Conditional discrimination vs. matching to sample: an expansion of the testing paradigm

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Psychology
• Cognitive Science
• Learning and Memory

Background:

• Conditional discrimination procedures establish conditional relations between stimuli.
• These procedures can also generate matching-to-sample behavior, leading to stimulus equivalence.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the formation and expansion of stimulus equivalence classes using a conditional discrimination paradigm.
• To examine how adding stimuli to existing equivalence classes affects the number of emergent relations.

Main Methods:

• Subjects were trained on conditional discrimination tasks involving sets of stimuli (A, B, C, and D).
• Stimulus equivalence was assessed by testing for emergent conditional relations and matching-to-sample.
• The paradigm was expanded by introducing a fourth set of stimuli (D) to enlarge existing equivalence classes.

Main Results:

• Explicitly taught relations in a three-set paradigm (A, B, C) resulted in emergent relations, forming three-member stimulus classes.
• Expanding to a four-set paradigm (A, B, C, D) with additional trained relations led to the formation of four-member stimulus classes.
• Enlarging equivalence classes resulted in a disproportionate increase in the number of emergent relations.

Conclusions:

• Conditional discrimination procedures effectively establish stimulus equivalence classes.
• The expansion of stimulus equivalence classes leads to a significant increase in emergent relations, indicating complex learning.
• Oral naming is not a necessary or sufficient condition for establishing stimulus equivalence classes.