Abstract
The present study was a modified replication of a paper-and-pencil format study by Eikeseth, Rosales-Ruiz, Duarte, and Baer (1997) on equivalence relations derived from instructionally induced conditional relations. The study consisted of three experiments, all with Dutch psychology students as subjects. After being instructed to memorize four printed examples of arbitrary A-B and B-C conditional discrimination tasks and completing A-B and B-C trials in the presence of these examples, the subjects received a series of probe trials (no access to the examples): baseline and symmetric transitivity (C-A) probes (Experiment 1), or baseline, symmetry (B-A, C-B), and symmetric transitivity probes followed by a sorting test (Experiments 2 and 3). Without the option to skip “impossible-to-solve” probe trials (Experiments 1 and 2), almost all subjects (99%) completed all training and all probe trials. Most subjects (87%) who responded correctly on the baseline training trials also responded correctly on the baseline probes. Most of these subjects responded correctly on the symmetry trials (87%), the symmetric transitivity probes (81%), and on the sorting test (76%). Symmetric transitivity was seen most often when tested after symmetry. The performances on the sorting test corresponded with the numbers of derived relations (symmetry and transitivity; symmetry or symmetric transitivity; no symmetry nor symmetric transitivity) rather than with equivalence per se. The introduction of the default option (Experiment 3) resulted in most subjects skipping and responding inaccurately on the symmetry and symmetric transitivity probes.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
ADAMS, B. J., FIELDS, L., VERHAVE, T. (1993). Effects of test order on intersubject variability during equivalence class formation. The Psychological Record, 43, 133–152.
BARNES, D. (1994). Stimulus equivalence and the relational frame theory. The Psychological Record, 44, 91–124.
BARNES, D., KEENAN, M. (1993). The transfer of functions through arbitrary and nonarbitrary stimulus relations. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 59, 61–81.
CULLINAN, V. A., BARNES, D., SMEETS, P. M. (1997). A precursor to the relational evaluation procedure: Analyzing stimulus equivalence. The Psychological Record, 48, 121–145.
DE ROSE, J. C., MCILVANE, W. J., DUBE, W. V., GALPIN, V. C., STODDARD, L. T. (1988). Emergent simple discrimination establsihed by indirect relation to differential consequences. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 50, 1–20.
DUARTE, A. M., EIKESETH, S., ROSALES-RUIZ, J., BAER, D. M. (1998). The effects of a can’t-answer response option and instructions on stimulus equivalence. The Psychological Record, 48, 631–646.
DUBE, W. V., MCDONALD, S. J., MCILVANE, W. J. (1990). A note on the relationship between equivalence classes and functional stimulus classes. Experimental Analysis of Human Behavior Bulletin, 9, 7–11.
DYMOND, S., BARNES, D. (1994). A transfer of self-discrimination response functions through equivalence relations. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 62, 251–267.
EIKESETH, S., BAER, D. M. (1997). Use of a preexisting verbal relation to prevent the properties of stimulus equivalence from emerging in new relations. In D. M. Baer & E. M. Pinkston (Eds.), Environment and behavior (pp. 138–143). Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
EIKESETH, S., ROSALES-RUIZ, J., DUARTE, A., BAER, D. M. (1997). The quick development of equivalence classes in a paper-and-pencil format through written instructions. The Psychological Record, 47, 275–284.
FIELDS, L., ADAMS, B. J., NEWMAN, S., VERHAVE, T (1992). Interactions among emergent relations during equivalence class formation. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 45B, 125–138.
GREEN, G. (1990). Differences in development of visual and auditory-visual equivalence relations. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 95, 260–270.
HAYES, S. C. (1989). Rule-governed behavior, cognition, contingencies, and instructional control. New York: Plenum.
HOLTH, P., ARTNZEN, E. (1998). Stimulus familiarity and the delayed emergence of stimulus equivalence or consistent nonequivalence. The Psychological Record, 48, 81–110.
INNIS, A., LANE, S. D., MILLER, E. R., CRITCHFIELD, T. (1998). Stimulus equivalence: Effects of a default-response option on emergence of untrained stimulus relations. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 70, 87–102.
LEADER, G., BARNES, D., SMEETS, P. M. (1996). Establishing equivalence relations using a respondent-type training procedure. The Psychological Record, 46, 685–706.
LUDVIGSON, H. W., CAUL, W. F. (1964). Relative effect of overlearning on reversal and nonreversal shifts with two and four categories. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 68, 301–306.
MACDONALD, R. F., DIXON, L S., LEBLANC, J. M. (1986). Stimulus class formation following observational learning. Analysis and Intervention in Developmental Disabilities, 6, 73–87.
PILGRIM, C., GALIZIO, M. (1996). Stimulus equivalence: A class of correlations or a correlation of classes? In T. R. Zentall & R. M. Smeets (Eds.), Stimulus class formation in humans and animals (pp. 173–218). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
ROSCH, E., MERVIS, C. B. (1977). Children’s sorting: A reinterpretation based on the nature of abtstraction in natural categories. In R. C. Smart & M. S. Smart (Eds.), Reading in child development and relationships (pp. 140–148). New York: McMillan.
SAUNDERS, R. R., WACHTER, J., SPRADLIN, J. E. (1988). Establishing auditory stimulus control over an eight-member equivalence class via conditional discrimination procedures. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 49, 95–115.
SIDMAN, M. (1994). Equivalence relations and behavior: A research story Boston: Authors Cooperative.
SIDMAN, M., WILLSON-MORRIS, M., KIRK, B. (1986). Matching-to-sample procedures and the development of equivalence relations: The role of naming. Analysis and Intervention in Developmental Disabilities, 6, 1–19.
SIDMAN, M., WYNNE, C. K., MAGUIRE, R. W., BARNES, T (1989). Functional classes and equivalence relations. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 52, 261–274.
SMEETS, P. M., BARNES, D., ROCHE, B. (1997). Functional equivalence in children: Derived stimulus-response and stimulus-stimulus relations. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 66, 1–17.
SMEETS, P. M., LEADER, G., BARNES, D. (1997). Establishing stimulus classes in adults and children using a respondent-type training procedure: A follow-up study. The Psychological Record, 47, 285–308.
SPRADLIN, J. E., COTTER, V. W., BAXLEY, N. (1973). Establishing a conditional discrimination without direct training: A study of transfer with retarded adolescents. American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 77, 556–566.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Smeets, P.M., Dymond, S. & Barnes-Holmes, D. Instructions, Stimulus Equivalence, and Stimulus Sorting: Effects of Sequential Testing Arrangements and a Default Option. Psychol Rec 50, 339–354 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03395359
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03395359