Using class-specific compound consequences to teach dictated and printed letter relations to a child with autism

Abstract

The effects of class-specific compound consequences embedded in an identity-matching task to establish arbitrary emergent relations were evaluated. A 3-year-old child with autism was taught identity relations between lowercase letters (Set 1) and uppercase letters (Set 2). A compound stimulus that consisted of an auditory component (dictated letter name) and a visual component (an uppercase letter for Set 1 or lowercase letter for Set 2) followed correct responses. All targeted arbitrary relations emerged (uppercase-lowercase, lowercase-uppercase, dictated name/uppercase, and dictated name/lowercase), suggesting that this procedure may be useful for teaching.

Keywords: autism; class-specific consequences; conditional discrimination; equivalence relations.