Efeitos da Acurácia e da História de Conseqüenciação do Seguimento de Regras e do Desempenho na Contingência Colateral

Abstract

There is a controversy about the possibility to manipulate both contingencies in rulefollowing episodes: contingency for following the rule, and collateral contingency, as described by Cerutti (1989). The present study aimed to present ways to separately contingency those different aspects found in rule-following episodes. Experiment 1 had six participants, separated in two groups. Two collateral contingencies were in effect: either DRL 2 sec, or DRH (2) 2 sec., associated with a unique stimulus. Otherwise, rules presented varied in accuracy (100% or 50%, and 0% in test phases). Points with differing magnitudes were assigned to rule-following, and to performance in collateral contingency, separately (5/5; 1/9; 7/3; 3/7, and 9/1). Experiment 2 had eight participants, and the initial instruction specified the interval related to rules or contingencies. The data revealed a delicate relationship in establishing rule-following patterns, showing that both consequences and specific histories are variables to which this behavior is a function. It can be concluded that behavioral insensibility observed in a molar analysis may reflect certain patterns of behavioral sensibility in a molecular analysis.