Full text
| |
| Author(s): |
Daniela de Souza Canovas
Total Authors: 1
|
| Document type: | Doctoral Thesis |
| Press: | São Paulo. |
| Institution: | Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Psicologia (IP/SBD) |
| Defense date: | 2013-06-12 |
| Examining board members: |
Paula Debert;
Marcelo Frota Benvenuti;
Maria Martha Costa Hübner;
Nilza Micheletto;
Deisy das Graças de Souza
|
| Advisor: | Paula Debert |
| Abstract | |
This study investigated if simple discrimination procedures, which produce functional classes, could also produce equivalence classes. In Experiment 1, a simple successive discrimination reversal training was used. Four adults were exposed to training in which responses to S+ (A1, B1 and C1), but not to S- (A2, B2 and C2), were reinforced. Next, the participants were exposed to repeated-reversal training. Finally, Emergent conditional relations Tests (BA, CB, AC and CA) were conducted using the go/no-go procedure with compound stimuli to avoid tests involving response sequences adventitiously reinforced during the previous training. The four participants responded consistently with functional class formation and three of them also showed performance indicative of equivalence class formation. Experiment 2 investigated whether a simple discrimination training via differential responses would produce functional and equivalence classes. This training procedure avoided the inadvertently establishment of conditional discriminations or response sequences. Four additional adults were exposed to training procedure in which Response 1 (R1) was reinforced only when emitted in the presence of A1, B1 or C1 and Response 2 (R2) was reinforced only in the presence of A2, B2 or C2. Next, a new response was trained in the presence of one member of each class (A1-R3, A2-R4). Finally, a Transfer of function Test and Emergent conditional relations Tests (AB, BC, BA, CB, AC e CA) were conducted. The four participants responded consistently with functional and equivalence class formation. The purpose of Experiment 3 was replicating Experiment 2 with typically developing preschool children. Eight of the eleven children showed performance indicative of functional class formation and two of them also responded consistently with equivalence class formation, evaluated with the go/no-go procedure. The performance of other three children was also indicative of equivalence class formation, evaluated in tests with the MTS procedure. Experiment 4 investigated, with eleven additional children, if simple discrimination training with different responses topographies would decrease the between subject variability observed in Experiment 3. The results indicated that none of the participants responded consistently with functional class formation in one of the experimental conditions. In the other experimental condition, in which the differential responses were gestures, three of six participants responded consistently with functional and equivalence class formation (evaluated by the go/no-go procedure with compound stimuli). All together, the results of the four experiments demonstrate that simple discrimination procedures can produce functional and also equivalence classes. The variability between subjects specifically found in Experiments 3 and 4 suggests the effects of critical variables on the acquisition of the simple discriminations and functional class formation with children (AU) | |
| FAPESP's process: | 10/06422-6 - Reversals of simple sucessive discrimination and equivalence classes |
| Grantee: | Daniela de Souza Canovas |
| Support Opportunities: | Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate |