THE DEVELOPMENT OF DERIVED STIMULUS RELATIONS THROUGH TRAINING IN ARBITRARY‐MATCHING SEQUENCES

Abstract

Five‐year‐old children were taught three‐stage sequences of arbitrary matching: A‐C, B‐C, A‐D; A‐C, B‐D, B‐C; or A‐C, A‐D, B‐C. Each stage refers to a sample‐comparison relation between stimuli. Unreinforced test probes revealed untrained arbitrary matches (B‐D, A‐D, and B‐D, respectively), derivable by substitution of stimuli with a common sample or comparison function. Additional probes revealed further untrained sample‐comparison relations derivable by substitution and identity, including the commuted relations D‐B, D‐A, and D‐B, respectively. These processes may have relevance to conceptual and verbal behavior.