Response cost and fixed-ratio performance

The effects of several conditions of response cost (response-produced point loss) upon FR 50 performance maintained by 100-point reinforcements were investigated. Post-reinforcement pauses did not appear under no-cost (no points deducted per response) conditions. Such pauses were effected, however, by introducing 5-sec periods of one-point and two-point costs after each reinforcement. Continuous response cost did not affect responding as long as the cost was less than the 100-point reinforcements. Rapid cessation of responding occurred when continuous response cost was made equal to reinforcement.     

Response deprivation and reinforcement in applied settings: A preliminary analysis

First-grade children engaged in seatwork behaviors under reinforcement schedules established according to the Premack Principle and the Response Deprivation Hypothesis. Across two experiments, schedules were presented to the children in a counter-balanced fashion which fulfilled the conditions of one, both, or neither of the hypotheses. Duration of on-task math and coloring in Experiment 1 and on-task math and reading in Experiment 2 were the dependent variables. A modified ABA-type withdrawal design, including a condition to control for the noncontingent effects of a schedule, indicated an increase of on-task instrumental responding only in those schedules where the condition of response deprivation was present but not where it was absent, regardless of the probability differential between the instrumental and contingent responses. These results were consistent with laboratory findings supporting the necessity of response deprivation for producing the reinforcement effect in single response, instrumental schedules. However, the results of the control procedure were equivocal so the contribution of the contingent relationship between the responses to the increases in instrumental behavior could not be determined. Nevertheless, these results provided tentative support for the Response Deprivation Hypothesis as a new approach to establishing reinforcement schedules while indicating the need for further research in this area. The possible advantages of this technique for applied use were identified and discussed.     

Response cost effects during extinction following fixed-interval reinforcement in humans

This study examined the effects of response-produced cost upon human observer responses during extinction following FI reinforcement. Relative to a no-cost condition, cost produced marked and rapid response attenuation.     

Response cost and impulsive word recognition errors in reading-disabled children

Subjects were 30 fourth grade children with average intellectual ability but reading achievement at least 1.5 years below grade level. Each child was given two word-recognition lists, the first one as a pretest and the second list under one of three different experimental conditions: control, positive reinforcement (1 nickel for each word read correctly), and response cost (1 of 40 nickels taken back for each word read incorrectly). Relative to the control condition, positive reinforcement led to a significant increase in response latency but no change in errors, while response cost led to both a significant increase in latency and a significant decrease in reading errors. The entire group was found to be impulsive on the Matching Familiar Figures test. The successful reduction in impulsive reading errors was interpreted as support for Kagan's hypothesis that the impulsive child evidences low concern about errors on such academic tasks.This report is based on a senior honors thesis by D. E. B., which was the 1977 winner of the Dashiell-Thurstone Prize for the best undergraduate honors thesis in psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Appreciation is expressed to the following persons for their assistance or comments: Dr. W. Anderson, Ms. D. Crew, Ms. C. Earp, Ms. N. Hardy, Dr. K. Jens, Dr. K. Fleishman, Dr. B. Martin, Dr. G. Mesibov, Mr. S. Muller, Ms. E. Pritchett, Mr. Wall, Ms. Wall, and Ms. M. Walton. The research was supported in part by U. S. Public Health Service, Maternal and Child Health Project No. 916, and by Grants HD-03110 and ES-01104 from the National Institutes of Health.     

A teacher-training program to enhance mainstreamed, handicapped pupils'' self-concepts

