Abstract
Throughout the 25-year history of research on stimulus equivalence, one feature of the training procedure has remained constant, namely, the requirement of operant responding during the training procedures. The present investigation compared the traditional match-to-sample (MTS) training with a more recent respondent-type (ReT) procedure. Another consistent feature of the equivalence paradigm is the apparent stipulation that both training and testing must occur before equivalence emerges. In this respect, a more idiosyncratic measure of class acquisition would be desirable. Multidimensional scaling, as a class of exploratory techniques, is introduced as a possible addition to the stimulus equivalence paradigm.
Results from 35 subjects in 3 experiments suggest that while the respondent-type training method can be an effective procedure, the operant-based match-to-saimple method was clearly more effective in tests for symmetry, equivalence, and extended equivalence. The addition of a scaling procedure proved valuable and showed that both training methods facilitated the emergence of derived relations to varying degrees. Results are evaluated in relation to the importance of broadening the necessary and sufficient training conditions and response requirements for the emergence of stimulus equivalence.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
BARNES, D., & HOLMES, Y. (1991). Radical behaviorism, stimulus equivalence, and human cognition. The Psychological Record, 41, 19–31.
BARNES, D., MCCULLAGH, P. D., & KEENAN, M. (1990). Equivalence class formation in non-hearing impaired children and hearing impaired children. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 8, 19–30.
BARNES, D., SMEETS, P. M., & LEADER, G. (1996). Procedures for generating emergent matching performances in children and adults: Implications for stimulus equivalence. In T. R. Zentall & P. M. Smeets (Eds.), Stimulus class formation in humans and animals: Advances in psychology (pp. 153–171). Elsevier, Netherlands.
BEENA, S. (1986). Academic-reinforcement: Caste and educational development. Asian Journal of Psychology and Education, 17(3), 8–13.
BORG, I., & GROENEN, P. (1997). Modern multidimensional scaling: Theory and applications. New York: Springer.
CARR, D., WILKINSON, K. M., & BLACKMAN, D. (2000). Equivalence classes in individuals with minimal verbal repertoires. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 74(1), 101–114.
CLAYTON, M. C., & HAYES, L. J. (1999). Conceptual differences in the analysis of stimulus equivalence. The Psychological Record, 49, 145–161.
COWLEY, B. J., GREEN, G., & BRAUNLING-MCMORROW, D. (1992). Using stimulus equivalence procedures to teach name-face matching to adults with brain injuries. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 25, 461–475.
CULLINAN, V. A., BARNES, D., HAMPSON, P. M., & LYDDY, F. (1994). A transfer of explicitly trained and nonexplicitly trained sequence responses through equivalence relations: An experimental demonstration and connectionist model. The Psychological Record, 44, 559–585.
DAVISON, M. L. (1983). Introduction to multidimensional scaling and its applications. Applied Psychological Measurement, 7(4), 373–380.
DE ROSE, J. C., DE SOUZA, D. G., ROSSITO, A. L., & DE ROSE, T. M. S. (1992). Stimulus equivalence and generalization in reading after matching to sample by exclusion. In S. C. Hayes & L. J. Hayes (Eds.), Understanding verbal relations (pp. 68–82). Reno, NV: Context Press.
DEVANY, J. M., HAYES, S. C., & NELSON, R. O. (1986). Equivalence class formation in language-able and language-disabled children. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 46, 243–257.
DUGDALE, N., & LOWE, C. F. (1990). Naming and stimulus equivalence. In D. E. Blackman & H. LeJeune (Eds.), Behaviour analysis in theory and practice: Contributions and controversies. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
DYMOND, S., & BARNES, D. (1994). A transformation of self-discrimination response functions in accordance with the arbitrarily applicable relations of sameness and opposition. The Psychological Record, 46, 271–300.
EIKESETH, S., & SMITH, T. (1992). The development of functional and equivalence classes in high-functioning autistic children: The role of naming. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 58, 123–133.
GREY, I. M., & BARNES, D. (1996). Stimulus equivalence and attitudes. The Psychological Record, 46, 243–270.
HAYES, S. C. (1989). Nonhumans have not yet shown stimulus equivalence. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 51, 385–392.
HAYES, S. C., & BARNES, D. (1997). Analyzing derived stimulus relations requires more than the concept of stimulus class. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 68, 235–247.
