ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1990.54-155

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1990

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1990.54-159

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1990

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Adults with mental retardation in a group home received popcorn or coffee reinforcers for sorting plastic dinnerware. In Part 1 of the experiment, reinforcers were dispensed according to a variable‐interval 60‐s schedule for sorting dinnerware of one color and according to a variable‐interval 240‐s schedule for sorting dinnerware of a different color in successive components of a multiple schedule. Sorting rates were similar in baseline, but when a video program was shown concurrently, sorting of dinnerware was more resistant to distraction when correlated with a higher rate of reinforcement. In Part 2 of the experiment, popcorn or coffee reinforcers were contingent upon sorting both colors of dinnerware according to variable‐interval 60‐s schedules, but additional reinforcers were given independently of sorting according to a variable‐time 30‐s schedule during one dinnerware‐color component. Baseline sorting rate was lower but resistance to distraction by the video program was greater in the component with additional variable‐time reinforcers. These results demonstrate that resistance to distraction depends on the rate of reinforcers obtained in the presence of component stimuli but is independent of baseline response rates and response‐reinforcer contingencies. Moreover, these results are similar to those obtained in laboratory studies with pigeons, demonstrating that the determination of resistance to change by stimulus‐reinforcer relations is not confined to controlled laboratory settings

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1990.54-163

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1990

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Subjects lived in a laboratory apartment for up to 30 days, engaging in ordinary activities such as reading, sewing, and artwork. The amount of time devoted to each activity was recorded and compared with periodic verbal ratings of the amount of time devoted to the activities. The verbal and observational assessments of the time distribution were very similar, but there were some discrepancies. Based on self‐reports and on observation of time actually devoted to the activities, contingencies were arranged in which time devoted to one activity produced time available for a second activity. When the contingency relation was based on behavioral assessment, predictions of time redistribution were more accurate than when the relations were based on verbal assessment. The close correspondence between observed distributions of time and verbally assessed distributions was probably due to the well‐specified situation and rigorous assessment methods. Contrary to some cognitive‐behavioral accounts, the contingency results suggest that verbal assessment is not necessarily preferable to observation when the two make discrepant predictions. It is suggested that verbal reports might be used more often in behavior analysis in place of lengthy or difficult observations, and attention is drawn to a personality model that parallels important components of behavior ana

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1990.54-173

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1990

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Contingencies studied in lever‐pressing procedures were incorporated into a popular computer game, “Star Trek,” played by college students. One putative reinforcer, the opportunity to destroy Klingon invaders, was scheduled independently of responding according to a variable‐time schedule that alternated unpredictably with equal periods of Klingon unavailability (mixed variable time, extinction schedule of reinforcement). Two commands (“observing responses”) each produced stimuli that were either correlated or uncorrelated with the two components. In several variations of the basic game, an S‐, or bad news, was not as reinforcing as an S+, or good news. In addition, in other conditions for the same subjects observing responses were not maintained better by bad news than by an uninformative stimulus. In both choices, more observing tended to be maintained by an S— for response‐independent Klingons when its information could be (and was) used to advantage with respect to other types of reinforcement in the situation (Parts 1 and 2) than when the information could not be so used (Part 3). The findings favor the conditioned reinforcement hypothesis of observing behavior over the uncertainty‐reduction hypothesis. This extends research to a more natural setting and to multialternative concurrent schedules of events of seemin

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1990.54-185

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1990

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Four older and 4 younger men were given extended exposure to a continuous‐recognition memory procedure. Experimental variables included the type of stimulus (alphanumeric strings, words, or sentences), the intervals separating repeated items, gains and losses for correct and incorrect recognitions, and the extent of practice with the memory task. Signal detection analyses indicated that the older men generally were less accurate (sensitivity), particularly when the stimuli were strings, but that age differences decreased with practice. Under conditions in which the payoff matrix was neutral, the older and younger men showed equivalent rates of hits and false alarms (bias). Alteration of the matrix to require more liberal or more conservative patterns of recognition responding led to corresponding changes for men of both ages. Adjustments by the older men, however, were not as close to the bias values called for by the new matrice

