Electrophysiological analysis of stimulus variables in equivalence relations

Abstract

Recently, electrophysiological measures have been used to evaluate the functional overlap between semantic relations and laboratory‐defined equivalence relations with abstract stimuli. Several studies using semantic judgment procedures have shown that accompanying EEG‐measured neural activity for stimulus pairs from equivalence classes is very similar to that of word pairs from participants' native language. However, those studies often included pronounceable elements (e.g., written nonsense syllables) as at least one member of the experimentally defined classes. The present study conducted EEG studies that contrasted classes with and without such elements. Two groups of undergraduate students completed a matching‐to‐sample procedure to establish 3 4‐member equivalence classes. For Group 1, samples and comparisons were pronounceable pseudowords and abstract figures. For Group 2, the matching‐to‐sample stimuli were abstract figures only. EEG data recorded during the semantic judgment tasks showed waveform patterns compatible with prior studies of semantic relations in Group 1 but not in Group 2.

Revisiting the use of two choices in the matching‐to‐sample procedure

“…The field has embraced Sidman's recommendation and use of MTS procedures with three or more comparison choices per trial are common (e.g., Arntzen & Holth, 1997;Dias et al, 2021;Fields et al, 2012;Harrison & Green, 1990;Hayes et al, 1991;Markham & Dougher, 1993;Perez, Fidalgo et al, 2015;Spencer & Chase, 1996). However, there are several possible advantages of using MTS with only two choices per trial compared to MTS with three or more choices per trial.…”