Showing papers on "Reinforcement published in 1972"

Pleasant events, activity schedules, and depressions.

Abstract: Three groups of 10 Ss, (depressed, psychiatric controls, and normal controls) were used. The 6s rated their moods and also indicated the number of \"pleasant\" activities engaged in each day over a period of 30 days. A significant association between mood and pleasant activities was found. There were large individual differences in regard to the magnitude of the correlation between mood and activity, but differences between groups failed to attain statistical significance. The results are interpreted as consistent with the major tenet of the behavioral theory of depression, that is, that there is an association between rate of positive reinforcement and intensity of depression.

Self-regulation in the modification of disruptive classroom behavior.

Abstract: This study compared self-regulation and external regulation procedures in the treatment of children's disruptive classroom behavior. After baseline data were collected, three of the four most disruptive children in each of 10 first- and second-grade classrooms received reinforcement for achieving low rates of disruptive behavior. The fourth child served as a control subject throughout the experiment. Two of the three experimental subjects were then taught to self-observe their own disruptive behavior. In the final reinforcement period, these subjects were given control over dispensing reinforcers to themselves, based on their self-collected behavioral data while subjects in the other experimental group continued with the externally managed reinforcement. In extinction, reinforcement was discontinued for all subjects, but one of the self-regulation subjects in each classroom continued overtly to self-observe. Results indicated that both reinforcement programs reduced disruptive behavior. The self-regulation procedures were slightly more effective in reducing disruptiveness than was the external regulation procedure, and this advantage persisted into extinction. These results suggest that self-regulation procedures provide a practical, inexpensive, and powerful alternative in dealing with disruptive behavior in children.

The modification of drug effects on behavior by external discriminative stimuli

Abstract: Drug effects on pigeons working on two schedules of reinforcement were compared. Both schedules demanded that at least eight consecutive responses be made on one key before a peck on a second key would be reinforced; if the bird switched before the count of eight, the series of responses had to be started again. On one schedule, no external stimulus change occurred with the eighth response; on the other, such a change invariably occurred. The addition of the cue modified performance considerably, with the subjects becoming much more efficient in just meeting the required minimum count before switching to the reinforcement key. Response rate, however, remained about the same. This ensured that comparisons of how drug effects were modulated by the addition of the discriminative stimulus would not be complicated by rate differences in baseline performance. When a discriminative stimulus was not present, chlorpromazine, promazine, d -amphetamine and scopolamine led to pronounced increases in premature switching to the reinforcement key. The addition of the external discriminative stimulus attenuated the effects of scopolamine and d -amphetamine most; chlorpromazine and promazine least. Haloperidol had less effect on these performances even though it, like the other drugs, could produce dose-related decreases in rate measures.

A test of the negative discriminative stimulus as a reinforcer of observing

Abstract: Five pigeons were used to test the hypothesis that the source of reinforcement for observing behavior is the information that it provides concerning the schedule of primary reinforcement. On a variable-interval schedule, pecking the left-hand key produced a 30-sec display of such information. During this 30-sec period, when pecking the right-hand key was reinforced on a random-interval schedule, both keys were green; when no reinforcement was scheduled (extinction) both keys were red. Later, this baseline procedure, in which both red and green were available, was replaced for blocks of sessions by procedures in which either (a) the red was eliminated and only the green could be produced; or (b) the green was eliminated and only the red could be produced. The results were that green maintained rates of pecking on the left key that were as high or higher than when both colors were available and that red maintained no responding. It was concluded that the reinforcing value of a stimulus depends on the positive or negative direction of its correlation with primary reinforcement, rather than upon the amount of information that it conveys.

Food-avoidance in hungry pigeons, and other perplexities.

