Smyth, S., Barnes-Holmes, D. & Forsyth, J.P. (2006).
Derived transfer of self-reported arousal functions.
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 85, 223-
246.
Two experiments investigated the derived transfer of functions through equivalence
relations established using a stimulus pairing observation procedure.
In Experiment 1, participants were trained on a simple discrimination (A1+/A2–)
and then a stimulus pairing observation procedure was used to establish 4
stimulus pairings (A1-B1, A2-B2, B1-C1, B2-C2). Subsequently, a transfer
of the simple discrimination functions through equivalence relations was
observed (e.g., C1+/C2–). These procedures were modified in Experiment 2,
which demonstrated that spider-fearful and non-spider-fearful participants
show differing levels of a transfer of self-reported arousal functions for
stimuli used in equivalence relations with video-based material depicting
scenes with spiders. The results demonstrate that the stimulus pairing
observation procedure provides a viable alternative to matching-to-sample,
and also offer tentative support for a derived-relations model of the
acquisition of anxiety responses in at least one sub-clinical population.
Key words: simple discrimination, stimulus pairing observation procedure,
derived transfer of functions, spider fearful, humans