A search problem is a relation $R\subseteq \Sigma^*\times\Sigma^*$. A function $f\colon \Sigma^*\to\Sigma^*$ solves $R$ if $(x,f(x))\in R$ for all $x\in\Sigma^*$. Define a search problem to be reasonable if for all $(x,y)\in R$ the word $x$ is at least as long as $y$.
Let $R$ and $S$ be reasonable search problems. Consider the following two properties.
- There is a Cook-reduction from $R$ to $S$ (That is, there is a polynomial-time oracle Turing machine $M$ such that for all $f$ solving $S$, the function $M^f$ solves $R$. This is Definition 3.1 of Goldreich's "P, NP, and NP-Completeness: The Basics of Computational Complexity".)
- For all functions $f$ such that $S\in\mathsf{FP}^f$, we have $R\in\mathsf{FP}^f$. (Here $\mathsf{FP}^f$ is the set of search problems solved by $M^f$ for some polynomial-time oracle Turing machine $M$.)
Clearly (1.) implies (2.). Also, if $S$ solves itself (i.e. $S$ is a function) then (2.) implies (1.) because we can take the oracle in (2.) to be $S$ itself to obtain an appropriate $M$. Does (2.) imply (1.) in general? I'd guess the answer is no, but I can't think of a counterexample.