Effect of the qualifying autoclitic “is” in conditional discrimination training and equivalence tests.

Abstract

Reinforcement contingencies have been identified as an important variable for the establishment of conditional discriminations and stimuli equivalence. Studies in this area suggest that verbal behavior can facilitate the formation of discriminative responses and equivalence classes. Nevertheless, researchers have concentrated on studying the effect of the autoclitic behavior on those behavioral processes. The purpose of the present study was to analyze if an instruction that guides the participants to emit a verbal vocal response with a qualifying autoclitic and the assertion “is” between the presentation of the sample stimuli and the choice of the comparison stimuli in a matching to sample task, produces effects in the formation of new equivalence classes and has an influence on the number of trials necessary for the acquisition of conditional discrimination responses. The participants were divided into a Control Group and a Experimental Group where both of them went through three Training Phases and three Quiz Phases. The instruction was given only to the participants in the Experimental Group. The results obtained didn’t show differences between the groups for the average of correct responses in the Training Phases nor in the average of correct responses during all of the Equivalence Quizzes. It can be concluded that the initial effect of the autoclitic was to increase the accuracy of the response, making easier the acquisition of the conditional discrimination as well as the formation of the stimuli equivalence.