Abstract: Twenty-three pigeons were subjected to a series of procedures in which the key-peck's effects ranged from immediate, differential food reinforcement, through delayed reinforcement, the production of stimulus changes with and without probable secondary reinforcement, the prevention of food presentation ("food-avoidance"), to extinction. Neither primary nor secondary food reinforcement appeared to be essential for the maintenance or acquisition of key pecking. The food-avoidance contingency failed to suppress responding in any subject. Only complete extinction, when pecking produced neither food nor stimulus changes, eliminated all pecking for most subjects. A combination of stimulus-change reinforcement and food reinforcement appeared to account for the results, but only if it could be assumed that the presence of food in a procedure enhanced the reinforcing power of stimulus change, whether or not the food was also dependent upon responding. Such an interaction between reinforcers may be involved in the phenomenon of autoshaping.

The effects of token reinforcement and feedback on the delusional verbal behavior of chronic paranoid schizophrenics.

Abstract: Prior research with token reinforcement in the psychiatric population has been directed at work adjustment, more than at major symptomatic behaviors. The purpose of the present research, on the other hand, was to investigate the effects of feedback and token reinforcement on the modification of delusional verbal behavior in chronic psychotics. Six male and four female paranoid schizophrenic patients participated in the study. The results indicated that the effects of feedback were effective about half the time in reducing percentage delusional talk, but in at least three cases produced adverse reactions. Token reinforcement, however, showed more consistency and reduced the percentage of delusional verbal behavior in seven of the nine subjects exposed to this procedure. The effects of both feedback and token reinforcement were quite specific to the environment in which they were applied and showed little generalization to other situations. It would appear that using token reinforcement can reduce the percentage delusional speech of chronic paranoid schizophrenics.

Recognition by the pigeon of stimuli varying in two dimensions.

Abstract: Pigeons served in four experiments, each of which involved about 44,000 discrete 1.2-sec trials under steady-state conditions. The first experiment scaled a short segment of the visual wavelength continuum; this dimension was then combined in a conditional discrimination with each of three others; time after reinforcement, tone frequency, and line tilt. In the two-stimulus experiments, the birds' responses were reinforced in the presence of only one stimulus combination: “582 nm” together with “2 min after reinforcement”, “3990 Hz”, or “vertical line”. Many other stimulus combinations also appeared equally often and went without reinforcement. The wavelength stimuli conformed to an equal-interval scale, and per cent response was generally linear with wavelength, when scaled on cumulative normal coordinates. The components of the compound stimulus were found to interact in a multiplicative fashion; when one component differed greatly from its reinforcement value, changes in the other component had relatively little effect. For the “time”-“wavelength” compound, this interaction appeared to be modified by the effects of set or attention. Certain response latency data are reported, and other combination rules are discussed.

The role of the response-reinforcer contingency in negative automaintenance.

Abstract: When a response key is briefly illuminated before a grain reinforcer is presented, key pecking is reliably developed and maintained in pigeons, even if pecking prevents reinforcement (negative automaintenance). This experiment demonstrated that pigeons are sensitive to a negative response-reinforcer contingency, even though it does not eliminate responding. Within individual pigeons, two kinds of trials were compared: red key trials, in which reinforcement was negatively contingent on responding, and white key trials, in which reinforcement was unrelated to responding. Reinforcement frequency in non-contingent trials was yoked to the obtained reinforcement frequency in negatively contingent trials. All eight pigeons pecked substantially more on the non-contingent key than on the negative key, and preferred the non-contingent key to the negative key on occasional “choice” trials where both were presented together. When the stimuli correlated with the two conditions were reversed, the pigeons' behavior also shifted. These response differences are taken as evidence that pigeons are sensitive to the negative response-reinforcer contingency.

Disruptive Behavior and Reinforcement of Academic Performance

Abstract: A study designed to strengthen academic performance in 4 highly disruptive, educable mentally retarded boys revealed that merely presenting academic material on a systematic basis virtually eliminated their disruptive behavior. When differential reinforcement was applied to math or reading, it resulted in maximal performance on that subject matter which was followed by token reinforcement. Further, within 19 hours of reinforcement contingent upon academic performance, reading comprehension improved from a pre-primer to a second-grade level for two children, and from first grade to fourth grade for the other two children. The data suggest it may be possible to reduce or eliminate disruptive behavior by arranging for systematic presentation of academic material.

