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| Int'l Symposium - Some Empirical Advances in Transformation of Function Research |
| Tuesday, June 1, 2004 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| Fairfax A |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Applied Research |
| Chair: Jose Ortega (University of Almeria, Spain) |
| Abstract: . |
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| Auditory-Visual and Visual-Visual Equivalence Relations in Children |
| SARAH CRAIG (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Paul M. Smeets (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Dermot Barnes-Holmes (National University of Ireland, Maynooth) |
| Abstract: Previous research has shown that persons with mental retardation more readily evidence equivalence after being trained on auditory-visual than on visual-visual match-to-sample tasks. The present study examined if this discrepancy is also apparent in normally capable preschoolers and whether the derived class-consistent test performances could have resulted from applying the same verbal label to all stimuli of a class or from intra-verbal naming. Sixteen 5-year-old children received training on auditory-visual and visual-visual match-to-sample tasks. Then they were tested for equivalence, requested to name each stimulus, and given the opportunity to sort the stimuli according to equivalence-class membership. Unsolicited naming responses were recorded during all arbitrary matching tasks. All 16 children passed the auditory-visual equivalence test, 12 of whom also passed the sorting test. The performances during the equivalence and sorting tests appeared not to be related to the names given during the presentation or after the presentation of the matching tasks. |
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| Transfer of Contextual Control with Non-Arbitrary Relations via the Emergence of Compound Stimuli |
| JOSE ORTEGA (University of Almeria, Spain), Carmen Luciano Soriano (University of Almeria, Spain), Olga Gutierrez-Martinez (University of Almeria, Spain) |
| Abstract: The purpose of this study was to demonstrate whether a stimulus function established for a single-element stimulus would transfer to related compound stimuli. Previous data show that transfer of functions may be a result of establishing equivalence relations. In Phase 1 of this study participants were given non-arbitrary relational pretraining that brought their responses under the control of two unitary contextual stimuli: SAME (A1) and DIFFERENT (A2). In Phase 2, they were taught nine conditional relations between single and compound stimuli (A1B1-C1; A1B2-C3; A1B3-C2; A2B1-C3; A2B2-C2; A2B3-C1; A3B1-C2; A3B2-C2 and A3B3-C3). Once AB-C relations were established, Phase 3 tested for nine AC-B and BC-A relations. In Phase 4, subjects were presented with new compound stimuli that served as contextual cues for relations for sameness (B1C1; B2C3 and B3C2) and difference (B2C2; B1C3 and B3C1), then with a new set of non-arbitrarily related stimuli and, finally, with a new set of arbitrarily related stimuli. Results are discussed in terms of substitutability as a kind of functional equivalence, as well as in regard to their applied implications. |
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| Comparing Associative and Relational-Frame Accounts of Transitive Inference: An Empirical Demonstration |
| SARAH CRAIG (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Robert Whelan (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Dermot Barnes-Holmes (National University of Ireland, Maynooth) |
| Abstract: If A is deemed to be more than B, and B is deemed to be more than C, it follows logically that A is more than C. This type of logical reasoning provides an example of what has been called transitive inference (TI) in the literature, and it has been the focus of many empirical studies. Despite this work, however, debate still surrounds the possible processes that give rise to TI performances. Some researchers claim that "value transfer" mechanisms can explain TI behavior; others maintain that relational frames of comparison must be involved. In order to subject these accounts to an empirical analysis, 10 subjects were exposed to the following procedure. Subjects’ responses to nonarbitrary stimulus relations of More-than and Less-than were first brought under contextual control. Subjects were then presented with four conditional discriminations; A < B, C > B, C < D, E > D; with the contextual cues as sample stimuli, and two nonsense words as comparison stimuli. In a subsequent phase, subjects were tested on the untaught relations; for example, B < C and D > C. In accordance with the relational-frame prediction, and contrary to many associative accounts, subjects reliably chose B over C, and reliably chose C over D. |
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| Transformation of Respondent Elicitation: Aversive Conditioning |
| OLGA GUTIERREZ-MARTINEZ (University of Almeria, Spain), Miguel A Rodriguez (National University of Ireland), Carmen Luciano Soriano (University of Almeria, Spain), Dermot Barnes-Holmes (National University of Ireland, Maynooth) |
| Abstract: This study examines the transformation of respondent elicitation in accordance with equivalence relations. Dougher et al., 1994 obtained such an effect with a differential aversive conditioning procedure. However, the Dougher et al. study had several features that can be argued to constrain the validity of its results: (1) conditioning effects were not assessed during acquisition trials, but on the basis of a single probe trial after the transfer test; (2) transfer tests of a derived CS- were always presented prior to any tests of a derived CS+, in order to avoid a shift-in-contingencies effect. The current study replicates Dougher et al’s (1994), but also attempts to extend it by controlling the above-mentioned concerns. Participants in Condition 1 were taught two 4-member equivalence classes, and then went through differential conditioning with B1 as the CS+ and B2 as the CS-. Subsequently they were tested for the transfer of conditioned elicitation to C1 and D1. Participants in Condition 2 went through the same procedure, with the exception that in the transfer test they were presented with novel stimuli. The order of presentation of the stimuli in transfer tests was counterbalanced in both conditions. Additionally, conditioning effects were assessed during the acquisition process. |
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