Emergence of a three-sample conditional discrimination as foundation for reasoning capabilities.

We hypothesized that a three-sample conditional discrimination can emerge as a result of learning conditional discriminations with relational stimuli. After learning three first-order conditional discriminations AB, PQ, and CD, we taught a second-order conditional discrimination XAB in which X1 indicated selection of related stimuli (e.g., A1 and B1) and X2 of unrelated stimuli (e.g., A1 and B2). Then, we probed the emergence of conditional discriminations PQX and XCD in which the X stimuli were comparisons and contextual stimuli, respectively. Finally, a conditional discrimination was probed with stimuli P, Q, and C as samples and D1 and D2 as comparisons. When the P and Q stimuli were related (and related to X1 in PQX), all participants selected the D stimulus that was related to the C stimulus (D1 when C1 was present and D2 when C2 was present); when the P and Q stimuli were unrelated (and related to X2 in PQX), they selected the D stimulus unrelated to the C stimulus (D2 when C1 and D1 when C2), which demonstrated emergence based on the relations established among all stimuli. In Experiment 2, the teaching of XAB was omitted and only one in six participants demonstrated emergence, which indicated that relational stimuli X1 and X2 played an important role in emergence. Thus, a new type of emergence that mimics analogical reasoning was demonstrated. The obtained outcome suggests that this procedure provides a learning foundation for acquiring reasoning capabilities.

Equivalence class analysis of responding consistent with the relational frame of opposition.

We replicated and extended studies showing that contextual cues for matching stimuli from 2 separate equivalence classes control the same derived relations as contextual cues for opposition frames in RFT studies. We conducted 2 experiments with 6 college students. In Phase 1, they received training in a conditional discrimination AB. Then, they received training for maintaining AB with X1 as context, and for reversing the sample-comparison relations of AB, with X2. In Phase 2, X1 functioned as context for matching same-class stimuli, and X2 functioned as context for matching separate-class stimuli. In Phase 3, X2 controlled the same derived arbitrary relations as cues for opposition frames in RFT studies. This functional equivalence may suggest that X2 functioned as a cue for opposition frames. In Phase 4, participants matched different stimuli with X2 as context, instead of matching most different (opposite) stimuli. In addition, Different, a cue for matching different stimuli, controlled the same derived arbitrary relations as X2. These results are incompatible with X2 being a cue for opposition frames. Contextual control over equivalence and responding by exclusion can explain these outcomes. The implications of these findings for RFT studies on opposition frames are discussed.

Analysis of apparent demonstrations of responding in accordance with relational frames of sameness and opposition.

We evaluated whether contextual control over equivalence and nonequivalence and responding by exclusion can explain the outcomes of relational frame theory (RFT) studies on sameness and opposition relations. We trained nine college students to maintain and reverse conditional discriminations with X1 and X2 as contextual stimuli. In Experiment 1, X1 and X2 controlled derived stimulus relations (DSR) analogous to those controlled by Same and Opposite in RFT studies. These results can be explained by at least two hypotheses: X1 and X2 were cues for equivalence and nonequivalence and responding by exclusion, or for sameness and opposition. In Experiment 2, X1 and X2 controlled DSR predicted by the hypothesis that they were cues for equivalence and nonequivalence and responding by exclusion, and not predicted by the hypothesis that they were cues for sameness and opposition. The results of Experiment 2 and the functional equivalence of X1 and X2 with Same and Opposite in Experiment 1 suggest that Same and Opposite were cues for equivalence and nonequivalence and responding by exclusion in RFT studies.

Contextual control over equivalence and nonequivalence explains apparent arbitrary applicable relational responding in accordance with sameness and opposition.

