Control by Compound Antecedent Verbal Stimuli in the Intraverbal Relation

Abstract

Control by compound antecedent stimuli in verbal behavior represents an understudied but promising area of research. To date, reference to compound verbal stimulus control has generally only included descriptions of convergent multiple control. A sizeable experimental literature exists on the topic of compound stimulus control, which differs from convergent multiple control in that the stimulus elements often do not have a prior conditioning history (i.e., do not separately strengthen any response). The current study attempted to bridge the experimental and verbal behavior literatures by including a two-component antecedent verbal stimulus during intraverbal training for which neither component currently served an evocative function. Subsequent analyses of stimulus control suggested overshadowing by temporal location in the compound verbal stimulus and lack of emergence of the divergent intraverbal relation across all sets. Additional research is needed on compound stimulus control and verbal behavior researchers may be poised to answer several questions relevant to the experimental and verbal behavior literatures on the topic.