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ERIC Number: EJ992109
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006-Nov
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-5002
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
The Transformation of Consequential Functions in Accordance with the Relational Frames of More-Than and Less-Than
Whelan, Robert; Barnes-Holmes, Dermot; Dymond, Simon
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, v86 n3 p317-335 Nov 2006
Across three experiments, the transformation of consequential functions in accordance with a seven-member relational network (A-B-C-D-E-F-G) was investigated. In this network, the relational rankings ranged from A, ranked the least, to G, ranked the most. In the first phase, contextual cues for more-than and less-than were established by training participants across multiple exemplars to select comparisons containing larger quantities in the presence of the former cue, and fewer quantities in the presence of the latter cue. Participants then were trained in six conditional discriminations (i.e., A less than B, B less than C, C less than D, E greater than D, F greater than E, and G greater than F) with the contextual cues as samples and nonsense words as comparisons, and all possible derived relations were tested (e.g., B less than F). In a subsequent phase, the D stimulus was paired with the delivery of points. Next, a test for a transformation of consequential functions was presented in either simultaneous discrimination tasks (Experiments 1 and 2) or a free-operant schedule task (Experiment 3), each of which employed members of the relational network as consequences. In all experiments, participants consistently emitted the response that produced the derived consequential stimulus that was ranked higher in the relational network, thus demonstrating a transformation of consequential functions. In Experiment 2, the baseline conditional discriminations were altered in a reversal design, and Experiment 3 examined generalization of the derived performance to a schedule-based task, with and without detailed instructions. Overall, the study demonstrated a transformation and generalization of consequential functions in accordance with the relational frames of More-than and Less-than, and bears relevance to the literature on transitive inference. (Contains 1 footnote, 3 tables and 4 figures.)
Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. Available from: Indiana University Department of Psychology. Bloomington, IN 47405. Tel: 812-334-0395; Fax: 812-855-4691; e-mail: jeab@indiana.edu; Web site: http://seab.envmed.rochester.edu/jeab/index.html
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A