Comparing the stimulus-pairing yes/no procedure to match-to-sample to establish equivalence classes with adults

Abstract

ABSTRACT In a recent study, Gallant et al. (2021) found that both match-to-sample (MTS) and the stimulus-pairing yes/no procedure (SPYN) resulted in a high likelihood of equivalence class formation. Due to this ceiling effect, however, any potential differential effects of the SPYN and MTS trial formats could not be identified. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to compare the effectiveness and efficiency of MTS and SPYN using procedures that were less likely to result in class formation. A pretest-train-posttest sequence was used. During the pretest and posttest, both MTS and SPYN trials were used to assess all trained and derived relations. Class members consisted of abstract visual stimuli. We also assessed the degree to which class-consistent responding would generalize to a card sorting task. During training of baseline relations, half of the participants were exposed only to MTS or only SPYN trials. Posttest results showed that the trial format used to train the baseline relations had no differential effects on class formation; however, participants exposed to MTS training mastered the baseline relations in fewer trials and required less time than those in the SPYN group. Implications of these results and suggestions for future studies are discussed.