Training structure, naming and typically effects in equivalence class formation

UNCW Author/Contributor (non-UNCW co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Jeanette E. Wilson (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW )
Web Site: http://library.uncw.edu/
Advisor
Carol Pilgrim

Abstract: While equivalence is a well-documented phenomenon, its basis is of considerable debate. The current experiment looked at the effects of training structure and naming in the acquisition of conditional discriminations and equivalence-class formation. The experiment also looked to see if typicality effects would occur in children's equivalence classes and if so, whether it would be impacted differently by the different training structures. Four groups of children learned conditional discriminations using a match-to sample (MTS) procedure. The stimuli used were trigrams and one-to four-feature stimuli. Three different training structures were employed in the training, the one-to-many training structure using the trigram as the node, the many-to-one training structure using the trigram as the node and the many-to-one training structure using a two-feature stimuli as the node. Results showed that children learned the conditional discriminations more quickly in the many-to-one, two-feature-as-node training structure. The results also showed the formation of equivalence classes with different training structures. An analysis of typicality effects was also formulated.

Additional Information

Publication
Thesis
A Thesis Submitted to the University North Carolina Wilmington in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts
Language: English
Date: 2009
Keywords
Cognitive learning, Psychological tests--Research, Reinforcement (Psychology), Stimulus generalization
Subjects
Psychological tests -- Research
Cognitive learning
Reinforcement (Psychology)
Stimulus generalization

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