We evaluated whether contextual control over equivalence and nonequivalence (i.e., selecting comparisons equivalent to the samples in the presence of a contextual cue, and excluding the selection of comparisons equivalent to the samples in the presence of another contextual cue) can account for apparent arbitrarily applicable relational responding (AARR) in accordance with the frames of sameness and opposition, as defined in relational frame theory (RFT). Three college students were trained to maintain previously established conditional discriminations in the presence of a contextual cue X1, and to reverse them in the presence of another contextual cue X2 (e.g., X1-A1B1, X1-A2B2, X2-A1B2, X2-A2B1). Subsequent tests demonstrated that X1 and X2 functioned as cues for equivalence and nonequivalence. Later on, X1 and X2 were demonstrated to be functionally equivalent to supposed contextual cues for the frames of sameness and opposition employed in RFT studies (i.e., SAME and OPPOSITE cues), in tests for arbitrary and nonarbitrary derived stimulus relations. The functional equivalence of X2 and OPPOSITE suggests that OPPOSITE worked as a cue for nonequivalence. Thus, the results in RFT studies with SAME and OPPOSITE can be explained just by contextual control over equivalence and nonequivalence. Therefore, the explanation that they actually demonstrated AARR in accordance with the frames of sameness and opposition can be questioned and replaced by a more parsimonious explanation, based on a few simple learning principles. We discuss the implications of this conclusion for the debate among competing theories about the origin of stimulus equivalence and other derived stimulus-stimulus relations.

Stimuli with identical contextual functions taught independently become functionally equivalent.

A novel learning process that does not require stimulus associations was explored in humans. The hypothesis was that two contextual stimuli taught in separate settings, with different stimuli, become equivalent if they accomplish identical functions with regard to the relations between the stimuli presented with them. The procedure consisted of : (a) first teaching an AB conditional discrimination (e.g., match A1 to B1 and A2 to B2) and then teaching a second-order XAB conditional discrimination in which X1 indicated performing the same selections as in AB and X2 indicated selecting the alternative comparison (e.g., match A1 to B2 and A2 to B1); (b) repeating the procedure with completely new stimuli, YHJ, in which the functions of the Y stimuli were identical to those of X; and (c) conducting a final probe under extinction to verify the equivalence between the X and the Y stimuli. Three experiments were conducted to explore the process and to rule out the influence of alternative variables. Out of these, 13 of the 14 participants matched the stimuli to the same contextual functions. Thus, the hypothesis was verified. These results demonstrate that humans are able to match stimuli according to their functions in relation to other stimuli. This process may be very much involved in language; for example, understanding that words or clauses that have been learned in separate contexts and with separate stimuli share the same meaning. Understanding this process may help to identify learning or developmental problems, such as those shown by persons with autism, and help to treat them.

Induction of naming after observing visual stimuli and their names in children with autism.

A novel procedure to induce pairing naming, considered the emergence of tacts and selection of pictures after observing names and its corresponding pictures without specific consequences, was probed in 4 persons with autism who lacked this capability with a multiple probe design across participants. Five pictures were selected per set. The participants observed the pictures on a computer screen while the experimenter said the name of the picture. Then, the emission of untaught uninstructed tacts of the pictures was tested without reinforcement. The cycle was repeated until a criterion of 90% correct responses was achieved. Thereafter, in probes without reinforcement, the participants tacted the pictures without specific instructions and also when asked to name them, and selected the correct picture upon hearing their names. The procedure was repeated with two additional stimulus sets and the probed relations emerged always. Two children showed the emergence with fewer trials across sets, which indicate emergence induction. Thus, the procedure served to test whether the pairing naming capability was missing and induced the capability. The results may have important utility in teaching persons diagnosed with autism and other learning difficulties and for accelerating learning in all children.

Observing Tacting Increases Uninstructed Tacts in Children with Autism.

The effects of observing an adult emitting tacts on children's rate of uninstructed (i.e., "spontaneous") tacts were examined in three children diagnosed with autism. Each participant was exposed to two conditions in four settings each: in condition 1, participants received 20 trials of teacher-initiated interactions in which the child was asked to tact 20 objects during 5 min. Condition 2 was identical to condition 1 except that the teacher also tacted 20 objects interspersed with the 20 tact trials. The number of uninstructed tacts was recorded in both conditions. Children emitted between 1.58 and 2.68 times more uninstructed tacts in condition 2 than in condition 1. These results indicate that teachers' emission of tacts increases the emission of uninstructed tacts in children with autism.

