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| Author(s): |
William Ferreira Perez
Total Authors: 1
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| Document type: | Doctoral Thesis |
| Press: | São Paulo. |
| Institution: | Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Psicologia (IP/SBD) |
| Defense date: | 2012-12-03 |
| Examining board members: |
Gerson Aparecido Yukio Tomanari;
Marcelo Frota Benvenuti;
Edson Massayuki Huziwara;
Julio Cesar Coelho de Rose;
Saulo Missiaggia Velasco
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| Advisor: | Gerson Aparecido Yukio Tomanari |
| Abstract | |
In a two-choice matching-to-sample task, the participant might learn either to select the correct stimulus (select control) or to reject the incorrect one (reject control). The present dissertation investigated the effects of select and reject controls upon equivalence-class formation and transfer of discriminative function. Chapter 1 presents a methodological review that analyzed procedures used to infer the occurrence of such controls and also procedures used to experimentally manipulate them. Chapter 2 presents an experiment that evaluated the effects of manipulating observing responses towards comparison stimuli upon the establishment of select or reject controls. Adults participated and were exposed to a conditional discrimination training in a matching-tosample task with observing requirements (MTS-OR). Results suggest that select control was more likely to occur for participants that were required to observe the S+ in every training trial; reject control occurred only for participants that were required to observe the S- in every training trial. In this last case, preventing participants from observing the S+ also increased the chances of control by the S-. Finally, Chapter 3 presents experiments that evaluated the effects of select or reject controls upon equivalence-class-formation tests and transfer of discriminative function. The MTS-OR procedure, allied with different proportions of S+/S-, allowed manipulating the controls that were investigated. The transfer of function was evaluated by means of a simple successive discrimination task involving key-pressing responses on the keyboard. The results suggest that the reflexivity tests, and also the one-node transitivity and equivalence tests, were differentially affected by such controls. Transfer of function test results suggest the formation of different classes depending on the control that was established, select or reject (AU) | |