From the 1930s to the 1970s a large number of experimental studies on mediated generalization were published, and this research tradition provided an important context for early research on stimulus equivalence. Mediated generalization and stimulus equivalence have several characteristics in common, notably that both traditions seek to experimentally investigate derived responding among arbitrarily related stimuli in human participants. Although studies of stimulus equivalence are currently being regularly published, few studies investigate mediated generalization in humans today, and the research tradition is mainly of historical interest. The current article will give an account of the origin, the development, and the demise of research on mediated generalization, including a presentation of publication trends, experimental methodology, and the conceptual context research on mediated generalization took place within. Finally, some thoughts on the demise of mediated generalization and its relevance for modern research on stimulus equivalence and other types of derived responding are presented, including reflections on the observability of explanatory variables and the use of inferential statistics.

从1930年代到1970年代，发表了大量关于介导泛化的实验研究，这种研究传统为早期的刺激等效性研究提供了重要的背景。中介概括和刺激等效具有几个共同点，特别是两种传统都试图通过实验研究人类参与者任意相关刺激之间的派生反应。尽管目前对刺激等效性的研究定期发表，但如今很少有人研究介导的人类泛化，而研究传统主要具有历史意义。本文将介绍介导泛化研究的起源，发展和衰落，包括出版趋势，实验方法，并在其中进行了关于中介泛化的概念性语境研究。最后，提出了关于介导泛化的消亡及其与现代对等价刺激和其他类型的派生响应的研究的相关性的想法，包括对解释变量的可观察性和推论统计的使用的反思。