Rule-governed behavior and cultural selection: A literature review and an empirical study

Abstract

A literature review on the concept of metacontingency is presented in Article 1. Zilio (2019) provided a comprehensive review on metacontingency literature published from 1986 until April 2017. The present article continued the review of metacontingency literature, thereby, including articles published from May 2017 to September 2020. In accordance with Zilio’s method, distribution of articles among domain, journals and research centers is presented in a quantitative analysis. A qualitative analysis discussed the effectiveness of the metacontingency concept and how it was employed in the different categories of articles. An empirical study on rule-governed insensitivity in groups and microcultures is presented in Article 2. In Experiment 1, rule-governed insensitivity was tested in three groups. The groups received instructions that matched the contingency of optimal performance in Phase 1, while the contingency of optimal performance was changed in Phase 2. The results showed that one group was under instructional control, while two groups responded according to the changed contingency and maximized earnings. Experiment 2 included two microcultures, where in each, three participants completed Phase 1 and replacement of participants started in Phase 2. Instructions matched the optimal contingency of reinforcement only in Phase 1. The results showed that one microculture was sensitive to the change of contingency in Phase 2, while the other microculture responded in a pattern similar to the instructions.