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Contextual Control over the Derived Transformation of Discriminative and Sexual Arousal Functions

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Abstract

A previous study by Roche and Barnes (1997) examined the transformation of conditioned sexual arousal in accordance with arbitrary relations. The current research replicated and extended that study by attempting to bring the derived transformation effect under contextual control. In Experiment 1, the functions of hand waving and clapping were first established for two nonsense syllables (called B1 and B2, respectively). Subjects were then exposed to relational pretraining, similar to that employed by Steele and Hayes (1991), in order to establish the contextual functions of Same and Opposite in two arbitrary stimuli. Subsequently, subjects were trained in the following relations; Same/A1-[B1-B2-N1], Same/A1-[C1-C2-N2], Opposite/A1-[B1-B2-N1], Opposite/A1-[C1-C2-N2] (underlined comparison stimuli indicate reinforced choices) from which the following relational responses emerged; Same/B1-C1; Same/B2-C2; Opposite/B1-C2; Opposite/B2-C1. During a testing phase, the stimulus functions established for B1 emerged for C1 in the presence of Same (i.e., the subjects waved) but those established for B2 emerged for C1 in the presence of Opposite (i.e., the subjects clapped). Similarly, the functions of B2 emerged for C2 in the presence of Same (i.e., the subjects clapped), but those established for B1 emerged for C2 in the presence of Opposite (i.e., the subjects waved). Experiment 2 established similar results using respondent eliciting functions in the place of hand clapping and waving.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland

    Bryan Roche, Dermot Barnes-Holmes & Yvonne Barnes-Holmes

  2. University of Leiden, Holland, USA

    Paul M. Smeets

  3. University of Bath, UK

    Siobhán McGeady

Authors
  1. Bryan Roche
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  2. Dermot Barnes-Holmes
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  3. Yvonne Barnes-Holmes
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  4. Paul M. Smeets
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  5. Siobhán McGeady
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bryan Roche.

Additional information

This study was funded by the Research Seed Fund of the School of Social Sciences, University of Bath, England, where Bryan Roche was college lecturer from 1995 to 1997. The first author would like to thank Professor Helen Haste and the staff of the Department of Psychology, University of Bath for their kind support. He would also like to also thank Thomas S. Critchfield and an anonymous reviewer for several helpful suggestions.

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Roche, B., Barnes-Holmes, D., Barnes-Holmes, Y. et al. Contextual Control over the Derived Transformation of Discriminative and Sexual Arousal Functions. Psychol Rec 50, 267–291 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03395356

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