Emerging Tacts and Selections from Previous Learned Skills: A Comparison between Two Types of Naming.

Naming consists of tacting an object and selecting it upon hearing its name as a result of emergence. After acquiring naming, children learn object-name relations more quickly and, hence, it is an important achievement in development. We studied the acquisition of the two skills that define naming, using two procedures, in seven typically developing 4-year-old children. The tact-selection procedure consisted of (a) teaching tacts of objects (or pictures) and probing for object selection upon hearing the objects' names, and (b) teaching object selection and probing tacts. The pairing procedure consisted of presenting objects (or pictures) at the same time that an adult said their names, without requiring from the child other response than attending. Of the seven children, five showed emergence of selection responses and tacts. Children showed more instances of emergence with the tact-selection procedure than with the pairing procedure and with three-dimensional (3-D) objects than with pictures. The results have important implications for teaching preschool children and children with learning disabilities.

[Full naming with bi-dimensional abstract stimuli in six-year-old children]. / Naming completo con estímulos abstractos bidimensionales en niños de seis años.

The aim of this study was to evaluate a procedure to reveal the emergence of full naming in typically developing children. In Experiment 1, five 6-year-old children (a) learned tacts of pictures and the emergence of the selection of these pictures upon hearing their names was tested; and (b) the selection of other pictures was taught and the emergence of the tacts was tested. All children showed the emergence of picture selection and 3 children showed the emergence of the tacts. In Experiment 2a, the children's correct repetition of the names of 3 pictures was verified first, then the experimenter presented the pictures with their names without requiring any behavior other than attending. Finally, the emergence of picture selection and the tacts was tested. Experiment 2b replicated Experiment 2a with words that were easier to pronounce. Picture selection and the tacts emerged; this performance documented full naming for the first time with typically developing children. These procedures can be used to induce naming capacity in children who lack it; hence, they can be applied to teach children with learning delays.

Derived control by compound and single stimuli in a matching-to-sample task in children.

A matching-to-sample procedure was used to investigate whether 9-year-old children would demonstrate the emergence of a derived compound-sample conditional discrimination following training in four interrelated single-sample conditional discriminations and vice versa, as adults did in previous studies. In Experiment 1, three out of three children demonstrated the emergence of a compound-sample conditional discrimination following training in four single-sample conditional discriminations. In Experiment 2, two out of three children acquired a compound-sample conditional discrimination and they demonstrated the emergence of four single-sample conditional discriminations; one of them did so only after being exposed to a remediation training and testing procedure. Training variables that facilitated discrimination emergence in both directions are discussed. In general, results showed that the sophisticated learning skills that are supposedly possessed by adults are not required to demonstrate the two types of derived control under study.

Common control by compound samples in conditional discriminations.

We tested whether teaching control by single stimulus samples in conditional discriminations would result in common control of two-stimuli compound samples, and vice versa. In Experiment 1, 5 participants were first taught four single-sample conditional discriminations. The first conditional discrimination was as follows: given sample stimulus P1, select comparison stimulus A1 and not A2; given sample P2 select comparison A2 and not A1. The second conditional discrimination was as follows: given sample P1 select comparison B1 and not B2; given sample P2 select B2 and not B1. Different sample stimuli (Q1 and Q2) were used in the third and fourth conditional discriminations. Moreover, A1 and B1 were presented together as comparisons, such that, if Q1 was presented as the sample, A1 was correct and B1 was incorrect; and if Q2 was presented as the sample, B1 was correct and A1 was incorrect. A2 and B2 were also presented as comparisons. When Q1 was presented, A2 was correct and when Q2 was presented B2 was correct. After training with these four single stimulus sample discriminations, participants were tested with compound PQ samples presented with A1, A2, B1, and B2 as comparisons. If common control were established by the PQ stimuli, a participant would select A1 when P1Q1 was presented, A2 when P2Q1 was presented, B1 when P1Q2 was presented, and B2 when P2Q2 was presented. Such common control by PQ samples occurred in 4 of 5 participants. In Experiment 2, 4 participants were given reverse training. They were first taught to select the A1, A2, B1, and B2 stimuli in response to the appropriate PQ combinations and then probed on the single stimulus sample discriminations. All 4 participants were successful on this probe. Experiments 3 and 4 investigated the effects of teaching additional conditional discriminations with novel stimuli on subsequent transfer from the single-sample discriminations to performance on the compound-sample conditional discrimination.

