Kishita, N., Ohtsuki, T., & Muto, T. (2012). Experimental analysis of the nature cognitive defusion: Effects of contextual control over transformation of stimulus function established by topographical features of equivalence class members. Japanese Journal of Behavior Therapy, 38, 105–116.
The aim of the present study was to investigate effects of a multiple exemplar training procedure on establishment of generalized contextual control over transformation of stimulus function. Three 3-member stimulus equivalence classes, each consisting of 3 topographically distinct visual stimuli (linear, circular, triangular) were established for 12 undergraduate students, using a match-to-sample (MTS) task. Following the match-to-sample training and testing, the participants were given 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 established and a test for generalized contextual control was presented. The results revealed that all 9 subjects included in the analyses demonstrated contextual control over derived transformations of the stimulus functions; 7 of the participants showed generalization of contextual control. The findings are discussed in terms of experimental analyses of the nature of cognitive defusion and how effects of cognitive defusion could be further tested definitively at the basic experimental level.