Reversal of baseline relations and stimulus equivalence: II. Children

In a systematic replication of a study using college-student subjects (Pilgrim & Galizio, 1990), 5- to 7-year-old children learned two conditional discriminations (i.e., A1B1, A2B2, A1C1, and A2C2) in a two-choice arbitrary match-to-sample task and showed the emergence of two three-member equivalence classes (A1B1C1 and A2B2C2). Baseline conditional discrimination performance were quickly controlled by reversals of the AC reinforcement contingencies (i.e., choosing Comparison Stimulus C2 was reinforced given Sample A1, and choosing C1 was reinforced given Sample A2) when the reversals were introduced in restricted baselines. On reflexivity, symmetry, and transitivity/equivalence probes following the reversal, there was some limited indication of equivalence-class reorganization (i.e., A1B1C2 and A2B2C1) in keeping with the concurrently performed baseline relations for 2 of 5 subjects, but the predominant pattern across probe trials was one of inconsistent conditional control. These findings suggest that, given similar challenges, equivalence-class performances may be more easily disrupted in young children than in adults.