Abstract

DELGADO, Diana; MEDINA, Iván Felipe  and  JIMENEZ, Laura. Equivalence relations and cognitive style: findings of an unexplored relationship. Suma Psicol. [online]. 2014, vol.21, n.1, pp.19-27. ISSN 0121-4381.

The formation of equivalence classes derived from exposure to conditional discrimination training is a widely demonstrated phenomenon in human research. However, low performance in equivalence tests and difficulties in the acquisition of relations among class members are not infrequent. The present study examined whether types of perceptual response to the experimental stimulus (the cognitive style of visual field sensitivity) are related to the variability observed in equivalence tests. The masked figures test (MFT) was used to determine the cognitive styles of 32 participants who were also exposed to equivalence tests after conditional discrimination training trials with a respondent matching-to-sample procedure. Observed frequencies, as reported in contingency tables, and correlation coefficients between performance in equivalence tests and MFT scores suggested a positive association between the cognitive style of visual field dependence-independence and the formation of equivalence classes.

Keywords : Equivalence; Cognitive styles; Visual field dependence independence; Configural; Elemental; Matching to sample.

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