Relations among equivalence, naming, and conflicting baseline control

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Psychology
• Cognitive Science
• Learning and Conditioning

Background:

• Equivalence classes are fundamental in understanding complex stimulus relations.
• The role of naming in establishing and maintaining these derived relations is debated.
• Conflicting stimuli can challenge established behavioral repertoires.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how training class-inconsistent relations affects emergent arbitrary stimulus relations.
• To examine the influence of naming (provided vs. self-generated) on equivalence responding.
• To determine if naming is a prerequisite for demonstrations of stimulus equivalence.

Main Methods:

• Three studies utilized conditional discrimination training to establish two three-member equivalence classes.
• New discriminative stimuli (S+, S-) were introduced, creating conflicts within and between classes.
• Naming was manipulated across studies: no names, experimenter-provided names, and required use of names.

Main Results:

• Equivalence responding for original classes was disrupted in some participants after learning new, conflicting relations.
• Non-correspondence between naming patterns and derived relations was frequently observed in studies involving naming.
• Disruptions occurred regardless of whether names were provided or actively used.

Conclusions:

• Demonstrations of stimulus equivalence are influenced by multiple sources of control, not solely naming.
• Naming does not appear to be fundamentally necessary for the emergence of arbitrary stimulus relations.
• Behavioral flexibility in the face of conflicting contingencies is a key factor in stimulus equivalence.