Same or different: Teaching nonarbitrary relational responding to preschoolers with disabilities

Identifying similarities and differences between stimuli is a foundational skill in early childhood and a critical component of preschool curricula. Relational Frame Theory describes such responding based on formal properties as being foundational to language. However, research indicates that children with developmental disabilities and language delays may not readily acquire same/different relational responding (Kent et al., 2017). This study employed a concurrent multiple-probe design to examine the effectiveness of Multiple Exemplar Instruction (MEI) in teaching nonarbitrary same/different relational responding across two types of speaker and listener responses to three preschoolers with disabilities. Results showed that all participants demonstrated increased accuracy in same/different responses to novel stimuli following the intervention. Furthermore, two of our participants met mastery criterion on nonarbitrary analogy without direct teaching. These findings add to the literature on using MEI across topographies to promote relational responding in young children with language delays.