Concept formation based on value relations evaluated with a matching-to-sample procedure.

To study concept formation based on relations, adults were taught and tested on complex discriminations involving figures that varied in colors, forms, and orientations. In Experiment 1, participants learned to select figures with values A1 and B1 or values B1 and C1; thereafter, they consistently selected figures with values A1 and C1. Selections were based on the relations among the values, rather than on perceptual properties. Experiments 2 and 3 studied generalization with a matching-to-sample procedure: participants learned to select "yes" in the presence of the positive figures, such as A1B1, and "no" in the presence of the negative figures. Thereafter, all figures that resulted from combining three values of the three relevant dimensions were probed. Participants typically selected "yes" in the presence of the novel figures that had two or three values related to one another and selected "no" in the presence of the other figures. Finally, two participants learned a simple discrimination. They did not generalize responding to other figures with the same values; instead, their performance in the generalization test remained almost unaltered. Thus, the concept based on relations was not affected by the simple discrimination. These results showed some unique properties of the concept based on relations and challenge previous theories on concept formation.

Emergence of intra verbal antonyms in children with pervasive developmental disorder.

In the type of intraverbal that consists of saying the opposite of a word, two intraverbals are related to one another because the response form of each intraverbal functions as part of a discriminative stimulus for the other (e.g., "cold" in response to "name the opposite of hot," and vice versa). Moreover, the contextual cue "Name the opposite of--" is the same in the two intraverbals. The purpose of the present research was to explore a procedure designed to promote emergence of intraverbals of this type. Two children with pervasive developmental disorder learned pairs of intraverbals. Thereafter, they were tested for emergence of intraverbals with reversed stimulus-response functions. Results indicate that, although the participants did not initially show emergence of intraverbals with reversed stimulus-response functions, repeated cycles of probing and teaching facilitated emergence of these relations.

Generalization of tacting actions in children with autism.

This intervention compared the effects of two procedures on the generalization of a tacting repertoire (labeling) in 6 children with autism spectrum disorder. In one procedure the verbal antecedent stimulus "What is she doing?" appeared together with a person performing an action; in the other procedure, the antecedent stimulus was just the presence of the action. In initial tests, children emitted tacts only when the action was presented with the verbal antecedent. Thereafter, they learned to tact an action without the verbal antecedent and received tests to evaluate generalization to another action. Results indicated that in order to obtain generalization of tacting actions, it was necessary to learn to tact other actions without the verbal antecedent as well as learning to tact the action with the verbal antecedent. These findings have relevance for generalization of tacting actions from control by verbal antecedents to natural conditions and the production of spontaneous language.

Using a combined blocking procedure to teach color discrimination to a child with autism.

A combined blocking procedure was used to teach a child with autism to select two colors on request. First, two color cards were placed at fixed locations on a table and the experimenter repeatedly requested the child to touch one of the colors. After 10 consecutive correct selections, the child was asked to touch the other color. Blocks of trials with each color were systematically thinned until requests were presented randomly with few errors. Subsequently, the location of the selection cards was systematically alternated until the child was able to touch the correct card when both requests and card positions were presented in random fashion.

The role of specific consequences in the maintenance of three types of questions.

This research replicated and extended a study by Williams, Donley, and Keller (2000). In that study, children with autism received a box with an object inside and learned to ask "What's that?," "Can I see it?," and "Can I have it?" to have the name of the object, to see the object, and to get the object, respectively. The purpose of the present research was to determine if the three questions (a) were three independent repertoires of behavior, (b) constituted three instances of a single functional response class, or (c) belonged to a chain of behavior. The 3 boys with autism who participated responded independently to each question when the consequences for each question were altered. This indicates that the three target responses were three independent repertoires of behavior, each one reinforced and maintained with its specific consequences. Thus, this procedure serves to teach children with autism to ask questions with flexibility according to a variable context.

