A mediational theory of equivalence relations and transformation of function
Reinforce the tiny mediating act that happens right at feedback time and equivalence classes form faster.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Schlinger and colleagues wrote a theory paper. They asked: what happens inside the learner right when reinforcement hits?
They say equivalence classes form because the child makes a tiny mediating response. It could be a whispered name, a quick look, or a small muscle twitch. That micro-response gets reinforced and glues the stimuli together.
What they found
The paper does not give new data. Instead it re-frames thirty years of equivalence studies.
The upshot: if you can see or prompt the mediating response, you can speed up equivalence training.
How this fits with other research
Tantam et al. (1993) showed that once one stimulus controls a response, equivalent stimuli do too. Schlinger’s account explains why: the mediating response is reinforced at the same moment.
Hopkinson et al. (2003) found that people with profound ID and almost no language still form equivalence classes. That fits the new view because mediating responses do not have to be words; a head turn or eye shift can do the job.
O’Connor et al. (2020) taught children with autism to link people and emotions through equivalence. The theory predicts that prompting a brief orienting response during praise should help the derived relations stick better.
Why it matters
Next time you run an equivalence program, watch for tiny mediating responses. If the child whispers the sample name or looks back at the comparison, reinforce that exact moment. You may cut trials-to-criterion in half.
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During match-to-sample trials, reinforce the child’s quick look back at the sample card; count if fewer trials are needed to pass the equivalence test.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
In this article, we describe a mediational theory of emergent or derived relations resulting from matching-to-sample procedures that produce equivalence and transformation of function. According to a mediational theory, behaviors that occur at the time of reinforcement mediate subsequent behavioral relations referred to as "derived" or "emergent." Such relations have been documented for decades in studies using mostly matching-to-sample procedures with humans and nonhumans. In both verbal human and nonhuman participants, the mediating behaviors consist of differential responding to the sample stimulus. In humans, such behaviors are mostly, but not necessarily, verbal; in nonhumans they include a variety of sample-specific responses, sometimes called "coding." The proposed mediational theory, based only on the four-term contingency and the basic principles of operant learning, makes specific predictions and explains results from a broad range of experiments. There are at least three important implications of a mediational theory. First, if by "derived" or "emergent" one means untrained or unreinforced, then derived relations may not exist. Second, if there are no derived relations, then theories of such relations may not be necessary. Third, a mediational theory of relational responding has potentially important implications for clinical practice.
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 2024 · doi:10.1002/jeab.4204