Dymond, S. & Whelan, R. (2010).
Derived relational responding: A comparison of match-to-sample and the relational completion procedure.
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 94, 37-55.
Previous research suggests that the Relational Completion Procedure may be an effective alternative procedure for studying derived relational responding. The parameters
that make it effective, relative to traditional match-to-sample, remain to be determined. The present experiment compared the Relational Completion Procedure and
match-to-sample protocols for training and testing Same and Opposite derived stimulus relations. Trials to criterion and overall pass rate (i.e., yield) in both
procedures were compared across three variables: presence versus absence of a confirmatory response requirement, three versus five comparison stimuli, and top-to-bottom
versus left-to-right presentation format. Findings demonstrated a facilitative effect of the confirmatory response requirement in both procedures. Training trials to
criterion were nominally but not significantly lower during the nonarbitrary training phase in the Relational Completion Procedure compared to match-to-sample, and the
overall yield on the arbitrary relational test was greater in the former procedure compared to the latter. The present findings support the further development of the
Relational Completion Procedure as an efficient alternative procedure for establishing Same and Opposite relations with adult humans, and with potential applicability
to other types of derived relations.
Key words: derived relational responding, match-to-sample, relational completion procedure, relational frames, same, opposite, stimulus equivalence, adult humans