Response latency as a function of reinforcement schedule

Four Ss were trained to press and hold down a telegraph key in the presence of a light. Subsequent release of the key during a tone was followed by water reinforcement. The schedule of reinforcement for key release was varied, and its effects on the latency (RT) of key release to the tone were studied. Both median RT and variability of RT were found to be inversely related to frequency of reinforcement as determined by the schedule.     

Effects of reinforcement and guidance procedures on instruction-following behavior of severely retarded children

Positive reinforcement, physical guidance, and fading procedures were used to teach two severely retarded children motor responses to a variety of verbal instructions. Subjects' responses to one set of instructions provided the focus for the training procedures. Their responses to a second set of instructions were used to assess the generalized effects of training. The frequency of responses to both sets of instructions was evaluated during Baseline 1, Training 1, Baseline 2, and Training 2 periods. During the training periods, this evaluation was made after the daily training sessions when no training procedures were in effect. Results indicated that the subjects showed pronounced increases in instruction-following behaviors (both trained and untrained) during training periods with decreases in such behavior occurring during the Baseline 2 period. The general findings demonstrate the applicability of the training procedures for producing and maintaining instruction-following behaviors in severely retarded children and for facilitating appropriate responding to instructions not directly involved in training.     

Extinction of a running response as a function of reinforcement magnitude

Four groups of rats were trained on different sucrose solutions in a straight runway. Terminal running speed was a monotonic function of reinforcement magnitude. After training each group was subdivided, one subgroup being extinguished under spaced, the other under massed conditions. In spaced extinction the animals trained on non extreme reward magnitudes showed most resistance to extinction. It was concluded that resistance to extinction is an inverted U-shaped function of reinforcement magnitude found in training. The massed extinction trials were conducted with a very short inter-trial interval. The animals showed an immediate drop in running speed followed by a gradual recovery and a subsequent decline. The number of trials taken to reach the peak recovery speed was a function of reinforcement magnitude found in training. Results on both massed and spaced extinction trials were interpreted in terms of the facilitatory and inhibitory effects of momentary and conditioned frustration.     

Fixed-time schedule effects as a function of baseline reinforcement rate

Using an arbitrary response, we evaluated fixed-time (FT) schedules that were either similar or dissimilar to a baseline (response-dependent) reinforcement schedule and extinction. Results suggested that both FT schedules and extinction resulted in decreased responding. However, FT schedules were more effective in reducing response rates if the FT reinforcer rate was dissimilar to baseline reinforcer rates. Possible reasons for this difference were evaluated with data analysis methods designed to identify adventitious response-reinforcer relations.     

Development of social responses in two severely retarded children

The effect of reinforcement dependent on the social responses of two severely retarded withdrawn children was investigated. During 30 training sessions (30 min each) food and praise were administered dependent upon the children's mutual participation in a ball-rolling and block-passing task. Both children showed a progressive increase in social interaction in a non-training situation during this reinforcement period. After the reinforcement procedures were removed, social behavior decreased markedly. Response generalization to children not involved in training occurred.     

Self-control in mentally retarded adolescents: choice as a function of amount and delay of reinforcement.

Three severely mentally retarded adolescents were studied under discrete-trial procedures in which a choice was arranged between edible reinforcers that differed in magnitude and, in some conditions, delay. In the absence of delays the larger reinforcer was consistently chosen. Under conditions in which the smaller reinforcer was not delayed, increasing the delay to delivery of the larger reinforcer decreased the percentage of trials in which that reinforcer was chosen. All subjects directed the majority of choice responses to the smaller reinforcer when the larger reinforcer was sufficiently delayed, although the value at which this occurred differed across subjects. Under conditions in which the larger reinforcer initially was sufficiently delayed to result in preference for the smaller one, progressively increasing in 5-s increments the delay to both reinforcers increased percentage of trials with the larger reinforcer chosen. At sufficiently long delays, 2 of the subjects consistently chose the larger, but more delayed, reinforcer, and the 3rd subject chose that reinforcer on half of the trials. These results are consistent with the findings of prior studies in which adult humans responded to terminate noise and pigeons responded to produce food.