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Previous research suggests that the Relational Completion Procedure may be an effective alternative procedure for studying derived relational responding. However, the parameters that make it effective, relative to traditional match-to-sample, remain to be determined. The present experiment compared the Relational Completion Procedure and match-to-sample protocols for training and testing Same and Opposite derived stimulus relations. Trials to criterion and overall pass rate (i.e., yield) in both procedures were compared across three variables: presence versus absence of a confirmatory response requirement, three versus five comparison stimuli, and top-to-bottom versus left-to-right presentation format. Findings demonstrated a facilitative effect of the confirmatory response requirement in both procedures. Training trials to criterion were nominally but not significantly lower during the nonarbitrary training phase in the Relational Completion Procedure compared to match-to-sample, and the overall yield on the arbitrary relational test was greater in the former procedure compared to the latter. The present findings support the further development of the Relational Completion Procedure as an efficient alternative procedure for establishing Same and Opposite relations with adult humans, and with potential applicability to other types of derived relations. (Contains 5 tables, 4 figures, and 1 footnote.)

Research on the emergence of human avoidance behavior in the absence of direct contact with an aversive event is somewhat limited. Consistent with work on derived relational responding, the present study sought to investigate the transformation of avoidance response functions in accordance with the relational frames of Same and Opposite. Participants were first exposed to nonarbitrary and arbitrary relational training and testing in order to establish Same and Opposite relations among arbitrary stimuli. The training tasks were; Same-A1-B1, Same-A1-C1, Opposite-A1-B2, Opposite-A1-C2. Next, all possible combinatorially entailed (i.e., B-C and C-B) relations were tested. During the avoidance-conditioning phase, one stimulus (B1) from the relational network signaled a simple avoidance response that cancelled a scheduled presentation of an aversive image and sound. All but one of the participants who met the criteria for conditioned avoidance also demonstrated derived avoidance by emitting the avoidance response in the presence of C1 and the nonavoidance response in the presence of C2. Control participants who were not exposed to relational training and testing did not show derived avoidance. Implications of the findings for understanding clinically significant avoidance behavior are discussed. (Contains 3 tables, 2 footnotes, and 2 figures.)

Across three experiments, the transformation of consequential functions in accordance with a seven-member relational network (A-B-C-D-E-F-G) was investigated. In this network, the relational rankings ranged from A, ranked the least, to G, ranked the most. In the first phase, contextual cues for more-than and less-than were established by training participants across multiple exemplars to select comparisons containing larger quantities in the presence of the former cue, and fewer quantities in the presence of the latter cue. Participants then were trained in six conditional discriminations (i.e., A less than B, B less than C, C less than D, E greater than D, F greater than E, and G greater than F) with the contextual cues as samples and nonsense words as comparisons, and all possible derived relations were tested (e.g., B less than F). In a subsequent phase, the D stimulus was paired with the delivery of points. Next, a test for a transformation of consequential functions was presented in either simultaneous discrimination tasks (Experiments 1 and 2) or a free-operant schedule task (Experiment 3), each of which employed members of the relational network as consequences. In all experiments, participants consistently emitted the response that produced the derived consequential stimulus that was ranked higher in the relational network, thus demonstrating a transformation of consequential functions. In Experiment 2, the baseline conditional discriminations were altered in a reversal design, and Experiment 3 examined generalization of the derived performance to a schedule-based task, with and without detailed instructions. Overall, the study demonstrated a transformation and generalization of consequential functions in accordance with the relational frames of More-than and Less-than, and bears relevance to the literature on transitive inference. (Contains 1 footnote, 3 tables and 4 figures.)

Derived equivalence relations, it has been argued, provide a behavioral model of semantic or symbolic meaning in natural language, and thus equivalence relations should possess properties that are typically associated with semantic relations. The present study sought to test this basic postulate using semantic priming. Across three experiments, participants were trained and tested in two 4-member equivalence relations using word-like nonsense words. Participants also were exposed to a single- or two-word lexical decision task, and both direct (Experiment 1) and mediated (Experiments 2 and 3) priming effects for reaction times and event-related potentials were observed within but not across equivalence relations. The findings support the argument that derived equivalence relations provides a useful preliminary model of semantic relations. (Contains 9 tables and 1 figure.)

The current study aimed to test a Relational Frame Theory (RFT) model of analogical reasoning based on the relating of derived same and derived difference relations. Experiment 1 recorded reaction time measures of similar-similar (e.g., "apple is to orange as dog is to cat") versus different-different (e.g., "he is to his brother as chalk is to cheese") derived relational responding, in both speed-contingent and speed-noncontingent conditions. Experiment 2 examined the event-related potentials (ERPs) associated with these two response patterns. Both experiments showed similar-similar responding to be significantly faster than different-different responding. Experiment 2 revealed significant differences between the waveforms of the two response patterns in the left-hemispheric prefrontal regions; different-different waveforms were significantly more negative than similar-similar waveforms. The behavioral and neurophysiological data support the RFT prediction that, all things being equal, similar-similar responding is relationally "simpler" than, and functionally distinct from, different-different analogical responding. The ERP data were fully consistent with findings in the neurocognitive literature on analogy. These findings strengthen the validity of the RFT model of analogical reasoning and supplement the behavior-analytic approach to analogy based on the relating of derived relations. (Contains 6 figures and 2 tables.)

Although the literature on reinforcement in behavioral psychology is extensive, few studies have examined the derived transformation of reinforcing functions in accordance with equivalence classes, and no published research has yet examined the derived transformation of consequential functions in accordance with nonequivalence relations. In the present study, which consisted of four experiments, the basic preparation was as follows. First, an arbitrary stimulus, B2, was established as a conditioned punisher, using direct stimulus pairing. Following nonarbitrary relational training, designed to establish SAME and OPPOSITE contextual cues, subjects were exposed to arbitrary relational training using these contextual cues to establish A1 as the same as B1 and C1, and as opposite to B2 and C2. Subsequently, C2 (based on its Same relation with B2) functioned as a punisher and C1 (based on its Opposite relation with B2) functioned as a reinforcer in a simultaneous discrimination task. Critically, the C1 stimulus acquired reinforcing functions, based on the derived relation of Opposite, although no such function had actually been established for any member of the network. Furthermore, these effects were observed across ABA reversals in the baseline contingencies. (Contains 4 tables and 5 figures.)

The Relational Completion Procedure is effective for establishing same, opposite and comparative derived relations in verbally able adults, but to date it has not been used to establish relational frames in young children or those with developmental delay. In Experiment 1, the Relational Completion Procedure was used with the goal of establishing two 3-member sameness networks in nine individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (eight with language delay). A multiple exemplar intervention was employed to facilitate derived relational responding when required. Seven of nine participants in Experiment 1 passed tests for derived relations. In Experiment 2, eight participants (all of whom, except one, had a verbal repertoire) were given training with the aim of establishing two 4-member sameness networks. Three of these participants were typically developing young children aged between 5 and 6 years old, all of whom demonstrated derived relations, as did four of the five participants with developmental delay. These data demonstrate that it is possible to reliably establish derived relations in young children and those with developmental delay using an automated procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]