Premium
THE TRANSFER OF SPECIFIC AND GENERAL CONSEQUENTIAL FUNCTIONS THROUGH SIMPLE AND CONDITIONAL EQUIVALENCE RELATIONS
Author(s) -
Hayes Steven C.,
Kohlenberg BarbaraS.,
Hayes Linda J.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
journal of the experimental analysis of behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.75
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1938-3711
pISSN - 0022-5002
DOI - 10.1901/jeab.1991.56-119
Subject(s) - reinforcement , psychology , equivalence (formal languages) , equivalence relation , discrimination learning , equivalence class (music) , cognitive psychology , mathematics , social psychology , developmental psychology , pure mathematics
The purpose of this study was to examine the transfer of consequential (reinforcement and punishment) functions through equivalence relations. In Experiment 1, 9 subjects acquired three three‐member equivalence classes through matching‐to‐sample training using arbitrary visual forms. Comparison stimuli were then given conditioned reinforcement or punishment functions by pairing them with verbal feedback during a sorting task. For 8 of the 9 subjects, trained consequential functions transferred through their respective equivalence classes without additional training. In Experiment 2, transfer of function was initially tested before equivalence testing per se. Three of 4 subjects showed the transfer without a formal equivalence test. In Experiment 3, 3 subjects were given training that gave rise to six new three‐member conditional equivalence classes. For 2 of the subjects, the same stimulus could have either a reinforcement or punishment function on the basis of contextual cues that defined its class membership. Experiment 4 assessed whether equivalence training had established general or specific consequential functions primarily by adding novel stimuli in the transfer test. Subjects treated even novel feedback stimuli in the transfer test as consequences, but the direction of consequential effects depended upon the transfer of specific consequential functions through equivalence relations.