The Effects of Common Names and Common FR Responses on the Emergence of Stimulus Equivalence Classes

The objective of the present set of studies was compare two procedures for facilitating the emergence of equivalence classes in college students. In Experiment 1, which used a within-group design, participants in one condition were first taught to give class-consistent names to the stimuli which would subsequently be conditionally related. In the second condition participants were first taught to emit common fixed ratio responses in the presence of stimuli which would subsequently be conditionally related. After this training, participants completed conditional discrimination training followed by equivalence testing. Results suggested that the name and FR condition were equally effective in facilitating the emergence of equivalence classes. Experiment 2, which used a between-group design, was similar to Experiment 1 except that participants were asked to “talk aloud” during conditional discrimination training and the stimulus equivalence test. Experiment 2 also employed a control group, who received no common response training. In general, the findings from both experiments suggest that names are not necessary for the formation of equivalence classes, and training common nonverbal responses may be equally effective in promoting class formation.