Emergent categorization in the recognition of black and white paintings through conditional discrimination

Paulo Roberto Dos Santos Ferreira,Antonio Carlos Leme,Waldir Monteiro Sampaio,Felipe Maciel Dos Santos Souza,Diana Rasteli Santos

doi:10.1186/s41155-021-00191-y

Paulo Roberto Dos Santos Ferreira, Antonio Carlos Leme + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s41155-021-00191-y

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Abstract

BackgroundThe emergent categorization involving paintings by renowned painters and their corresponding names was demonstrated by previous studies. However, the results of these studies suggest that the colors of the pictures may have played a preponderant role, obscuring other aspects of the stimuli that could be more directly related to the style of each painter. To verify this possibility, the present study used the same methodology of Ferreira et al. to investigate the establishment of emergent conditional relations between categories composed of black and white paintings and the names of their authors.MethodThe procedure consisted of the training of relations between each of the ten paintings and an abstract picture, for each of the three painters Botticelli, Monet, and Picasso. Relations between each of the three abstract figures and the printed name of one of the painters were verified in sequence. Finally, tests of relations between five trained and five untrained paintings of each artist and the printed names were conducted.ResultsThe participants’ performance suggests that the outcome was properly controlled by aspects pertinent to the paintings that belonged to each painter’s category.ConclusionsThe results reinforced the data obtained previously with colored pictures, suggesting that the process of emergent categorization involving artificial categories of paintings is robust. It also indicates possibilities for future investigations, for example, using stimuli of other artistic productions, such as sculpture and music.

Highlights

Research into the emergent categorization process can contribute to understanding the interaction of two important basic processes of behavior: the establishment of equivalent classes (Adams, Fields, & Verhave, 1993)
Ferreira et al (2018) performed a procedure that allowed the establishment of emergent relationships between categories composed by artificial stimuli, paintings by renowned painters, and the names of the corresponding painters—on participants who were unaware of the paintings and their corresponding authorship
The following questions can be formulated to be answered by the present study: Would it be possible to reproduce the results of Ferreira et al (2018) using black and white paintings? Would the same kind of variable that would determine the emergent categorization of paintings by a particular painter extend their results to similar style or school painters? Seeking to answer these questions, the relations between potential categories of paintings in black and white and arbitrary stimuli and between these stimuli and the painters’ names were trained

Summary

Introduction

Research into the emergent categorization process can contribute to understanding the interaction of two important basic processes of behavior: the establishment of equivalent classes (Adams, Fields, & Verhave, 1993). It was only Ferreira et al (2018) who tested the possibility of symbolic emergence involving the categorization of stimuli paintings by painters in equivalence networks. In their study, Ferreira et al (2018) performed a procedure that allowed the establishment of emergent relationships between categories composed by artificial stimuli, paintings by renowned painters, and the names of the corresponding painters—on participants who were unaware of the paintings and their corresponding authorship.

Results

Conclusion