Overtraining increases the strength of equivalence relations.

Abstract

The present study investigated whether overtraining of the conditional discriminations that are the prerequisites of equivalence class formation strengthens the relations among stimuli in an equivalence class. Two groups of college students formed equivalence classes that consisted of faces that expressed emotions (A) and arbitrary stimuli (B, C, D, and E). The overtraining group had twice as many training trials as the regular training group. For participants who formed equivalence classes, relational strength was evaluated by the generalization of expressed emotions from the A to the D stimuli, which was measured using a semantic differential. An untrained control group showed semantic differential scores that were positive for happy faces, negative for angry faces, and neutral for the D stimuli. For the experimental groups, the D stimuli, when included in equivalence classes, produced scores that were similar to those produced by the equivalent faces. The overtraining group, however, had average values closer to the values of the faces than the regular training group. These results indicate that the amount of training is an experimental parameter that influences the strength of relations between stimuli that are found to be equivalent in matching-tosample tests. Keywords: stimulus equivalence, relatedness of stimuli, overtraining, strength of conditional relations.

Electrophysiological investigation of the functional overlap between semantic and equivalence relations.

“…At present, just a few experimental conditions have been shown as potentially responsible for different levels of relational strength among equivalent stimuli. Delayed matching to sample and the involvement of emotional meaningful stimuli have been shown as responsible for strengthening relations among equivalent stimuli (Bortoloti & de Rose, 2009, 2011b; overtraining of baseline relations also strengthened emergent equivalence relations (Bortoloti, Rodrigues, Cortez, Pimentel, & de Rose, 2013). On the other hand, nodal distance (e.g., Bortoloti & de Rose, 2009;Fields et al, 2005) and number of logical properties involved in the relation (Doran & Fields, 2012) have been shown as responsible for weakening relations among equivalent stimuli.…”

Manutenção das classes de equivalência e transferência de função: uma investigação por meio de escolhas alimentares de crianças

“…Outro fator que pode ter interferido é o fato da figura adotada como "negativa" ser um personagem de desenho e, independentemente de ser avaliado como agradável ou não à criança, faz parte do contexto infantil. Sugere-se que pesquisas futuras adotem outras estratégias para escolhas destes estímulos, bem como utilizem medidas de significado, tendo em vista ser esta uma variável importante para a investigação da transferência de função (Bortoloti, Rodrigues, Cortez, Pimentel, & de Rose, 2013;Silveira et al, 2016).…”

Transforming valences through transitive inference: How are faces emotionally dissonant?

“…In order to determine whether this was the case, future researchers can attempt to strengthen stimulus relations to supersede pre-existing ones (e.g., through overtraining-cf. Bortoloti, Rodrigues, Cortez, Pimentel, & de Rose, 2013) and to note whether such interventions can transform the functions of a highly salient (e.g., self-image) stimulus.…”