We evaluated the effects of equivalence training on the transferability of stimulus functions with respect to response persistence. In Phase 1, we conducted a match-to-sample procedure and established equivalence relations among 3 stimulus sets for each of 3 typically developing college students. In Phase 2, we evaluated response persistence during extinction following baseline exposure to rich and lean schedules of reinforcement in a 2-component multiple schedule, using stimuli from different sets trained in Phase 1 to distinguish rich from lean components. In Phase 3, we evaluated whether the persistence-enhancing effects of rich schedules of reinforcement could be transferred to novel stimuli that had been related to stimuli that distinguished rich from lean schedules in the multiple schedule. We demonstrated patterns of response persistence predicted by behavioral momentum theory for 1 of 3 participants in Phase 2, but this effect did not transfer to novel stimuli during Phase 3. These exploratory findings suggest certain limitations to the types of stimulus functions that can be transferred via equivalence.
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