Analysis of extra-situational substitution

Abstract

A critical analysis is proposed of the prevailing interpretation about extra-situational substitution, according to which it consists on talking or writing about what is not apparent or is not present. Such an interpretation was formulated, among other reasons, due to the influence of the classical model of reference and the conceptual equivalence between substitution and the conventional, the latter with the non-apparent, and the apparent with the situational. An alternative interpretation is developed, according to which extra-situational substitution is the change in a behavioral situation in terms of conventional functional properties of another situation. It is also shown how this interpretation is congruent with the phenomena that the concept sought to cover when it was formulated and is coherent with the taxonomy of Ribes and Lopez (1985) as a whole. It is concluded that this interpretation is only possible by taking into account the later work of these authors.