THE EFFECTS OF SEXUALLY EXPLICIT WORDS ON THE FORMATION OF STIMULUS EQUIVALENCE CLASSES

Stimulus equivalence is a behavioral approach to the analysis of the ' 'meaning'' of stimulus sets. The formation of three-member (A-->B-->C) stimulus equivalence classes was used to investigate the effects of t hree different sets of sample and comparison stimuli on emergent behav ior. The three stimulus sets were composed of sexually explicit words, sexually ambiguous words, and a third category of neutral words. Fort y-one female and male subjects participated in a modified matching-to- sample experiment. Using a mixed crossover design, subjects received t raining and emergent relationship training in the three stimulus set c onditions, controlling for serial order effects. Results revealed a si gnificant interaction between the formation of stimulus equivalence cl asses and stimulus ''meaning,'' indicative of consistently biased resp onding in favor of reaching criterion responding more slowly for the s exually explicit words. Results were examined in the context of an ana lysis of the importance of stimulus ''meaning'' on behavior, and the r elation of stimulus ''meaning'' to behavioral and cognitive theories, with special appraisal given to the influence of sexually related disc riminative stimuli on behavior.