Cultural Milieu and Group-Rules in an Elaborated Account of Metacontingencies: Conceptual Analysis and an Illustration in a COVID-19 Psychological Support Project

Abstract

The elaborated account of the metacontingency explicitly incorporated the role of antecedent events (with the concept of cultural milieu or cultural-organizational milieu) and verbal behavior (clearly related to what was termed group-rule generation). We argue that the cultural milieu encompasses two functionally distinct entities: antecedent environmental variables affecting the culturant (the organization members’ activities)—what we termed cultural antecedents; and variables affecting the selecting environment or the consumer practices (members external to the organization responsible for producing cultural consequences)—what we termed selecting environment variables. Besides that, we propose that group-rule generation is not an element of a metacontingency distinct from the culturant, but that it describes verbal components of the interlocking behavioral contingencies; and that these verbal components are not present in all culturants but are especially important in more complex ones. We illustrate this conceptual analysis with reference to a COVID-19 psychological support project undertaken at a public university in Brazil and conclude by suggesting theoretical and methodological implications.

Análise de contingências e metacontingências em leis: Uma revisão

“…Alguns autores têm considerado a necessidade de destacar os eventos que antecedem a ocorrência dos entrelaçamentos em metacontingências (e.g., Houmanfar et al, 2010;Houmanfar et al, 2020;Sampaio & Haydu, 2023;Vieira et al, 2016). No contexto do presente trabalho, isso também ocorreu.…”

“…Ao longo dos anos, alguns estudiosos de metacontingências têm feito proposições sobre eventos que antecedem a ocorrência das CCEs neste tipo de prática cultural (Houmanfar et al, 2010;Houmanfar et al, 2020;Sampaio & Haydu, 2023;Vieira et al, 2016). Dentre elas, destaca-se a elaboração de Houmanfar e seus colaboradores do cultural milieu, isto é, do "conjunto de funções de estímulo que influenciam a aquisição e manutenção de comportamentos entrelaçados e o comportamento dos indivíduos interagindo com os produtos agregados a eles associados" (Houmanfar et al, 2020, p. 154).…”