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1990.54-201

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1990

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Following the emergence of two three‐member equivalence classes (A1B1C1 and A2B2C2), 5 college students were exposed to one or more changes in the reinforcement contingencies controlling baseline conditional discriminations. AC relations were either reversed (i.e., C2 was reinforced and C1 punished when A1 was the sample; C1 was reinforced and C2 punished when A2 was the sample) or arranged randomly (i.e., C2 and C1 were reinforced and punished equally often in the presence of A1 and A2). In a third condition, the original AB and AC relations were reversed. Results showed that although baseline conditional discrimination performances were under the control of reinforcement contingencies, and performances on symmetry trials varied with baseline responding for 3 of 4 subjects when contingencies were reversed, performances on transitivity probes remained consistent with the initial equivalence class. These inconsistencies between probe and baseline performances were striking because conditional discriminations are thought to be the determinants of equivalence class performance. Similarly, the contrast between performances on symmetry and transitivity probes was of theoretical interest because equivalence classes are defined by congruent patterns of responding on probe trial

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1990.54-213

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1990

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Two experiments were conducted to establish conditional stimulus relations without differential consequences and to test for the emergence of other relations. In Experiment 1, 3 adults responded to match‐to‐sample displays in which sample‐comparison pairs were constant while the second comparison presented with each pair changed periodically across trials. No differential consequences followed any comparison selections. All subjects learned conditional relations between constant samples and comparisons, but results of tests for transitivity in those relations were equivocal. In Experiment 2, 4 children were given unreinforced training and testing similar to that provided to the adults in Experiment 1, with procedural refinements. One child learned conditional relations and demonstrated emergent relations that confirmed the development of two four‐member equivalence classes. Another child learned the conditional relations but did not demonstrate any emergent relations reliably. A 3rd child, after reinforced training on two conditional relations, learned four new conditional relations without differential consequences and demonstrated symmetry but not equivalence in the trained relations. The 4th child did not learn the conditional relations. These findings emphasize the importance of careful construction of tests for stimulus equivalence and suggest a need for critical analyses of the apparent emergence of untrained stimulus relations on unreinforced tests that has been observed in several stimulus equivalence

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1990.54-225

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1990

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The development of generalized conditional discrimination skills was examined in adults with retardation. Two subjects with histories of failure to acquire arbitrary matching under trial‐and‐error procedures were successful under procedures that trained one or more prerequisite skills. The successive discrimination between the sample stimuli was established by training the subjects to name the stimuli. The simultaneous discrimination between the comparison stimuli was established using either (a) standard simple discrimination training with reversals or (b) a procedure in which each of the two sample‐comparison relations in the conditional discrimination was presented in blocks of trials, with the size of the blocks decreasing gradually until sample presentation was randomized. The amount of prerequisite training required varied across subjects and across successive conditional discriminations. After acquiring either two or three conditional discriminations with component training, both subjects learned new conditional discriminations under trial‐and‐error procedures. In general, each successive conditional discrimination was acquired more rapidly. Tests showed that conditional responding had become a generalized skill. Symmetry was shown for almost all trained relations. Symmetry trial samples were ultimately named the same as the stimuli to which they were related in

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1990.54-239

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1990

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Two experiments examined the relation between response variability and sensitivity to changes in reinforcement contingencies. In Experiment 1, two groups of college students were provided complete instructions regarding a button‐pressing task; the instructions stated “press the button 40 times for each point” (exchangeable for money). Two additional groups received incomplete instructions that omitted the pattern of responding required for reinforcement under the same schedule. Sensitivity was tested in one completely instructed and one incompletely instructed group after responding had met a stability criterion, and for the remaining two groups after a short exposure to the original schedule. The three groups of subjects whose responding was completely instructed or who had met the stability criterion showed little variability at the moment of change in the reinforcement schedule. The responding of these three groups also was insensitive to the contingency change. Incompletely instructed short‐exposure responding was more variable at the moment of schedule change and was sensitive to the new contingency in four of six cases. In Experiment 2, completely and incompletely instructed responding first met a stability criterion. This was followed by a test that showed no sensitivity to a contingency change. A strategic instruction was then presented that stated variable responding would work best. Five of 6 subjects showed increased variability after this instruction, and all 6 showed sensitivity to contingency change. The findings are discussed from a selectionist perspective that describes response acquisition as a process of variation, selection, and maintenance. From this perspective, sensitivity to contingency changes is described as a function of variables that produce response vari

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1990.54-251

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1990

数据来源: WILEY