FORMATION OF AN EQUIVALENCE CLASS INCORPORATING HAPTIC STIMULI

Nine verbally competent adult participants (three male and six female) were exposed to a stimulus equivalence training procedure. Using a ma tching-to-sample procedure they learned to match three haptically perc eived stimuli (B1, B2, and B3) to three nonsense syllables (A1, A2, an d A3), and three different nonsense syllables (C1, C2, and C3) to the haptically perceived stimuli. The haptically perceived stimuli were th ree different wooden blocks each weighing 500 g, attached to cylindric al wooden handles 31 cm long and 2 cm in diameter. Participants percei ved these stimuli by wielding them in their right hands for 5 secs. Ei ght participants successfully completed training, of these seven demon strated that they had formed equivalence classes by responding with gr eater than 80% accuracy on tests for four emergent relations: B-A symm etry, C-B symmetry, A-C transitivity, and C-A combined symmetry and tr ansitivity. These findings provide an empirical demonstration of the f ormation of equivalence classes involving stimuli perceived via the hu man haptic system and extend the applicability of the equivalence appr oach.