Using a Compound Class-Specific Reinforcer Procedure to Teach Math

A compound class-specific reinforcement procedure was used to teach math. Printed numerals, spoken and printed numbers, were used as class-specific reinforcers to teach children to match quantities to each other and addition facts. A match-to-sample format was used to train conditional discriminations, and test emergent relations. Two of nine participants with developmental disabilities and 7 typically developing children, mastered quantity training. Six of those nine participants mastered quantity training (with verbal instructions). Five of the seven participants performed in a class-consistent manner. Four of five participants exposed to AB training (quantities to addition facts) met mastery criterion. Three of four participants, exposed to symmetry probes (BA trials) and reinforcer probes, performed in a class-consistent manner. The findings support Sidman’s (2000) theory of equivalence, in which all members of the four-term contingency become members of the equivalence class. This procedure holds implications for classroom efficiency in mathematics, where many students struggle.