Small-span-to-depth-ratio coupling beams of shear wall can be formed with a crack in the middle to prevent from shear failure and improve the seismic performance. Three coupling beams with same small-span-to-depth-ratio were tested under cyclic loading. Comparing the results of slotted coupling beams with other coupling beams of different forms of reinforcement, we analyzed the seismic behavior of the slotted coupling beam, including failure pattern, hysteresis loop, strength degradation, stiffness degradation, ductility and energy dissipation. We simulated skeleton curve of specimens' hysteresis curve by using ABAQUS and compared the simulation result mith the experiment result. The results show that slotted coupling beams with small-span-to-depth-ratio have good performance of bearing capacity and deformation.They can be constructed conveniently and economically. Besides, with the good seismic performance, small-span-to-depth-ratio coupling beams could prevent from shear failure effectively and be applied well in practical engineering.