Barnes-Holmes, Yvonne and Barnes-Holmes, Dermot and Roche, Bryan and Smeets, Paul M. (2001) Exemplar Training and a Derived Transformation of Function in Accordance with Symmetry: II. The Psychological record, 51. pp. 589-603. ISSN 0033-2933

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Abstract

The main purpose of the present study was to determine whether exemplar training in symmetry relations would readily facilitate the transformation of function in accordance with symmetry, when subjects were not provided with explicit name training. The study also examined whether pretraining that was formally similar to the symmetry test, but did not reinforce symmetry relations, would have the same facilitative effect as exemplar training. Sixteen children, aged between 4 and 5 years, were employed across three experiments (i.e., 4 children each in Experiments 1 and 2, and 8 children in Experiment 3). In Experiment 1, subjects were trained in an action-object conditional discrimination using familiar actions and objects (e.g., when the experimenter waved, choosing a toy car was reinforced, and when the experimenter clapped, choosing a doll was reinforced). Subjects were then exposed to a test for derived object-action symmetry relations (e.g., experimenter presents toy car-*child waves and experimenter presents doll-*child claps). Across subsequent sessions, a multiple-baseline design was used to introduce exemplar training (i.e., explicit symmetry training) for those subjects who failed the symmetry test. Experiment 2 replicated Experiment 1, except that the trained and tested relations were reversed (i.e., train object-action, test action-object relations). Experiment 3 replicated Experiment 1, except that subjects were exposed to object-action pretraining. Across Experiments 1 and 2, none of the 8 subjects show derived objectaction (Experiment 1) or action-object (Experiment 2) symmetry until they received explicit symmetry training. Pretraining objectaction responding in Experiment 3 appeared to facilitate symmetry, but only for 4 of the 8 subjects. For the 4 subjects who failed , symmetry emerged following exposure to exemplar training. Overall, the data are consistent with Relational Frame Theory.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Exemplar Training; Derived Transformation of Function; Symmetry; Relational Frame Theory;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Science and Engineering > Psychology
Item ID:	10676
Depositing User:	Dr. Bryan Roche
Date Deposited:	02 Apr 2019 16:21
Journal or Publication Title:	The Psychological record
Publisher:	Springer Verlag
Refereed:	Yes
URI:
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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