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.

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O presente estudo teve por objetivo investigar se duas medidas relacionadas à esquiva experiencial (EE), o AAQ-II e um IRAP, seriam preditoras do desempenho dos participantes em uma tarefa de esquiva. O procedimento foi realizado em três fases realizadas individualmente: (1) aplicação de questionários (dentre eles o AAQ-II); (2) aplicação de um IRAP para medir EE; (3) realização de um teste de esquiva. Participantes adultos foram divididos em dois grupos, a depender do seu desempenho na última tarefa: Esquiva=0 (participantes que não esquivaram; n = 17) e Esquiva>2 (participantes que emitiram pelo menos 3 respostas de esquiva; n = 18). Não foram observadas diferenças entre os grupos com relação aos escores do AAQ-II. Por outro lado, os participantes do grupo Esquiva>2 responderam mais rapidamente para “verdadeiro” nas tentativas do IRAP que apresentavam frases e complementos relacionados à evitação de eventos privados negativos se comparado ao grupo Esquiva=0. Discute-se o efeito do responder relacional na ocorrência da EE.

Two experiments with human adults investigated the extent to which the transfer of function in accordance with nonarbitrary versus arbitrary stimulus relations may be brought under contextual control. Experiment 1 comprised four phases. Phase 1 consisted of multiple-exemplar training to establish discriminative functions for solid, dashed, or dotted lines. Phase 2 trained and tested two equivalence classes, each containing a 3D picture, a solid, a dashed, and a dotted form. During Phase 3, a discriminative function was established for each 3D picture. Phase 4 presented the solid, dashed, and dotted stimuli in two different frames, black or gray. The black frame cued function transfer based on nonarbitrary stimulus relations (Frame Physical); the gray frame cued function transfer based on equivalence relations (Frame Arbitrary). Testing and training with the frames was continued until contextual control was established; subsequently contextual control was demonstrated with novel equivalence classes with stimuli composed of the same forms. Experiment 2 replicated and extended Experiment 1 by demonstrating that such contextual control generalized to novel equivalence classes comprising novel forms and responses. The potential implications of the findings for developing increasingly precise experimental analyses of clinically relevant phenomena are considered (e.g., defusion).