Adduction of untested derived stimulus relations depends on environmental complexity

The present research assessed adduction involving derived stimulus relations as a function of environmental complexity. In Group CA, four college students were trained with arbitrary-matching-to-sample discriminations that could have established four, 3-member stimulus classes. In Group EA, four other students were trained with discriminations that could have established four, 5-member classes. Neither group received derived-relations testing; instead, adduction was assessed immediately after the baseline discriminations were learned. The adduction assessment required participants to derive the untested CA (Group CA) or EA (Group EA) equivalence relations and combine them with their already learned math skills. All participants in Group CA showed above 90% accuracy during the adduction assessment, whereas only one of four Group EA participants responded in that manner. These results extend adduction to untested equivalence relations and clarify the environmental conditions under which such adduction is less likely to occur (i.e., with larger relational networks).