California State University, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL, USA.
J Exp Anal Behav. 2024 Sep;122(2):207-223. doi: 10.1002/jeab.4204. Epub 2024 Aug 8.
In this article, we describe a mediational theory of emergent or derived relations resulting from matching-to-sample procedures that produce equivalence and transformation of function. According to a mediational theory, behaviors that occur at the time of reinforcement mediate subsequent behavioral relations referred to as "derived" or "emergent." Such relations have been documented for decades in studies using mostly matching-to-sample procedures with humans and nonhumans. In both verbal human and nonhuman participants, the mediating behaviors consist of differential responding to the sample stimulus. In humans, such behaviors are mostly, but not necessarily, verbal; in nonhumans they include a variety of sample-specific responses, sometimes called "coding." The proposed mediational theory, based only on the four-term contingency and the basic principles of operant learning, makes specific predictions and explains results from a broad range of experiments. There are at least three important implications of a mediational theory. First, if by "derived" or "emergent" one means untrained or unreinforced, then derived relations may not exist. Second, if there are no derived relations, then theories of such relations may not be necessary. Third, a mediational theory of relational responding has potentially important implications for clinical practice.
本文描述了一种中介理论，该理论源于匹配样本程序产生的功能等价和转换的涌现或派生关系。根据中介理论，在强化时发生的行为中介了随后被称为“派生”或“涌现”的行为关系。几十年来，这种关系在使用人类和非人类的匹配样本程序的研究中得到了证实。在言语人类和非人类参与者中，中介行为包括对样本刺激的差异反应。在人类中，这些行为大多是言语的，但不一定是言语的；在非人类中，它们包括各种样本特定的反应，有时称为“编码”。该中介理论仅基于四变量关系和操作性学习的基本原理，做出了具体的预测，并解释了广泛的实验结果。中介理论至少有三个重要含义。首先，如果“派生”或“涌现”是指未经训练或未强化的，那么派生关系可能不存在。其次，如果没有派生关系，那么这些关系的理论可能就没有必要了。第三，关系反应的中介理论对临床实践具有潜在的重要意义。
