Cullinan, V., Barnes, D., Hampson, P. J., & Lyddy, F. (1994). A transfer of explicitly and nonexplicitly trained sequence responses through equivalence relations: An experimental demonstration and connectionist model. The Psychological Record, 44, 559-585.
The present study examines the possibility of explicit training of 2 two-word sequences giving rise to a large number of nonexplicitly trained two and three-word sequences. Eight college students were trained in a sequential response to two nonsense syllable pairs B1-B2 and B2-B3. They were then tested to determine whether an untrained, novel three-response sequence emerged as a result of the spontaneous combination of the two explicitly trained two-response sequences (i.e., B1-B2 + B2-B3 becomes B1-B2-B3). All subjects demonstrated this three-response sequence performance. . Four experimental subjects were then trained in a set of conditional discriminations, using a matching-to-sample procedure (i.e., A1-B1, A1-C1, A2-B2, A2-C2, A3-B3, A3-C3). All four subsequently displayed the formation of three equivalence relations in nonreinforced testing (i.e., A1-B1-C1, A2-B2-C2, A3-B3-C3). This was followed by testing for a transfer, through equivalence, of the sequential responses, for both nonsense syllable pairs and triples. All experimental subjects showed this transfer.