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To evaluate whether children with and without autism could exhibit (a) functional equivalence in the course of yoked repeated-reversal training and (b) reversal learning set, 6 children, in each of two experiments, were exposed to simple discrimination contingencies with three sets of stimuli. The discriminative functions of the set members were yoked and repeatedly reversed. In Experiment 1, all the children (of preschool age) showed gains in the efficiency of reversal learning across reversal problems and behavior that suggested formation of functional equivalence. In Experiment 2, 3 nonverbal children with autism exhibited strong evidence of reversal learning set and 2 showed evidence of functional equivalence. The data suggest a possible relationship between efficiency of reversal learning and functional equivalence test outcomes. Procedural variables may prove important in assessing the potential of young or nonverbal children to classify stimuli on the basis of shared discriminative functions., The capability of behaving organisms to respond to physically dissimilar stimuli as if they are the same has been of considerable interest to researchers who study both human and nonhuman [...]

Research indicates that choice conditional discriminations is controlled by visual characteristics of a sample. Results are based on tests of symmetry in pigeons.

The overtraining of pigeons fails to replicate the work ethic effect leading to type I error.

An experiment was conducted, to test pigeons for symmetry, after the A-B training. This was examined under conditions that would avoid problems of change of stimulus location in testing relative to training and the lack of requisite discrimination training.

The emergent differential sample behavior in budgerigars that has been interpreted as evidence of functional equivalence class formation is discussed. The results illustrate, a viable pigeon analogue to the budgerigar emergent, discussed in terms of equivalence- and non-equivalence-based processes.

Pigeons were trained on symbolic matching with I samples, 2 pairs of comparisons, and different outcomes for the correct responses within each comparison pair. For one group, the 2 samples were also associated with different outcomes, whereas for another group, they were not. When the response--outcome (R-O) relations for one pair were subsequently reversed, the group trained with differential sample-outcome (S-O) associations was significantly disrupted in its performance on both reversed- and nonreversed-outcome trials. By contrast, the group trained with just differential R-O associations was disrupted only on reversed-outcome trials. These results were replicated when the outcomes on the initially nonreversed trials were then reversed. The findings indicate that differential S-O associations, when present, have a stronger influence on matching performances than differential R-O associations. They are also consistent with hierarchical and configural models of discriminative control.