1 of 5 conditions. The control group (CONT) received no preliminary training prior to the terminal phase. Participants in the other 4 groups learned two 3‐member functional classes and two 3‐member equivalence classes during the preliminary phase. The terminal equivalence phase trained two 5‐member classes (A → B → C → D → E) comprising abstract forms; the C stimuli in the terminal phase were (a) from the preliminary functional classes for 1 group (ACQ‐F), (b) from the preliminary equivalence classes for the second experimental group (ACQ‐E), (c) pictures of everyday objects for the picture control group (PIC), and (d) novel, unfamiliar stimuli for the preliminary training control group (PRE‐CONT). Class formation yields were 100% in the PIC condition and 11% in the CONT condition; however, low yields in the PRE‐CONT, ACQ‐F, and ACQ‐E conditions were unexpected, suggesting that procedural variables in preliminary training account for more of the subsequent effects on class formation than the stimulus control properties of the acquired function stimuli.