Spencer, T. J., & Chase, P. N. (1996).
Speed analyses of stimulus equivalence.
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior,
65, 643-659.
The functional substitutability of stimuli in equivalence classes
was examined through a nalyses of the speed of college students'
accurate responding. After training subjects to respond to 18
conditional relations, subjects' accuracy and speed of accurate
responding were compared across trial types (baseline, symmetry,
transitivity, and combined transitivity and symmetry) and nodal
distance (one- through five-node transitive and combined
transitive and symmetric relations). Differences in accuracy
across nodal distance and trial type were significant only on the
first tests of equivalence, whereas differences in speed were
significant even after extended testing. Response speed was
inversely related to the number of nodes on which the tested
relations were based. Significant differences in response speed
were also found across trial types, except between transitivity
and combined trials. To determine the generality of these
comparisons, three groups of subjects were included: An
instructed group was given an instruction that specified the
interchangeability of stimuli related through training; a queried
group was queried about the basis for test-trial responding; and
a standard group was neither instructed nor queried. There were
no significant differences among groups. These results suggest
the use of response speed and response accuracy to measure the
strength of matching relations.
Key words: response speed, stimulus equivalence, nodal relations,
matching to sample, key press, college students