RESUMEN

Contextual control is a key aspect in equivalence research to support the claim that stimuli may have multiple functions or symbols may have multiple meanings. The present study investigated the contextual control of multiple derived stimulus functions in two experiments. In Experiment 1, equivalence classes were formed and one stimulus set from each class was used to establish two different functions: one via positive reinforcement (key-pressing) and another via negative reinforcement (button clicking), both under contextual control of two different background colors. Later, other stimuli from the equivalence class were presented on those background colors and contextual control of multiple derived stimulus functions was assessed. Experiment 2 added a third background in which no programmed response was reinforced, that is, responses were extinguished. Transfer-of-function tests revealed contextual control of three different functions, including derived extinction. Implications for equivalence relations as a behavior-analytical model of symbolic functioning are discussed.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Skinner ao definir comportamento verbal em 1957 exclui o comportamento do ouvinte desta categoria. No entanto, alguns autores como Horne e Lowe e Stemmer sugerem que o comportamento de ouvinte pode ser condição necessária para aquisição do comportamento verbal. Stemmer propõe que o comportamento de ouvinte se dá através de aprendizagem ostensiva, aprendizagem que ocorre por pareamento de estímulos, semelhante à pavloviana, e que uma vez adquirido pode ser transferido para o de falante e reforçado diferencialmente. O presente trabalho irá sugerir semelhanças entre as propostas de Stemmer e o que Pavlov chamou de Segundo Sistema de Sinais, discutindo evidências empíricas sobre transferência de função de estímulos tanto em não-humanos como em humanos na literatura experimental. Apontará a viabilidade das propostas teóricas de Pavlov e Stemmer para ajudar a esclarecer os processos comportamentais subjacentes à área de equivalência de estímulos.

Skinner defining verbal behavior in 1957 excludes the behavior of listener from this category, however, some authors such as Horne and Lowe and also Stemmer suggest that the behavior of listener can be a prerequisite for the acquisition of verbal behavior. Stemmer suggests that the behavior of listener is given by ostensive learning, a pavlovian learning that occurs by pairing of stimuli, and once acquired can be transferred to the behavior of speaker and differentially reinforced. This paper will suggest some similarities between the Stemmer's approach to what Pavlov called Second Signal System, discussing empirical evidence on the function transference of stimuli in nonhumans and humans in the experimental literature. It will point out to the viability of the Pavlov and Stemmer's theoretical approach to clarify the behavioral processes underlying the stimulus equivalence studies.

RESUMEN

Several conceptual and experimental studies on the behavioral-analytic literature have suggested that it is possible to address B.F. Skinner's cultural selection phenomena through heuristic approaches. The concepts of metacontingency, interlocking behavioral contingencies (IBCs), cultural milieus, aggregate products, cultural consequences and receiving systems are useful tools for the cultural level of analysis. This paper reviews Glenn and Malott's (2004) perspective on complexity in organizations and suggests complementing it with Norbert Elias' sociological approach, in which increasing complexity in a social system results in (a) increasing conflicts between individual and cultural consequences, (b) greater concurrency of the contingencies that affect the behavior of each member of the group, and (c) the specialization of the functions performed by each participant in the system. We suggest that the more complex a social system is, the more social mediation is necessary to select the IBCs and the more differentiated the cultural consequences from the aggregate product.

Varios trabajos conceptuales y experimentales en la literatura analítico-conductual han considerado que es posible hacer frente a los fenómenos sugeridos por BF Skinner como selección cultural de manera heurística. Los conceptos de metacontingencia, contingencias conductuales entrelazadas (CCE), entorno cultural, producto agregado, consecuencias culturales y sistema receptor son herramientas útiles para aplicar el nivel cultural de análisis. El artículo examina las sugerencias de Glenn y Malott (2004) sobre la complejidad en las organizaciones y sugiere que ésta podría ser complementada por las dimensiones: (a) conflicto entre las consecuencias individuales y culturales; (b) la concurrencia de las contingencias que afectan el conducta de cada miembro de un grupo, (c) la especialización de las funciones ejecutadas por cada participante en el sistema. Sugerimos que cuanto más complejo es un sistema social, más mediación social es necesario para seleccionar las CCEs y más diferenciadas son las consecuencias culturales del producto agregado.

RESUMEN

Skinner ao definir comportamento verbal em 1957 exclui o comportamento do ouvinte desta categoria. No entanto, alguns autores como Horne e Lowe e Stemmer sugerem que o comportamento de ouvinte pode ser condição necessária para aquisição do comportamento verbal. Stemmer propõe que o comportamento de ouvinte se dá através de aprendizagem ostensiva, aprendizagem que ocorre por pareamento de estímulos, semelhante à pavloviana, e que uma vez adquirido pode ser transferido para o de falante e reforçado diferencialmente. O presente trabalho irá sugerir semelhanças entre as propostas de Stemmer e o que Pavlov chamou de Segundo Sistema de Sinais, discutindo evidências empíricas sobre transferência de função de estímulos tanto em não-humanos como em humanos na literatura experimental. Apontará a viabilidade das propostas teóricas de Pavlov e Stemmer para ajudar a esclarecer os processos comportamentais subjacentes à área de equivalência de estímulos.(AU)

Skinner defining verbal behavior in 1957 excludes the behavior of listener from this category, however, some authors such as Horne and Lowe and also Stemmer suggest that the behavior of listener can be a prerequisite for the acquisition of verbal behavior. Stemmer suggests that the behavior of listener is given by ostensive learning, a pavlovian learning that occurs by pairing of stimuli, and once acquired can be transferred to the behavior of speaker and differentially reinforced. This paper will suggest some similarities between the Stemmer's approach to what Pavlov called Second Signal System, discussing empirical evidence on the function transference of stimuli in nonhumans and humans in the experimental literature. It will point out to the viability of the Pavlov and Stemmer's theoretical approach to clarify the behavioral processes underlying the stimulus equivalence studies.(AU)

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

The aim of this paper is to examine specific features of modern individualistic societies that contribute to "emotions" and "cognitions" becoming a matter of privacy. Although some behavior analysts identify emotions and cognitions as "private events," we argue with Skinner (1945) that cognitions and emotions are relations among events and that their origin is in public events in the contingencies of reinforcement maintained by other people. Guided by Elias (1939/1996), we suggest that the shift from feudal economies to market economies involved the increasing individualization of society's members. This individualizing process includes the socially maintained contingencies that bring some verbal responses under control of private stimulation and reduce the magnitude of some verbal responses to a covert level. Behavioral relations in which either stimuli or responses (or both) cannot be observed by others set the stage for a concept of "privacy." Changes in societal contingencies that gave rise to individualization and the attribution of privacy to cognitions and emotions are suggested to include the following: (a) increasing frequency of individual consequences that have no apparent or direct relevance to the group; (b) increasing numbers of concurrent contingencies and choice requirements; (c) conflicts between immediate and delayed consequences for the individual; and (d) conflicts between consequences for the individual and for the group.