Kelly, S., Green, G., & Sidman, M. (1998).
Visual identity matching and auditory-visual matching: A procedural note.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,
31, 237-243.
After preliminary computerized training on visual-visual identity
matching, a 5-year-old boy with autism (Sam) was given
visual-visual and auditory-visual matching-to-sample tests with
new stimuli. He did well in matching dictated name samples to 20
pictures, 26 printed upper case letters, and 9 single-digit
numbers. In matching the visual stimuli (pictures, letters, or
numbers) to themselves, however, he did not perform well. We then
increased the number of picture comparisons per trial from two to
three. In tests after this three-comparison training, Sam
correctly matched on 95% of the original 20-stimulus,
four-comparison, identity-matching test trials. He went on to
demonstrate accurate identity matching of the numbers, letters,
and new pictures. In identity-matching tests on the table top, he
performed poorly until the stimulus array was made to resemble
the stimulus arrangement on the computer. These findings showed
that seemingly small procedural changes can influence performance
and demonstrated that successful auditory-visual matching does
not guarantee proficiency in visual-visual identity matching.
DESCRIPTORS: matching to sample, conditional discrimination,
crossmodal matching, autism