Formação de classes de equivalência e transferência de função em adultos com depressão
-
Natalia Maria Aggio [1] ; Cardoso, M. A. S. [2] ; Zapparoli, H. R. [2] ; Marcelo Vitor Silveria [3] ; Mariéle de Cássia Diniz Cortez [2]
-
[1] Universidade de Brasília
Universidade de Brasília
Brasil
-
[2] Universidade Federal de São Carlos
Universidade Federal de São Carlos
Brasil
-
[3] Universidade Federal do ABC
Universidade Federal do ABC
Brasil
-
- Localización: Acta comportamentalia: revista latina de análisis del comportamiento, ISSN 0188-8145, Vol. 29, Nº. 4, 2021, págs. 155-174
- Idioma: portugués
- Títulos paralelos:
- Formation of equivalence classes and transfer of function in depressed adults
- Enlaces
-
Resumen
- English
According to World Health Organization report, 4,4% of the world population was diagnosed with depression in 2017. Notably, this clinical condition is well-known as one of the most prevalent and disabling mental disease for its impact on basic psychological processes such as motivation, learning, and memory. In Behavior Analysis, clinical depression is being conceived mostly as a by-product of continuous exposition to aversive stimulation but, to some extent, some of the symptoms can be functionally related to stimuli embedded in stimulus-stimulus networks that bring about derived stimulus-control relations and derived transfer of function. However, the investigation for stimulus equivalence mechanisms in people diagnosed with depression is still scarce. This research assessed the performances of 17 participants with clinical depression (Beck Inventory Scale > 20) given standard Matching-to-sample (MTS) procedures, whereby three 3-members equivalence classes between faces portraying emotions (A1, A2, and A3) and abstract forms (B1, B2, B3, C1, C2, C3, D1, D2 and D3) were established. Upon completion of MTS procedures, participants did Semantic Differential evaluations of the D stimuli that provided quantitative measurements of the transfer of functions from the familiar faces A to the abstract stimuli. Results showed that 11 out of the 17 participants attained criteria during training and test procedures. These participants developed class-consistent performances on MTS training and probe-trials and in Semantic Differential ratings which were comparable to the performances reported in prior researches with individuals without depression. The Semantic Differential ratings of the abstract stimuli made by these participants were consistent with the ratings of the familiar faces A made by 10 non-depressive participants from a Control Group. These preliminary observations allow speculations that people diagnosed with depression could achieve mastery on learning tasks, acquire networks of derived relations and engage in symbolic-like behavior in the same way as people with no symptoms of clinical depression. Regarding to the participants who failed to achieve learning criteria during training, we found some evidence of some class-consistent relations responses at lower rates when analyzing the participants’ response matrices. We discussed the possibility that such patterns of learning in these participants may be a function of the potentiation of symptoms accompanying clinical depression (e.g., difficulties to discriminate facial expressions and in remembering) and of training parameters such as the delayed-MTS procedure.
- português
O presente estudo investigou a aprendizagem de relações de equivalência entre faces expressando emoções e estímulos abstratos bem como a transferência de funções dos estímulos emocionais para os estímulos abstratos em pessoas com depressão. Participaram do grupo experimental 17 adultos com depressão que foram submetidos a treinos de discriminações condicionais AB, AC e CD. Em seguida, avaliou-se a emergência de relações transitivas BD e DB e o grau de transferência de função dos estímulos A – faces expressando emoções – para os estímulos D – figuras abstratas sem funções emocionais previamente definidas – por meio do Diferencial Semântico. Um grupo controle avaliou apenas as faces e os estímulos abstratos usando o Diferencial Semântico. Dos 17 participantes do grupo experimental, 11 atingiram critério em todas as fases do procedimento, obtendo desempenhos consistentes com o estabelecimento de classes em testes de equivalência e de transferência de função. Tais resultados, obtidos com população com depressão, replicam e estendem os resultados de estudos anteriores que empregaram procedimentos similares. A dificuldade da aprendizagem de alguns dos participantes que não atingiram o critério nas fases de treino e teste foram analisados e discutidos, considerando tanto algumas características do transtorno depressivo quanto dos parâmetros experimentais empregados no presente estudo.
- English
