ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes a conceptual framework to identify procedures that must be in place for the identity concept to be demonstrated. A conceptual understanding of sameness is one specific skill that every child needs to learn early in life. A typical matching-to-sample procedure consists of a series of trials, each of which involves the presentation of at least two different stimuli. There are two major areas to address. First, stimulus configurations describe how stimuli are repeated and how their behavioral functions change across trials. Second, transfer-testing procedures describe the probe trials necessary to test the generalization of matching-to-sample performances to novel stimuli. Three major stimulus configurations have been used in matching-to-sample procedures: the constant-comparison-stimulus configuration, the reversal-of-comparison-stimulus configuration, and the unique-stimulus configuration. In the constant-comparison-stimulus configuration, the functions of the stimuli in each stimulus set remain constant. Many researchers have reversed the comparison stimuli to maintain the conditional nature of the discrimination required in matching-to-sample trials.
