Association for Behavior Analysis International

Previous applied studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of the stimulus equivalence paradigm in teaching skills such as fractions, reading, and U.S. geography. Additionally, researchers have confirmed the utility of match-to-sample procedures and tact training in the formation of equivalence classes. The following three studies showed the formation of equivalence classes with a variety of stimuli and across two different populations. Experiment 1 evaluated the effects of tact training on the formation of equivalence classes with a 10-year old male with autism. Results showed that following tact training, the participant demonstrated the emergence of derived auditory-visual and visual-visual relations. Experiment 2 examined at the use of equivalence-based instruction to teach four, 4-member classes representing functions of behavior to 10 undergraduate and graduate college students. Results showed that all participants acquired both trained and derived relations. Finally, in experiment 3, equivalence classes were established for the fifth grade science concepts, liquid, gas, and solid through the use of match-to-sample conditional discrimination training with students with autism spectrum disorders.

The stimulus equivalence paradigm has been well documented within the applied literature over the past four decades. Many researchers have shown that following the direct training and reinforcement of specific stimulus-stimulus relations untrained relations have emerged. Match-to-sample procedures have been frequently used in training however, some research has suggested that having an established naming repertoire for a particular class of stimuli may be sufficient for the formation of equivalence relations. The current study evaluated the formation of 3 equivalence classes following tact training using geography-based stimuli (state shape, state abbreviation, state flag). The participant was a 10-year old male who held a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. The nine visually dissimilar stimuli were separated into three different classes (i.e. Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine). The participant was taught to tact each of the nine stimuli as Connecticut, Massachusetts or Maine. Results showed that following tact training, the participant demonstrated the emergence of untrained relations through auditory-visual and visual-visual match-to-sample tests.

Determining the function of behavior through the interpretation of data is a critical skill for any behavior analyst. The present study evaluated the use of equivalence-based instruction to teach four, 4-member classes representing functions of behavior to 10 undergraduate and graduate college students. Computerized equivalence-based instruction along with multiple exemplars of stimuli were used to teach the classes. A pretest-training-posttest design was used to evaluate performances on computer-based tests and written multiple-choice tests (selection-based responding), as well as oral tests (topography-based responding). All participants acquired both trained and derived relations during computer-based match-to-sample instruction. Testing scores improved from pretest to posttest on both selection-based tests (i.e., computer-based and written multiple-choice) and the topography-based tests (i.e., oral) for all participants following equivalence-based instruction. Finally, test performance maintained two weeks after equivalence-based instruction was completed. The present study demonstrated that equivalence-based instruction can be used to effectively teach the function of behavior and that a selection-based teaching protocol administered on a computer can promote the emergence of responses to a selection-based testing protocol using multiple-choice and to a topography-based oral test.