Emergence of intraverbals with categories as responses after learning intraverbals with elements in reverse stimulus-response functions

ABSTRACT We explored transfer between two types of intraverbals with 26 five- and six-year-old children. We taught Exemplar intraverbals, in which she asked for an exemplar of a category – e.g. “Name a city” – “Buenos Aires” and probed the emergence of Categories, by asking without reinforcement for the category of the corresponding exemplar – e.g. “What is Buenos Aires” – “A city.” Seven children demonstrated emergence. The remaining children were randomly assigned to four conditions. They received cycles in which they learned the failed Categories –in Condition 1- or Categories with novel stimuli –in Condition 2, received the same experience with a novel stimulus set, and were probed again. Conditions 3 and 4 were control conditions. Seven children in Conditions 1 to 3 demonstrated emergence, but there were not clear differences across conditions. Thus, Category intraverbals emerged, but receiving experiences in which Categories are taught does not facilitate the emergence of further Categories.