The Formation of a Generalized Categorization Repertoire: Effect of Training With Multiple Domains, Samples, and Comparisons

Abstract

The present experiment explored the effects of three variables on the spontaneous categorization of stimuli in perceptually distinct and novel domains. Each of six stimulus domains was created by morphing two images that were the domain endpoints. The endpoints of the domains were male and female faces, two abstract drawings, a car and a truck, two banded-elevation satellite land images, a tree and a cat, and two false-color satellite images. The stimulus variants at each end of a domain defined two potential perceptual classes. Training was conducted in a matching-to-sample format and used stimuli from one or two domains, one or three variants per class as samples, and one or three variants per class as comparisons. The spontaneous categorization of stimuli in the untrained stimulus domains showed the emergence of a generalized categorization repertoire. The proportion of spontaneously categorized stimuli in the new domains was positively related to the number of domains and samples used in training, and was inversely related to the number of comparisons used in training. Differential reaction times demonstrated the discriminability of the stimuli in the emergent classes. This study is among the first to provide an empirical basis for a behavior-analytic model of the development of generalized categorization repertoires in natural settings.

A Rose by Naming: How We May Learn How to Do It

“…For two decades, behavior analysts have studied the potential of Naming with respect to how it may or may not facilitate certain emergent categorization (Arntzen, 2004;Clayton & Hayes, 1999;Dugdale & Lowe, 1990;Fields et al, 2003;Guess & Baer, 1973;Hayes, 1989;Hayes, Barnes-Holmes, & Roche, 2001;Horne et al, 2004Horne et al, , 2006Keller & Bucher, 1979;Lee, 1981;Lowe & Beasty, 1987;Miguel & Petursdottir, 2009;Miguel, Petursdottir, Carr, & Michael, 2008;Randell & Remington, 2006;Shusterman & Kastak, 1993;Sidman, 1986Sidman, , 1992Smeets & Striefel, 1976;Stone, Miguel, & Gould, 2006;Stromer & McKay, 1996;Wynn & Smith, 2003;Zentall, Galizio, & Critchfield, 2002). See Miguel and Petursdottir for a comprehensive review of that literature.…”

“…The term multiple-exemplar instruction (or multiple-exemplar training) is used in several different ways and has a long history (Engelmann & Carnine, 1991;Fields et al, 2003;Greer & Lundquist, 1973). We point out these distinctions to clarify how we use this term.…”

How Kids Learn to Say the Darnedest Things: The Effect of Multiple Exemplar Instruction on the Emergence of Novel Verb Usage

“…Becker (1992) presented extensive evidence that novel textual response emerged as a function of MEI from subsets of phonemic stimulus control. Others found that MEI produced complex auditory abstractions in humans and pigeons (Greer & Lundquist, 1976;Porter & Neuringer, 1985), and novel categorization of visual stimuli in humans (Fields, et al, 2003). These latter MEI procedures dealt with MEI for stimuli rather than MEI across responses to stimuli.…”

“…The term multiple exemplar instruction was used extensively in early research on "concepts" and abstraction (Becker, 1992;Fields et al, 2003;Greer & Lundquist, 1976) and has been used in the research on emergent verbal behavior (Fiorile & Greer, 2007;, 2007Greer, Yuan et al, 2005;NuzzoloGomez & Greer, 2004). The term multiple exemplar training is also used in a significant body of research (Barnes-Holmes, et al, 2001a, 2001bLuciano et al, 2007).…”

“…There is a substantial body of research showing that the provision of MEI, involving the teaching of essential stimulus control for minimal units results in abstract stimulus control for novel stimuli, ranging from emission of novel textual responses (Becker, 1992), or visual categorization (Fields et al, 2003) in humans, to abstract control by novel and complex auditory stimuli in humans and pigeons (Greer & Lundquist, 1976;Porter & Neuringer, 1985). However, the types of MEI identified as the source of the production of novel verbal responses, at least for some children, is somewhat different in that the exemplar experiences have involved rotated responses to single stimuli (Greer, Stolfi, Chavez-Brown & RiveraValdes, 2005;Greer, Stolfi, & Pistoljevic, 2007;Greer, Yuan, & Gautreaux, 2005).…”