Barnes, D., Hegarty, N., & Smeets, P. (1997). Relating equivalence relations to equivalence relations: A relational framing model of complex human functioning. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 14, 1-27.
The authors (researchers at National University of Ireland, Dept of Applied Psychology, Behavior Analysis & Cognitive Science Unit, Cork, Ireland) aimed to develop a behavior-analytic model of analogical reasoning. The results demonstrated that all Ss consistently related equivalence relations to equivalence relations and nonequivalence relations to nonequivalence relations the equivalence responding. It was also demonstrated that the equivalence-equivalence responding, and the nonequivalence-nonequivalence responding was successfully brought under contextual control. Finally, it was shown that the contextual cues could function successfully as comparisons, and the complex samples and comparisons could function successfully as contextual cues and samples, respectively. These data extend the equivalence paradigm and contribute to a behavior-analytic interpretation of analogical reasoning and complex human functioning in general.