Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice, Vol 26(3), Aug 2026, 138-150; doi:10.1037/bar0000337
Equivalence-based instruction (EBI) has been shown to be an efficacious and efficient approach to teaching content to learners of varying ages and disability status. However, few studies have evaluated its application with complex, ecologically relevant stimuli, and only one study has applied EBI to teaching content related to medication. In the current study, we taught six adults three 4-member classes using a one-to-many training structure. The class members were medication names (A stimuli), medication types (B stimuli), symptoms upon medication introduction (C stimuli), and symptoms upon discontinuation (D stimuli). The C and D stimuli comprised three symptoms that were presented in varying orders throughout the experiment; some of the symptoms shared overlapping stimuli across classes (e.g., headaches). Despite inclusion of overlapping stimuli across classes, all participants showed increased correct responding during the multiple-choice tests evaluating derived relations following training. Variable levels of correct responding were observed during the generalization tasks that required selection of individual symptoms associated with each medication (A–CD trials). At a 2-week follow-up, however, levels of correct responding decreased for all trial types. These findings suggest that overlapping features of class members may impact class-consistent responding under certain conditions, which has implications for the application of EBI to real-world, complex stimulus classes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)