Pérez-González, L. A., & Serna, R. W. (2003).
Transfer of specific contextual functions to novel conditional discriminations.
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior,
79, 395-408.
Three adolescents and four children participated in studies
designed to examine contextually controlled conditional
discrimination performance. In Study 1, participants selected
Comparison B1 in the presence one stimulus (A1) and Comparison B2
in the presence of another stimulus (A2) using a
matching-to-sample procedure. Next, contextual stimuli X1 or X2
were presented, such that in the presence of X1, selection of B1
given A1 and selection of B2 given A2 were reinforced; and in the
presence of X2, selection of B2 given A1 and selection of B1
given A2 were reinforced. Then, new conditional discriminations
were taught with Stimuli E and F. When the contextual Stimuli X1
and X2 were presented, participants selected the same comparisons
as previously established in the EF relations in the presence of
X1, but the opposite comparison as in the EF relations in the
presence of X2. The results then were replicated with new Stimuli
G and H. In Study 2, a new conditional discrimination, CD, was
taught. Then, four combinations of two-element samples - C1 and
D1, C2 and D2, C1 and D2, or C2 and D1 - were presented with X1
and X2 as comparisons. Five of six participants selected X1 in
the presence of C1 and D1 or C2 and D2, and selected X2 in the
presence of C1 and D2 or C2 and D1. Finally, in Study 3, two new
discriminations IJ and JK were taught. Then, the transitive IK
relations were tested with X1 and X2 as contextual stimuli. The
four participants selected K1 in the presence of I1 and K2 in the
presence of I2 when the contextual stimulus was X1 -
demonstrating class formation - and selected the other
comparisons when the contextual stimulus was X2. These results
suggest that the contextual control functions of X1 and X2
transferred even to relations that had not been directly taught.
These results extend those demonstrating generalized contextual
control by showing transfer of functions of the contextual
stimuli in transitivity tests and when the former contextual
stimuli were presented as comparisons.
Key words: contextual stimuli, generalized contextual control, transfer of functions,
conditional discriminations, stimulus equivalence, key press, children, perez, gonzalez