Differential derived stimulus relations across probe-trial versus adduction testing are not a function of...

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Cognitive Science
• Behavioral Psychology

Background:

• Deriving equivalence relations is crucial for understanding emergent learning.
• Adduction testing has shown unreliable results in establishing three-node equivalence relations.
• The role of comparison-stimulus presentation in adduction testing is unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if the absence of comparison stimuli causes unreliable derivation of three-node equivalence relations in adduction testing.
• To compare probe-trial testing and adduction testing for deriving EA equivalence relations.
• To clarify the conditions controlling emergent learning in different testing contexts.

Main Methods:

• College students learned arbitrary matching-to-sample discriminations (AB, BC, CD, DE).
• Participants underwent either probe-trial testing or adduction testing with comparison stimuli.
• Probe-trial testing involved deriving EA relations without differential consequences.
• Adduction testing involved arithmetic equations combining derived EA relations and math skills.

Main Results:

• All participants successfully derived EA relations in probe-trial testing.
• No participants successfully performed in adduction testing, even with comparison stimuli present.
• The presence of comparison stimuli did not improve performance in adduction testing.

Conclusions:

• The unreliability of three-node equivalence relations in adduction testing is not due to the typical absence of comparison stimuli.
• Testing context, specifically the structure of adduction tasks, significantly impacts emergent learning.
• Further research is needed to identify necessary and sufficient conditions for emergent learning in various testing paradigms.