ASSESSING THE LONG-TERM MAINTENANCE OF TWO, 3-MEMBER EQUIVALENCE CLASSES

BRIEF REPORT

Abstract

Research on the maintenance of equivalence classes has shown that class-consistent responding often remains stable despite the absence of training. Several factors influence these outcomes, including stimulus characteristics, training procedures, and class size. However, only two studies to date have examined the maintenance of equivalence classes composed of stimuli with different valence (e.g., happiness and anger). The present study replicates this previous research by teaching two three member equivalence classes and assessing the maintenance of emergent relations 30 days later. Results showed that 8 out of 23 participants maintained the equivalence classes. However, stimulus valence did not significantly affect maintenance performance, contrary to previous findings.