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ABSTRACT

Compound class-specific reinforcers and equivalence performances in children diagnosed with developmental disabilities

Christina Ashford

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA - WILMINGTON

The present study examined equivalence performances of children with developmental disabilities with compound reinforcers. Compound reinforcers consisted of computerized auditory and visual elements and a food element. In Experiment 1, participants received training either with no elements, one element, or both elements class specific. Results indicated that class-specific reinforcers may have facilitated acquisition. In Experiment 2, performances of participants trained with class-specific compound reinforcers indicated the formation of equivalence classes including all trained stimuli as well as visual and food reinforcer elements. In Experiment 3, participants received identity-matching training during which correct responses for one set of stimuli yielded conditioned class-specific reinforcers, and correct responses for another set of stimuli yielded primary class-specific reinforcers. Participants then received testing for equivalence relations between these new stimuli and previously trained baseline stimuli. Participants also received testing for equivalence relations between the auditory element of the class-specific reinforcers and all baseline stimuli. Two participants’ performances indicated equivalence class formation including stimuli trained with either conditioned or primary class-specific reinforcers, and the performance of a third participant indicated class membership of stimuli trained with conditioned class-specific reinforcers only. All subjects demonstrated equivalence relations between the auditory reinforcer elements and baseline stimuli.