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STIMULUS GENERALIZATION AND EQUIVALENCE CLASSES: A MODEL FOR NATURAL CATEGORIES
Author(s) -
Fields Lanny,
Reeve Kenneth F.,
Adams Barbara J.,
Verhave Thom
Publication year - 1991
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 - 10.1901/jeab.1991.55-305
Subject(s) - equivalence (formal languages) , equivalence class (music) , generalization , mathematics , functional equivalence , line drawings , discrimination learning , stimulus (psychology) , equivalence relation , psychology , combinatorics , cognitive psychology , discrete mathematics , mathematical analysis , linguistics , philosophy , engineering drawing , engineering
Two three‐member classes were formed by training AB and BC using a conditional discrimination procedure. The A and B stimuli were nonsense syllables, and the C stimuli were sets of “short” or “long” lines. To test for equivalence, C1 or C2 was presented as a sample with A1 and A2 as comparisons. Once the class‐related comparison was chosen consistently, different line lengths were substituted for the training lines in the CA tests. In general, the likelihood of choosing a given comparison was an inverse function of the difference in the length of the test line from the training line. Stimuli in an equivalence class became functionally related not only to each other but also to novel stimuli that resembled a member of the equivalence class. The combination of primary generalization and equivalence class formation, then, can serve as a model to account for the development of naturally occurring categories.