Abstract
The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of multiple exemplar training procedure on establishment of generalized contextual control over the transformation of stimulus function. Three 3-member stimulus equivalence classes, each consisting of three topographically distinct visual stimuli (linear, circular, triangle) were established for 12 undergraduate students using match-to-sample (MTS) task. Following the MTS training and testing, participants were provided with many trials in which behaving in accordance with transformation of function was differentially reinforced or punished depending on the presence of a class of physical features of the stimuli. Finally, new equivalence classes were then established and test for generalized contextual control were presented. The result revealed that all 9 subjects included in analyses demonstrated contextual control over derived transformation of stimulus functions, of which seven showed the generalization of contextual control. The finding will be discussed in terms of experimental analyses of the nature of cognitive defusion and how we can further the definitive test of effects of cognitive defusion at the basic experimental level.
