Using Stimulus Equivalence to Demonstrate Pre-Existing Linguistic Relations: A Systematic Replication and Extension

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Michael C. Clayton
Linda Hayes

Abstract

The stimulus equivalence paradigm was used to discover whether or not preexperimental histories with respect to affective stimuli could be brought to bear in an experimental setting. In two experiments, undergraduate students were trained in A-B, A-C, and D-C conditional relations using a match-to-sample procedure. The A and B stimuli were arbitrary visual forms, and the C stimuli were Chinese ideograms. The D stimuli for one group consisted of English words like “Holiday”, “Funeral”, and “Torture” and for the other group the D stimuli consisted of human faces expressing happiness, sadness, and anger. Equivalence relations were tested between the D stimuli and the B, A, and C stimuli with the condition that D stimuli used during testing were not the same as the D stimuli used during training. Thus, subjects trained with faces were tested with words and subjects trained with words were tested with faces. Substitutional equivalence emerged for most subjects who showed non-substitutional equivalence (B-C, C-B). Substitutional equivalence emerged more readily for subjects trained with words and tested with faces than they did for subjects trained with faces and tested with words. Results are discussed in terms of stimulus function and pre-experimental histories.

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How to Cite
Clayton, M. C., & Hayes, L. (2010). Using Stimulus Equivalence to Demonstrate Pre-Existing Linguistic Relations: A Systematic Replication and Extension. Mexican Journal of Behavior Analysis, 33(2). https://doi.org/10.5514/rmac.v33.i2.16257