Establishing Hierarchical Classification Responding: Directly Trained and Emergent Responses

Hierarchical Class Responding (HCR) is a set of responses that require an individual to create logical relationships between stimuli based on hierarchical classification. HCR skills are essential learning techniques that help people describe complex relationships between discriminant stimuli. Cognitive psychologists have described hierarchical class reasoning as including the fundamental properties of asymmetry, property inheritance, and transitive class containment (Deneault & Ricard, 2006). The present study establishes correct HCR with typically developing 6-year-old children through discrete trial instructions. Participants were tested for the emergence of class naming, property inheritance, and class inclusion responding for the trained and novel stimuli. The data was evaluated using a multiple baseline design across each participant. The participants were successfully taught HCR across 36 stimulus cards representing six categories with two levels of hierarchy. This learning resulted in the emergence of class naming and property inheritance without direct instruction. Class inclusion responding did not emerge for some of the participants. Direct instruction was used for participants who did not experience an emergent relationship with the class inclusion task. The results suggest potential for teaching HCR skills to younger typically developing children and special needs children.