Efeitos de antecedentes sociais sobre a seleção de práticas culturais de complexidade progressiva

Abstract

Metacontingencies describe functional relations between (a) interlocking behavioral contingencies (IBCs), (b) its aggregate product (AP) and (c) an environmental event contingent to the relation between IBC and AP – cultural consequence (CC). Seeking to analyze the inclusion of antecedent elements in metacontingencies, the present study had the objective to assess the effects of concurrence between cultural systems on the evolution of more complex IBCs. Experiment 1 investigated the effects of a concurrence context on the evolution of more complex interlocks. The results indicated that the concurrence context influenced the selection of more complex IBCs, with and emphasis highlighted on the role of vocal verbal interactions among members of different cultural systems. Experiment 2 evaluated the effects of the verbal interactions among members of different cultural systems on the evolution of more complex interlocks. Experiment 3 investigated the effects of cultural consequences of varied magnitudes, proportional to the degree of complexity of the interlock on the evolution of more complex IBCs. The results indicate the procedure was effective in selecting interlocks that are more complex. The data of these studies suggest that cultural antecedents of social nature influence the evolution of cultural practices and need further experimental investigations.