The Effect of Stimulus Meaningfulness on the Formation of Equivalence Classes

Abstract

The current study investigated the effect of stimulus meaningfulness on the formation of equivalence classes in a conditional discrimination training task. Nonsense syllables rated as high or low in meaningfulness (m) on the Glaze (1928) and Krueger (1934) rating scales were presented in a matching-to-sample task. Thirteen participants were trained to produce B1 and C1 given the sample A1, B2 and C2 given A2, and B3 and C3 given A3. Participants’ performances during training and the emergence of a derived set of responses during testing (B1-C1, B2-C2, B3-C3) were analyzed as a function of m of stimuli within the relations. Training performances were predicted by m of the stimuli, with less error overall associated with low m configurations, and less error where sample and comparison items matched in terms of m (both high or both low).