A Transformation of Functions in Accordance With the Nonarbitrary Relational Properties of Sexual Stimuli. Bryan Roche and Simon Dymond

In two experiments, researchers examined the transformation of the nonarbitrary
properties of sexual stimuli in accordance with multiple stimulus relations.
First, simple discrimination and free-operant procedures were used to present
small, medium, or large sexually explicit images. Contextual functions of “More
than” and “Less than” were then established for two cues by using a relational
pretraining procedure. Next, a linear-series conditional discrimination training
design was used to train and test for the formation of three, three-member
equivalence relations. Then, emergent relations of More than and Less than were
tested among the stimuli. The nonarbitrary relations of More than and Less than
obtaining among the sexual stimuli were arbitrarily applied to all equivalence
relations and the discriminative stimuli. These findings may have implications
for contemporary behavioral sex research in demonstrating that stimuli may
acquire sexual and relational functions through their participation in complex
relational networks.