Medidas não convencionais de transferências de função entre expressões faciais e figuras abstratas

Abstract

Equivalence relation can be defined as arbitrary relation capable to turn interchangeable different stimuli in many situations. This implicates that the elements that compose an equivalence class should transfer functions amongst themselves. The present work presents two studies that have in common equivalence class formation including facial expressions and abstract figures, and non-conventional measures of transference of functions. In Experiment 1 there were trained conditional relations of facial expressions (A) to arbitrary stimuli (sets B and C) and C to set D. Then, equivalence of relations D to B were tested. Set A was composed of pictures of human faces expressing three emotions –happiness, angry and disgust–, sets B, C and D were composed of three abstract figures each. Participants were then asked to evaluate the abstract stimuli D1, D2 and D3 according to a set of bipolar scales of antonymous adjectives. Correspondence was found between evaluations of the facial expressions by a control group and evaluations of the stimuli D by experimental participants. The use of meaningful stimuli and transference measures without forced-choice procedures allowed (1) an independent validation of the equivalence model, showing that arbitrary stimuli became symbols of facial expressions, acquiring similar meaning, and (2) to evaluate the degree in which the symbols acquired the meaning of the referents. Experiment 2 departed from the fact that an angry facial expression amid a number of expressions of happiness is selected faster than a happy face in an angry crowd to verify if detection of expressions of anger could be transferred to arbitrary stimuli by equivalence relations. The same relations of Experiment 1 were trained. Tests presented three abstract figures related to one facial expression and one figure related to another facial expression. Participants had to select the figure alone as fast as possible. Symbols related to the angry face were selected faster than symbols related to the happy face, indicating that such effect could be transferred through equivalence class formation.