An untrained stimulus-stimulus relation that emerges as a product of training two other stimulus-stimulus relations.  

In Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), transitivity is one of the key principles of stimulus equivalence. It refers to the ability to derive a relationship between two stimuli that have not been directly trained together.  

Here’s how it works:

  • Training: If a person learns that Stimulus A is equivalent to Stimulus B, and that Stimulus B is equivalent to Stimulus C,  
  • Transitivity: They can then infer that Stimulus A is equivalent to Stimulus C, even though that specific relationship was never directly taught.  

Examples:

  • Example 1:
    • Training: A child learns to match the spoken word “cat” (Stimulus A) to a picture of a cat (Stimulus B). They also learn to match the picture of a cat (Stimulus B) to the written word “cat” (Stimulus C).
    • Transitivity: The child can then match the spoken word “cat” (Stimulus A) to the written word “cat” (Stimulus C) without direct training on that specific pairing.  
  • Example 2:
    • Training: A student learns to match the color red (Stimulus A) to the word “red” (Stimulus B). They also learn to match the word “red” (Stimulus B) to a red square (Stimulus C).
    • Transitivity: The student can then match the color red (Stimulus A) to the red square (Stimulus C) without direct training on that specific pairing.

Applied Behavior Analysis (2nd Edition) Need ABA study cards?  Click here.

Categorized in:

ABA Terms