Association for Behavior Analysis International

College-level learners need to master complex and voluminous material in an efficient and effective manner, and to express mastered material across a variety of modalities (e.g., multiple-choice, written short-answer, and oral responding). Research has evaluated the use of equivalence-base instruction (EBI) with advanced learners (e.g., college students) across a variety of academic content domains (e.g., Fields, Travis, Roy, Yadlovker, de Aguiar- Rocha, & Sturmey, 2009; Fienup et al., 2009; Fienup et al., 2010; Ninness et al., 2005; Walker, Rehfeldt, & Ninness, 2010). However, the technology of stimulus equivalence instruction requires further empirical refinement and broader-based dissemination (Fienup, Hamelin, Reyes-Giordano, & Falcomata, 2011). The first paper in this symposium evaluated the use of EBI to teach contingencies of reinforcement and punishment to graduate students. The second paper taught graduate students to form derived relations among representations of prominent behavior analysts. The third paper used EBI to teach the concept of statistical variability to college students. The final paper investigated the influence of mastery criterion on the number of college students who successfully formed equivalence classes consisting of neuroanatomy stimuli. Collectively, these studies suggest procedural refinements in EBI and additional support for the use of EBI to teach complex academic material to advanced learners.

Bailey and Burch (2010) describe competence in identifying prominent behavior analysts among their essential skills and responsibilities for behavior analysts. The present study applied the stimulus equivalence paradigm to establish relations among the name, photograph, professional affiliation, and research interest of six prominent behavior analysts (3 men and 3 women). Participants were 15 graduate students in a Master of Arts applied behavior analysis program. A pretest-training-posttest design was used. First, three, 4-member equivalence classes (either men or women) were established using a match-to-sample software program. Selection-based responding was used during training and testing. Three relations were trained and nine additional relations emerged without additional training, thus demonstrating the emergence of equivalence classes. Participants also demonstrated response generalization by responding correctly during oral posttests. After learning the first set of behavior analyst classes (either men or women), the results were replicated within-subjects with another set of three, 4-member equivalence classes. The results were maintained in a two-week follow up. The present study extends the stimulus equivalence literature to a novel content area while also expanding research that is relevant to the field of behavior analysis (Walker & Rehfeldt, 2012).

The stimulus equivalence paradigm has been applied to teach numerous college-level academic topics, such as algebra (Ninness et al., 2006), statistics (Fields et al., 2009; Fienup & Critchfield, 2010, 2011), neuroanatomy (Fienup, Covey, & Critchfield, 2010), and disability categorization (Walker et al., 2011). A review by Fienup, Hamelin, Reyes-Giordano, and Falcomata (2011) identified several technological variations among protocols found in the research literature. This study examined the influence of mastery criterion on the number of learners who successfully formed equivalence classes. All participants learned neuroanatomy concepts using match-to-sample training and the simple-to-complex protocol (includes learning baseline relations and derived relations probes). Researchers randomly assigned participants to a particular mastery criterion that consisted of blocks of training (e.g., Fields et al., 2009), or either of two consecutive correct responses (6 or 12) (e.g., Fienup et al., 2011). All mastery criteria resulted in equivalence class formation; however, the 12 consecutive correct criteria was most successful. The block mastery and 6 consecutive correct criteria produced more failed derived relations probes and resulted in participants spending more time completing remedial training prior to the formation of academically relevant equivalence classes. Implications for developing an effective and efficiency technology of equivalence-based instruction will be discussed.