Merging meaningful classes and abstract equivalence classes by exclusion

Marin et al. (2024) asked college students to link familiar pictures to abstract shapes. They used exclusion trials. If the shape did not match any known name, students picked it by ruling out the others.

The team ran single-case sessions. Each student saw a mix of real photos and nonsense shapes. The goal was to see if the photos and shapes would merge into one equivalence class.

Students reliably picked the new shape when the other choices were clearly wrong. This exclusion choice held even when the shape was later paired with the familiar photo.

The results showed that exclusion can glue meaningful pictures to abstract symbols. Once glued, both items acted as members of the same class.

Arntzen et al. (2015) already showed that adding a six-second delay and using meaningful pictures can push equivalence success from zero to about seventy percent. Marin keeps the meaningful pictures and adds exclusion to weld them to abstract sets.

Rasing et al. (1992) used basic match-to-sample to teach name-face matching to adults with brain injuries. Marin keeps the match-to-sample frame but swaps in exclusion trials, showing the trick also works for neurotypical students.

Ribeiro et al. (2024) used quick math problems during the delay to expand classes. Marin expands classes too, but uses visual foils and exclusion instead of math, giving teachers two different tools for the same goal.

If you run stimulus equivalence lessons, add a few exclusion trials when you want real photos to join abstract symbols. Show the photo, then present three shapes: two that already belong to other photos and one new shape. Let the learner pick the new one by elimination. After a few rounds, test if the photo and the new shape work as a single class. This quick tweak can merge life-like materials with your abstract sets without extra direct teaching.