Yes, We Are Studying Occasion Setting: A Configural Complement to Leising et al.

The article "Are You Studying Occasion Setting?A Review for Inquiring Minds" offers a valuable and comprehensive look at how stimuli can influence or "set the occasion" for responding to another cue, organizing its discussion around four principal experimental tests.By distinguishing direct (excitatory or inhibitory) stimulus control from a more indirect, hierarchical form of stimulus modulation, Leising et al. ( 2025) make a strong case for why occasion setting warrants further study.Although they acknowledge both hierarchical-modulatory and associative-configural approaches, the article's emphasis on hierarchical terminology may inadvertently suggest that purely associative (configural) theories have less explanatory power.This focus can overshadow the potential theoretical and empirical contributions of configural models.With this commentary, we emphasize the strengths of so-called configural explanations and illustrate how they address the same core tasks, drawing on principles from Wagner's SOP with Replaced Elements (SOP-REM) model.Our hope is that this complementary view will further enrich the discussion on occasion setting and demonstrate the versatility of associative frameworks in explaining complex cue-modulation phenomena.