Formation of an Equivalence Class Incorporating Haptic Stimuli

Abstract

Nine verbally competent adult participants (three male and six female) were exposed to a stimulus equivalence training procedure. Using a matching-to-sample procedure they learned to match three haptically perceived stimuli (B1, B2, and B3) to three nonsense syllables (A1, A2, and A3), and three different nonsense syllables (C1, C2, and C3) to the haptically perceived stimuli. The haptically perceived stimuli were three different wooden blocks each weighing 500 g, attached to cylindrical wooden handles 31 cm long and 2 cm in diameter. Participants perceived these stimuli by wielding them in their right hands for 5 sees. Eight participants successfully completed training, of these seven demonstrated that they had formed equivalence classes by responding with greater than 80% accuracy on tests for four emergent relations: B-A symmetry, C-B symmetry, A-C transitivity, and C-A combined symmetry and transitivity. These findings provide an empirical demonstration of the formation of equivalence classes involving stimuli perceived via the human haptic system and extend the applicability of the equivalence approach.