The role of multiple-exemplar training and naming in establishing derived equivalence in an infant.
Babies can derive new picture relations after simple symmetry drills, no words needed.
01Research in Context
What this study did
One toddler took part. The child was 15 months old at the start and 23 months at the end.
The team used many matching games. Each game taught the baby to pick the "same" picture when the sample was flipped left-to-right.
After weeks of play, the child saw new pictures that had never been trained. The testers watched if the baby still picked the symmetrical match.
What they found
The infant learned to pick the flipped match during training.
Later, the child also passed brand-new visual-visual equivalence tests. This happened before the baby could name the pictures out loud.
So, symmetry training alone created a wider equivalence class without needing words.
How this fits with other research
Fields et al. (2002) showed adults and older kids the same kind of matching game. They found that more examples help new items fit the class. Carmen’s team used that idea and proved it works for babies too.
Williams et al. (2020) later repeated the logic with children with autism. Instead of looking, the kids drew pictures to show the relations. Both studies got positive results, so the method stretches across ages and diagnoses.
Dhadwal et al. (2021) used the same many-example style to teach false-belief tasks. Their work shows the training format is bigger than just pictures; it can teach social skills as well.
Why it matters
You can start equivalence programs before a child speaks. If a toddler can point, you can run brief symmetry games and check for untrained matches. This opens early intervention doors for kids who are late talkers or have language delays. Try adding a quick symmetry probe next time you assess pre-verbal learners.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The conditions under which symmetry and equivalence relations develop are still controversial. This paper reports three experiments that attempt to analyze the impact of multiple-exemplar training (MET) in receptive symmetry on the emergence of visual-visual equivalence relations with a very young child, Gloria. At the age of 15 months 24 days (15m24d), Gloria was tested for receptive symmetry and naming and showed no evidence of either repertoire. In the first experiment, MET in immediate and delayed receptive symmetrical responding or listener behavior (from object-sound to immediate and delayed sound-object selection) proceeded for one month with 10 different objects. This was followed, at 16m25d, by a second test conducted with six new objects. Gloria showed generalized receptive symmetry with a 3-hr delay; however no evidence of naming with new objects was found. Experiment 2 began at 17m with the aim of establishing derived visual-visual equivalence relations using a matching-to-sample format with two comparisons. Visual-visual equivalence responding emerged at 19m, although Gloria still had not shown evidence of naming. Experiment 3 (22m to 23m25d) used a three-comparison matching-to-sample procedure to establish visual-visual equivalence. Equivalence responding emerged as in Experiment 2, and naming emerged by the end of Experiment 3. Results are discussed in terms of the history of training in bidirectional relations responsible for the emergence of visual-visual equivalence relations and of their implications for current theories of stimulus equivalence.
Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior, 2007 · doi:10.1901/jeab.2007.08-06