This study assessed the effectiveness of the Utah State University Self-Concept Protocol Modules in changing teacher behaviors presumed to be related to pupil self-concept. This research focused on teachers and handicapped pupils in mainstreamed intermediate grade classrooms. The modules cover specific teacher behaviors including ways of expressing anger, listening skills and nonjudgemental messages, praising and giving instructions, and ways of fostering positive self-perception statements by pupils. The experimental group contained 15 teachers; 18 teachers were in the control group. Seven hundred and fifteen pupils (251 of which were in the experimental group) from the classrooms of the participating teachers were included. Observational data were collected on the teacher behaviors. The intermediate form of the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale was administered before and after teachers were trained. Analyses of covariance (with prescores as the covariates) in which the experimental treatment was the independent variable and the postscores for the teacher behaviors were the dependent variables revealed a significant difference between the experimental and control group teachers. The experimental group had more favorable postscores than the control group on four of the teacher behaviors. For children's self-concept postscores, a significant treatment X pupil classification interaction was found indicating that experimental group handicapped pupils scored significantly higher (p<.05) than the control group handicapped pupils. Enhancement was not obtained for either the nonhandicapped nonminority or minority group pupils.     

Attitudes toward handicapped peers of mainstreamed and nonmainstreamed children in physical education

The influence of contact (mainstreamed and nonmainstreamed) and sex on attitudes of fifth- and sixth-grade students toward handicapped children was examined. 143 mainstreamed students attended an integrated school, whereas 86 nonmainstreamed students had no handicapped children in their school. Mean responses to the Children's Attitudes Toward Handicapped Scale were subjected to a 2 x 2 analysis of variance which indicated no significant differences by contact or sex. Chi 2 analysis of individual items indicated some significant differences, favoring contact, on items "are fun" and "are interesting".     

Social acceptance of mentally retarded children in regular schools in relation to years mainstreamed

This study examined whether the social status of mainstreamed retarded children among their nonretarded peers improved as a consequence of extended contact. A sociometric questionnaire was administered to the nonretarded classmates of two groups of retarded children mainstreamed for an average of 1.7 yr. and 4 yr., respectively. Social acceptance of retarded children was low relative to their nonretarded peers. However, in contrast with previous research, retarded children did not receive higher social rejection ratings. Acceptance and rejection measures did not indicate any improvement in social status of the retarded children as a result of an extended period of mainstreaming.     

Response cost and the aversive control of human operant behavior

The effects of cost (point-loss per response) upon human avoidance, escape, and avoidance-escape behavior maintained by PLPs (point-loss periods) were investigated. Cost had a marked but differentially suppressive effect upon responding under all schedules. The greatest number of PLPs taken under cost occurred on the escape schedule. In most instances PLPs were more frequent on the avoidance-escape schedule than on the avoidance schedule under cost. Inferior avoidance performance appeared only under cost conditions. Under no-cost, all subjects (Ss) successfully avoided all PLPs after the first hour of conditioning. These results indicate that the development and maintenance of human avoidance and escape behavior may, in part, be dependent upon response cost conditions. Aversive control of human operant behavior may be limited without an adequate specification of response-cost conditions.     

Factor structure of Classroom Behavior problems for mainstreamed and regular students

The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to examine the factor structure of behavior exhibited in the regular classroom in order to provide a conceptual framework for classifying problem behavior relevant to the classroom setting, and (2) to determine the extent to which the factors generated from ratings of regular classroom children are similar to those generated from ratings of mainstreamed special education children. Thirty-five elementary-school teachers completed behavior ratings of all of their 876 students utilizing a group-administered adapted version of the Devereux Elementary School Behavior Rating Scale. The factor analysis yielded five factors defined as Conduct Problem, Personality Problem, Adaptive Classroom Behavior, Inadequacy-Immaturity, and Achievement Anxiety. Coefficients of factorial congruence confirmed the similarity between the pattern generated from ratings of regular students and that of mainstreamed students.     

Social interactions among teachers, handicapped children, and nonhandicapped children in a mainstreamed preschool

The emotional tone and social integration of two mainstreamed preschool classes were studied to determine whether or not the findings of an earlier study would be repeated. Although most variables showed no differences between handicapped and nonhandicapped children's peer-directed and teacher-directed behaviors, result did suggest that, particularly in one class, nonhandicapped children tended to selectively interact with other nonhandicapped (as opposed to handicapped) children when engaging in more complex (associative) social play. Handicapped children did not show the same tendency to interact more within their own group. At the same time, handicapped children received more help and affection from peers, and were more effectionate towards peers, than nonhandicapped children. Teachers refused handicapped children's requests and corrected their behavior more often; however they also gave them more help and more affection than nonhandicapped children. The results were generally congruent with those of an earlier study but did show more segregation on the part of nonhandicapped children.     