Temporal Control and the Theory of Reinforcement Schedules

Abstract: Publisher Summary Reinforcement schedules have been perceived as simply more complex extensions of situations that have always been used for the experimental investigation of learning. However, they seem to be distinctive in at least two ways. Reinforcement schedules are typically programed automatically, and animals are exposed to a given procedure for a protracted period. Because of the automatic scheduling of events by clocks and counters, animals exposed to reinforcement schedules have many opportunities to come under the control of temporal regularities of various sorts. Under these conditions, it is easy to become aware of the important role of temporal variables in the determination of adaptive behavior. The chapter presents the idea of reinforcement as selection of behavioral variations, within the limitations of current knowledge.

Effects of reinforcement on standardized test performance.

Abstract: The effects of two different motivational conditions upon standardized test performance were explored for two student populations. The first study involving 12 trainable retardates showed a significant increase in score on the Metropolitan Readiness Test given under reinforcement conditions when these results were compared with scores taken under standard testing conditions. In a second study, these same results were obtained with a group of 30 normal fourth-graders. An additional study was conducted to determine the effect of different experiences with token reinforcement procedures on test performance. It was found that a group of children with six weeks' exposure to reinforcement for daily academic performance scored higher under both conditions of test administration (standard and reinforcement) than a control group. However, in a single exposure to token reinforcement for correct performance on the Metropolitan Test, both the experimental group and its match control showed a parallel increase in test performance. These findings offer a procedure that yields a more representative assessment of a student's academic achievement than does testing under standard conditions.

Reinforcement and Helping Behavior1

Abstract: A study was conducted to determine the effects of reinforcement following helping in one situation on subsequent helping behavior. It was predicted that helping behavior would increase following positive reinforcement and decrease following negative reinforcement. It was also predicted that the attractiveness of the dispenser of reinforcement would affect subsequent helping. The study was conducted using a 3 × 2 × 2 design with the variables bemg nature of reinforcement, attractivcness of the confederate, and sex of S. The data indicated that subsequent to negative reinforcement, helping responses decrease. There were no differences between the positive, neutral or control conditions. Sex of S interacted with reinforcemcnt condition, with mcn helping more than women following negative reinforcement. Malcs and females also differcd in quality of help given, with men offering more physical help than women, particularly following neutral reinforcement.

Effects of Modeling and Reinforcement on the Acquisition and Generalization of Question-Asking Behavior.

Abstract: ZIMMERMAN, BARRY J., and PIKE, EARL O. Effects of Modeling and Reinforcement on the Acquisition and Generalization of Question-asking Behavior. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1972, 43, 892-907. The question-asking behavior of disadvantaged Mexican-American second-grade children was found readily modifiable using an adult model offering contingent praise. Lower levels of response were produced when only praise was presented. Both conditions numerically surpassed an untreated control group's question-asking levels. Causal relationships were established between the treatment variations and child question production through a multiple-base-line procedure which produced staggered increases and decreases when treatment was either instated or withdrawn, respectively. Some generalization of questionasking behavior was observed when a new teacher who did not model or praise was introduced. After training, individual posttesting revealed that

Probability learning as a function of momentary reinforcement probability.

Abstract: Pigeons were trained on a probability learning task where the overall reinforcement probability was 0.50 for each response alternative but where the momentary reinforcement probability differed and depended upon the outcome of the preceding trial. In all cases, the maximum reinforcement occurred with a “win-stay, lose-shift” response pattern. When both position and color were relevant cues, the optimal response pattern was learned when the reinforcement probability for repeating the just-reinforced response was 0.80 but not when the probability was 0.65. When only color was relevant, learning occurred much more slowly, and only for subjects trained on large fixed ratio requirements.