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Effects of orientation and differential reinforcement on transitive stimulus control

Amd, Micah and de Almeida, Joao H. and de Rose, Julio C. and Silveira, Carolina C. and Pompermaier, Henrique M. (2017) Effects of orientation and differential reinforcement on transitive stimulus control. Behavioural Processes, 144 . pp. 58-65. ISSN 0376-6357

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Abstract

The emergence of transitive relations between stimuli that had never appeared together is a key process underlying concept formation. An unresolved theoretical issue with respect to transitive relations has been to
determine whether differential reinforcement of stimulus-stimulus (S-S) relations though matching-to-sample, or contiguous S-S correlations/pairings, is more critical for producing transitivity. The current study inquired whether simple environmental S-S pairings, versus differential reinforcement of S-S relations, versus environmental S-S pairings with an orientation requirement, produced the greatest instances of transitivity. 12 groups of participants were parsed into one of four procedures (matching-to-sample, stimulus-paring, stimulus-pairing-w/response, stimulus-pairing-w/orientation) along one of three training structures (linear, many-to-one, one-tomany). All participants underwent a fixed number of training trials for establishing three, three-member stimulus sets (A1B1C1, A2B2C2, A3B3C3), followed by a single sorting test for AC transitivity. Our results demonstrate orienting towards environmental S-S pairings yield the greatest degree of transitivity. The effectivity of pairing procedures for establishing transitive relations, particularly when compared to matching-to-sample, can inform the development of educational interventions for individuals for whom the latter procedure (involving differential reinforcement) is ineffective.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Divisions: Faculty of Arts, Law and Education (FALE) > School of Social Sciences
Depositing User: Micah Ahmad
Date Deposited: 18 Jul 2019 00:38
Last Modified: 18 Jul 2019 00:38
URI: https://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/11658

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