HAYES, S. C., BARNES-HOLMES, D., & ROCHE, B. (2001). Relational frame theory: A post-Skinnerian account of human language and cognition. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
HAYES, S. C., GIFFORD, E. V., & TOWNSEND, R. C. (2001). Thinking, problem-solving, and pragmatic verbal analysis. In S. C. Hayes, D. Barnes-Holmes, & B. Roche (Eds.), Relational frame theory: A post-Skinnerian account of human language and cognition (pp. 87–102). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
HAYES, S. C., & HAYES, L. J. (1989). The verbal action of the listener as a basis for rule-governance. In S. C. Hayes (Ed.), Rule-governed behavior: Cognition, contingencies, and instructional control. New York: Plenum Press.
JONES, L. E. (1983). Multidimensional models of social perception, cognition, and behavior. Applied Psychological Measurement, 7(4), 451–472.
KOHLENBERG, B. S., HAYES, S. C., & HAYES, L. J. (1991). The transfer of contextual control over equivalence classes through equivalence classes: A possible model of social stereotyping. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 56, 505–518.
KRUSKAL, J. B., & WISH, M. (1978). Multidimensional scaling. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.
LEADER, G., BARNES, D., & SMEETS, P. M. (1996). Establishing equivalence relations using a respondent-type training procedure. The Psychological Record, 46, 685–706.
LEADER, G., & BARNES-HOLMES, D. (2001). Matching-to-sample and respondent-type training as methods for producing equivalence relations: Isolating the critical variable. The Psychological Record, 51, 429–444.
LIPKENS, R. (1992). A behavioral analysis of complex human functioning: Analogical reasoning. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Nevada.
LIPKENS, R., KOP, P. F. M., & MATTHIJS, W. (1988). A test of symmetry and transitivity in the conditional discrimination performances of pigeons. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 49, 395–409.
LOWE, C. F., HORNE, P. J., HARRIS, F. D. A., & RANDLE, V. R. L. (2002). Naming and categorization in young children: Vocal tract training. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 78, 527–550.
MATOS, M. A., & HUBNER-D’OLIVEIRA, M. M. (1992). Equivalence relations and reading. In S. C. Hayes & L. J. Hayes (Eds.), Understanding verbal relations (pp. 83–96). Reno, NV: Context Press.
ROCHE, B., BARNES, D., & SMEETS, P. M. (1997). Incongruous stimulus pairing and conditional discrimination training: Effects on relational responding. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 68, 143–160.
ROCHE, B., BARNES-HOLMES, D., & BARNES-HOLMES, Y. (2001). Social processes. In S. C. Hayes, D. Barnes-Holmes, & B. Roche (Eds.), Relational frame theory: A post-Skinnerian account of human language and cognition (pp. 197–210). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
ROCHE, B., BARNES-HOLMES, D., SMEETS, P. M., BARNES-HOLMES, Y, & MCGEADY, S. (2000). Contextual control over the derived transformation of discriminative and sexual arousal functions. The Psychological Record, 50, 267–291.
SCHIFFMAN, S. S., REYNOLDS, M. L., & YOUNG, F. W. (1981). Introduction to multidimensional scaling: Theory, methods, and applications. New York: Academic Press.
SHOBEN, E. J. (1983). Applications of multidimensional scaling in cognitive psychology. Applied Psychological Measurement, 7(4), 473–490.
SIDMAN, M., & TAILBY, W. (1982). Conditional discrimination vs. matching to sample: An expansion of the testing paradigm. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 37, 5–22.
SKINNER, B. F. (1953). Science and human behavior. New York: The Free Press.
SKINNER, B. F. (1961). Why we need teaching machines. Harvard Educational Review, 31, 377–398.
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.
VAUGHAN, W. (1988). Formation of equivalence sets in pigeons. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 14, 36–42.
WALKER, S. C. (1992). Integrated skills reinforcement in educational psychology. Dissertation Abstracts International, 52(11-A), 3840.
WIRTH, O., & CHASE, P. N. (2002). Stability of functional equivalence and stimulus equivalence: Effects of baseline reversals. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 77(1), 29–47.
WULFERT, E., DOUGHER, M. J., & GREENWAY, D. E. (1991). Protocol analysis of the correspondence of verbal behavior and equivalence class formation. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 56, 489–504.
WULFERT, E., & HAYES, S. C. (1988). Transfer of a conditional ordering response through conditional equivalence classes. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 50, 125–144.
YAMAMOTO, J., & ASANO, T. (1995). Stimulus equivalence in a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). The Psychological Record, 45, 3–21.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Portions of this research were conducted as part of Michael Clayton’s doctoral research program under supervision of Linda J. Hayes. Much appreciation is owed to Jiang Qian and Dermot Barnes-Holmes for their contributions to this project.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Clayton, M.C., Hayes, L.J. A comparison of Match-to-Sample and Respondent-Type training of equivalence classes. Psychol Rec 54, 579–602 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03395493
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03395493