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The transfer of avoidance evoking functions through stimulus equivalence classes
1Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Alabama, Birmingham Medical School 35233-7330, USA. august@sun.rehabm.uab.edu
Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry
|November 5, 1997
Summary
Stimulus equivalence classes can transfer avoidance functions, demonstrating how learned emotional responses might generalize in psychological disorders. This research highlights the behavioral impact of stimulus equivalence in avoidance learning.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral psychology
- Cognitive psychology
- Learning theory
Background:
- Stimulus equivalence research suggests functional transfer may influence emotional responding and psychological disorders.
- Understanding how functions transfer within equivalence classes is crucial for explaining generalization in learned behaviors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the transfer of avoidance-evoking functions through stimulus equivalence classes.
- To examine if learned avoidance can generalize to stimuli within the same equivalence class.
Main Methods:
- Trained subjects on relations to form two four-member stimulus equivalence classes.
- Used classical conditioning to pair one member of each class with shock.
- Introduced a differential avoidance task during a key-press task to assess response to previously shocked stimuli.
Main Results:
- All eight subjects demonstrated differential transfer of the avoidance-evoking function.
- Avoidance behavior was successfully elicited by stimuli within the equivalence classes, as predicted.
- The results indicate a clear generalization of avoidance functions through the established equivalence classes.
Conclusions:
- Findings support the role of stimulus equivalence in the transfer of emotional functions, specifically avoidance.
- This has significant implications for understanding the development and generalization of psychological disorders.
- The study provides a behavioral framework for analyzing complex learned emotional responses.
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