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CONTEXTUAL CONTROL OF STIMULUS GENERALIZATION AND STIMULUS EQUIVALENCE IN HIERARCHICAL CATEGORIZATION
Author(s) -
Griffee Karen,
Dougher Michael J.
Publication year - 2002
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.2002.78-433
Subject(s) - categorization , stimulus (psychology) , stimulus control , psychology , transitive relation , stimulus generalization , cognitive psychology , nonsense , perception , artificial intelligence , computer science , mathematics , neuroscience , biochemistry , chemistry , combinatorics , nicotine , gene
The purpose of this study was to determine whether hierarchical categorization would result from a combination of contextually controlled conditional discrimination training, stimulus generalization, and stimulus equivalence. First, differential selection responses to a specific stimulus feature were brought under contextual control. This contextual control was hierarchical in that stimuli at the top of the hierarchy all evoked one response, whereas those at the bottom each evoked different responses. The evocative functions of these stimuli generalized in predictable ways along a dimension of physical similarity. Then, these functions were indirectly acquired by a set of nonsense syllables that were related via transitivity relations to the originally trained stimuli. These nonsense syllables effectively served as names for the different stimulus classes within each level of the hierarchy.