Response cost,reinforcement, and children's porteus maze qualitative performance

Sixty fourth-grade children were given two different series of the Porteus Maze Test. The first series was given as a baseline, and the second series was administered under one of four different experimental conditions: control, response cost, positive reinforcement, or negative verbal feedback. Response cost and positive reinforcement, but not negative verbal feedback, led to significant decreases in the number of all types of qualitative errors in relation to the control group. The reduction of nontargeted as well as targeted errors provides evidence for the generalized effects of response cost and positive reinforcement.     

Surviving in the regular classroom: A follow-up of mainstreamed children with learning disabilities

Twenty elementary-age children diagnosed as learning disabled were assessed for academic progress prior to their enrollment in a special learning disability program, at the end of that special L.D. enrollment and 1 year later, after mainstreaming into a regular classroom. Results indicated that learning gains in reading and mathematics during the mainstreamed year were comparable to learning gains found during the year of enrollment in the special L.D. program. However, a significant decrease in gains in the area of spelling was found for the mainstreamed year as compared to the prior year's enrollment in the special L.D. program. It was concluded that regular classroom instruction alone may be insufficient for mainstreamed children with learning disabilities and that supplemental programming seems necessary if prior rates of academic learning are to be maintained.     

Response cost and the control of verbal behavior under free-operant avoidance schedules

Human subjects were tested in a free-operant avoidance procedure. Shock could be avoided by the emission of a verbal response of adequate intensity and duration. These schedules were found to control the emission of verbal operants in the same way they control motor operants. Some subjects showed conventional control by this schedule with or without response-produced feedback. Other subjects verbalized at a high rate under both these conditions until the addition of response cost brought this behavior under conventional schedule control.     

The association between play materials and social behavior in a mainstreamed preschool: A naturalistic investigation

Social interaction during play with various types of materials was observed during free play in a DARCEE model mainstreamed preschool classroom. Results indicated that the use of play materials by mildly handicapped and nonhandicapped children was quite similar. Blocks and vehicles and water play materials were associated with handicapped/nonhandicapped interactions. Library, fine motor, and art materials were associated with solitary activity; blocks and vehicles, water play, housekeeping and music with cooperative interaction; and blocks and vehicles with conflict. Adult-child interaction was associated with children not engaged with any play materials. Implications for mainstreamed preschool settings are discussed.     

Task shifting in dual-task settings

When a participant is asked to perform two tasks in alternation, their mean reaction times were slower than when they performed the same tasks repeatedly. This "shift cost" has been hypothesized to reflect the time course of a single central executive that exerts control over thought and actions in task shifting. This study attempted to test this hypothesis using dual-task methodology. Participants were asked to carry out both a subtracting task and a rule-shifting task simultaneously. The main interest is to examine the effect of dual task on the magnitude of shift cost. The results showed that performing a concurrent subtracting task significantly interfered with the shifting operation resulting in over-additive time cost for shifting of task set. We further suggest that such interference may arise from the competition between activations of various rules.     

Further evaluation of treatments for vocal stereotypy: Response interruption and redirection and response cost

The purpose of this study was to expand on research on treatments for stereotypy by evaluating the effects of response interruption and redirection (RIRD) and response cost (RC) alone and as a treatment package on vocal stereotypy. Treatment phases included RIRD, RC, and response interruption and redirection plus response cost (RIRD + RC). The efficacy of these treatments was determined by measuring duration of stereotypy in session and during treatment intervals. Vocal stereotypy decreased in all three treatment conditions; however, when data analysis included stereotypy occurring during treatment intervals, stereotypy during the RC condition occurred at similar levels as baseline for one treatment evaluation phase for Karl and both treatment evaluations phases for Jon. We discuss implications of these findings, limitations of the current study, and areas for future research.