The effect of correspondence between descriptions of contingencies and contingencies on the conduct of election under the self-control paradigm

Abstract

In this paper, the effect of correspondence history between contingency and contingency descriptions on the behavior of choice under the self-control paradigm is analyzed in 85 participants between the ages of 10 and 11, through two intrasubject experiments, one carried out in a laboratory context and another in a simulated natural situation. The results indicate that it is possible to affect the behavior of choice between an immediate reinforcer of lesser magnitude and a delayed one of greater magnitude in favor of the second alternative, from an experimental history of correspondence between descriptions of contingencies and contingencies. In both experiments, most of participants chose the delayed reinforcer after undergoing correspondence tests between descriptions and contingencies, and the immediate reinforcer after facing the correspondence absent trials, even though the training situations were formally and functionally different in relation with the task establishedto evaluate the conduct of choice. The results are analyzed in light of the “Relational Frame Theory”, specifically, in relationwith the alteration of the functions of the language.

Keywords

• Autocontrol
• conducta de elección
• lenguaje
• claves contextuales
• descripciones de contingencias