Maintenance of Equivalence Relations and the Remembering of Names

Abstract

To investigate whether equivalence classes are maintained over time and if there is relation between the maintenance of these classes and the performance on memory tests was the aim of this study. Nine college students were subjected to a matching‑to‑sample procedure. A microcomputer, one software, unfamiliar figures (A), names of objects (B) and names of persons (C), where used. The remembering of names was made in tests of free recall and recall of names of objects besides of people’s names. In Phase 1 the conditional relations AB and AC were established. In Phase 2, 3 and 4 were performed, respectively, after 2 days, 30 days and 60‑90 days, involving each one tests of free recall, of recall with tips, of symmetry and of equivalence. Most participants who formed equivalence relations presented maintenance of equivalence classes and recalled the names in recall tests.

Keywords

• conditional discrimination
• stimulus classes
• matching-to-sample
• undergraduate students
• memory