Resumo

SANTOS, Eugênia Andréa Leão; NOGUEIRA, Claudia Bueno; QUEIROZ, Lidianne Lins de  e  BARROS, Romariz da Silva. Equivalence class formation via class-specific consequences in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Temas psicol. [online]. 2017, vol.25, n.2, pp. 831-842. ISSN 1413-389X.  http://dx.doi.org/10.9788/TP2017.2-20.

Previous equivalence-class formation studies, with class-specific consequences, found inter-subject variability, probably due to loss of efficacy of the consequences as reinforcers. This study evaluated (a) the efficacy of introducing variations of events (within a category) as class-specific consequences and (b) the inclusion of these consequences into the equivalence classes. Two children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and with intellectual disabilities, were given identity matchingto-sample training (Set A - Sample A1, S+A1/S-A2 and Sample A2, S+A2/S-A1) and simple discrimination reversal training (Set B - S+B1/S-B2 and reversals). Two sets of assorted videos on the same theme plus two sets of assorted food items within the same category were used as class-specific consequences. The data show that the variety of elements was efficient to maintain reinforcement efficacy and encourage the use of similar procedures in the applied context. Both participants showed strong evidence of equivalence class formation, confirming the theoretical prediction regarding the inclusion of the class-specific consequences in the classes. The data confirm that equivalence relations can be found in three-term contingencies.

Palavras-chave : Identity matching-to-sample; simple discrimination; equivalence class formation; specific consequences; Autism Spectrum Disorder.

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