An analysis of generalized contextual control of conditional discriminations.

This research asked whether performance engendered by contextual control procedures would generalize to novel matching-to-sample stimulus arrangements. Two studies were conducted with young adult participants. In Study 1, participants first were trained to perform the contextually controlled conditional discrimination, X-AB, where the sample-comparison relations A1B1 and A2B2 were reinforced in the presence of contextual stimulus X1, but the relations A1B2 and A2B1 were reinforced in the presence of X2. Then, a new conditional discrimination, CD, was established via an unreinforced-conditional-selection procedure. Next, participants were tested for X-CD contextual control performance. Participants selected the originally established CD relations in the presence of X1, but the opposite relations in the presence of X2. Next, an additional conditional relation, EF, was established. Then, participants received trials consisting of entirely novel contextual stimuli, Z1 and Z2, and EF samples and comparisons. Selections were consistent with contextual control; that is, participants selected the originally established EF relations in the presence of one of the novel contextual Z stimuli, but selected the opposite EF relations in the presence of the other contextual Z stimulus. Study 2 systematically replicated these results with naive participants and demonstrated the necessity of first establishing a conditional discrimination prior to tests for generalized contextual control. The findings are discussed in terms of unreinforced conditional selection, stimulus classes, and new ways in which contextual control performances can emerge.

Transfer of specific contextual functions to novel conditional discriminations.

Three adolescents and 4 children participated in studies designed to examine contextually controlled conditional discrimination performance. In Study 1, participants selected Comparison B1 in the presence one stimulus (A1) and Comparison B2 in the presence of another stimulus (A2) using a matching-to-sample procedure. Next, contextual stimuli X1 or X2 were presented, such that in the presence of X1, selection of B1 given A1 and selection of B2 given A2 were reinforced; and in the presence of X2, selection of B2 given A1 and selection of B1 given A2 were reinforced. Then, new conditional discriminations were taught with Stimuli E and F. When the contextual Stimuli X1 and X2 were presented, participants selected the same comparisons as previously established in the EF relations in the presence of X1, but the opposite comparison as in the EF relations in the presence of X2. The results then were replicated with new Stimuli G and H. In Study 2, a new conditional discrimination, CD, was taught. Then, four combinations of two-element samples--C1 and D1, C2 and D2, C1 and D2, or C2 and D1--were presented with X1 and X2 as comparisons. Five of 6 participants selected X1 in the presence of C1 and D1 or C2 and D2, and selected X2 in the presence of C1 and D2 or C2 and D1. Finally, in Study 3, two new discriminations IJ and JK were taught. Then, the transitive IK relations were tested with X1 and X2 as contextual stimuli. The 4 participants selected K1 in the presence of I1 and K2 in the presence of I2 when the contextual stimulus was X1--demonstrating class formation--and selected the other comparisons when the contextual stimulus was X2. These results suggest that the contextual control functions of X1 and X2 transferred even to relations that had not been directly taught. These results extend those demonstrating generalized contextual control by showing transfer of functions of the contextual stimuli in transitivity tests and when the former contextual stimuli were presented as comparisons.

Multicomponent procedure to teach conditional discriminations to children with autism.

Five children with autism with a history of failing to acquire conditional discriminations learned to discriminate objects in response to spoken names or to match amounts to numbers with a combined blocking procedure. The procedure for teaching object discriminations involved (a) presenting the same spoken word until 10 consecutive correct responses occurred and (b) keeping the left-right location of the objects on the table constant. After mastery, the requirement for changing the spoken word was gradually reduced. Finally, the spoken words were presented randomly. In the final stage, the objects were located randomly. The procedure to teach number matching was similar. All children learned these discriminations with few errors. This procedure may be beneficial in teaching conditional discriminations to children with learning difficulties.