On the role of transfer of function in the understanding of preferences

Abstract

The current paper uses research from the area of stimulus equivalence and the transfer and transfer of function as an approach to understand complex human behavior in the world outside of the laboratory. Future research and practical implications are introduced and discussed. Article 1 presents a behavior analytic account of consumer behavior that have, for the most part, been accounted for by cognitive psychology. Article 2 presents a series of empirical Experiments that systematically investigates the effects of training different types of valenced stimuli into equivalence classes upon preference towards previously abstract class members. The preference tests is done in a consumer choice situation.