Treino por Consistência de Estímulos sem Conseqüências Diferenciais

Four undergraduate students without previous history as subjects were exposed to training in the formation ofconditional relations AB, AC, and AD, without differential consequences, and to symmetry and equivalence tests. A threechoice simultaneous match-to-samplc procedure was used, with usual figures. For each model, a positive stimulus (S+) waspaired consistently in all trials, while two negative stimuli (S-) were paired alternatively. Criterion was met when the subject'sresponses were consistent on at least 35 of 36 trials in each block. The subjects responded consistently during training. Threesubjects performed consistently in the tests; one showed chance-level performance in symmetry tests, but responded consistentlyin equivalence tests. These results indicate that conditional relations formed by consistency, without differential reinforcement,were also equivalent relations, and indicate also that repetition of tests may be enough for teaching relations to be tested.Quatro universitários, sem história experimental prévia, foram expostos ao treino, sem conseqüências diferenciais, das relações condicionais AB, AC, AD, e a testes de simetria e equivalência. Foi utilizado um pareamento com o modelo, envolvendo figuras usuais. Para cada modelo, um S+ era pareado consistentemente cm todas as tentativas; um S- apresentado por duas tentativas consecutivas sendo, em uma destas, acompanhado por um outro S-. O critério de aprendizagem variava entre 97,22% e 100% de acertos em cada um dos blocos de 36 tentativas. Os sujeitos responderam consistentemente no treino. Três sujeitos apresentaram um desempenho consistente nos testes, e um respondeu ao acaso nos testes de simetria, mas consistentemente nos testes de equivalência. Conclui-se que as relações condicionais formadas por consistência, sem reforçamento diferencial, eram também equivalentes. Ademais, a repetição de testes é efetiva para o ensino de relações a serem testada

Efeitos da Distribuição Treino/Testes Sobre a Formação de Classes de Estímulos Equivalentes sem Conseqüências Diferenciais

Human subjects respond consistently, in the absence of differential consequences only after a long exposure toconditional relations training, and delayed tests. The objective of the present experiment was to verify the effects of thereduction of the delay of the contact of the subject with the tests, submitted to a sequence in that the training of each one of theconditional relationships was to be followed by tests of simpler emergent relationships to the most complex relationships. Fouruniversity students had the task of touching a sensitive screen without differential consequences for correct or incorrectresponses. The stability criterion was 97% of successes for block (36 trials). The subjects answered consistently in the training;they also presented consistency in all tests after a single re-exposure. Three months later, two subjects were re-tested forsymmetry and equivalence, and they performed consistently in all of those tests. Early testing, used in this experiment seemsto have facilitated the emergence of stimulus equivalences.Sujeitos humanos respondem consistentemente na ausência de conseqüências diferenciais, porém após uma longa reexposição ao treino, seguido de testes, com atraso no contato dos sujeitos com os mesmos. O objetivo do presente experimento foi verificar os efeitos da redução do atraso do contato dos sujeitos com as tentativas de testes, submetidos a uma seqüência em que o treino de cada uma das relações condicionais era seguido de testes da mais simples até as relações mais complexas. Quatro universitários tinham como tarefa tocar uma tela sensível, sem conseqüências diferenciais para acertos e erros. O critério de estabilidade era 97% de acertos por bloco (36 tentativas). Os sujeitos responderam consistentemente no treino; também nos testes, após duas exposições. Decorridos três meses, dois dos sujeitos que foram submetidos a pós-testes de simetria e equivalência, apresentaram um desempenho positivo. A antecipação dos testes, parece ter facilitado a formação de classes de estímulos equivalentes

Matching unrelated stimuli with same discriminative functions: training order effects

Previous research has shown that after training simple discriminations (A1+/A2-, B1+/B2-), bringing these tasks under conditional control (J1-A1, J2-A2) leads to transfer of discriminative control (J1+/J2-) and to generalized matching on the basis of same discriminative functions (e.g. J1-B1, J2-B2). The same occurs when conditional discriminations are trained (D1-E1, D2-E2; F1-G1, F2-G2). When the subjects are then trained to demonstrate correct relations (D1-E1, D2-E2) when given X1 and to demonstrate incorrect relations when given X2 (XD-E), transfer of discriminative control (X1+/X2-) and generalized matching on the basis of same discriminative functions emerges (e.g. X1F1-G1, X2F1-G2). The present study investigated if these performances are dependent on the training and/or testing order. In Experiment 1, the lower-order contingency tasks were trained before the higher-order contingency tasks (A1+/A2-, B1+/B2- before J-A, and D-E, F-G before XD-E). Half the subjects received the J-B test before the more complex XF-G test (Condition A), while for the other subjects, this testing order was reversed (Condition B). Finally, all subjects received additional tests in which they were given the opportunity to demonstrate the discriminative properties of the J and X stimuli (J1+/J2-, X1+/X2-), and to match the A, J, and X stimuli with newly introduced stimuli of same discriminative properties (e.g. J1-POLITE, J2-RUDE). Experiment 2 was the same except that the training order was reversed (J-A before A1+/A2-, B1+/B2-, and XD-E before D-E, F-G). The results were affected by the training order but not by the testing order. Transfer of discriminative functions and generalized matching on the basis of same functions only occurred reliably when the lower-order contingency tasks were trained first. A stimulus-control account of the data is offered