Interpersonal Behavior

Abstract

Suggests that a defining feature of a stimulus class is the presence of untrained (emergent) relations among its members. Three types of emergent relations that define formal stimulus equivalence are reflexivity, symmetry, and transitivity. Pigeons can demonstrate all 3 types of emergent relations. Reflexivity is demonstrated by showing the transfer of identity-matching to new stimuli. Symmetry is demonstrated by showing that positive transfer results when differential food vs no-food outcomes are substituted for conditional stimuli in a matching task. Transitivity is demonstrated when training with a simple successive hue discrimination is followed by training on a symbolic matching task involving food and no-food samples and line-orientation comparisons, and positive transfer is found when the hues are substituted for the food and no-food events. Pigeons can also demonstrate simultaneous evidence for symmetry and transitivity relations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2000 APA, all rights reserved)