AN EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF “SPILLOVER” EFFECTS ON THE SOCIAL INTERACTION OF BEHAVIORALLY HANDICAPPED PRESCHOOL CHILDRENsp1

The effects of prompting and social reinforcement directed to target subjects on their social behavior and that of peers who never received prompting and reinforcement for positive social behavior, were examined. In a combined reversal and multiple-baseline design, three behaviorally handicapped preschool boys who exhibited divergent social behavior repertoires and varied histories with social reinforcement events, were sequentially exposed to intervention conditions in order to investigate “spillover” of treatment effects. Prompting and reinforcement increased positive social behavior and decreased negative social behavior emitted by all target subjects. The results also demonstrated a “spillover” effect on two target subjects, who at various times were not under intervention, and on the peers as well. The findings suggest that: (a) the direct and indirect effects of intervention procedures may be enhanced by designing treatment based on the social repertoire and reinforcement histories of the subjects; and (b) the treatment “spillover” effect may be increased by applying procedures to two children at once, rather than to one at a time.     

Peer and college-student tutoring as reinforcement in a token economy

Eighteen second-grade children initially received feedback in the form of nonredeemable tokens for reducing their disruptive classroom behavior. Four types of tutoring were then introduced in a Latin Square Design: noncontingent tutoring from fifth-grade peers, contingent peer tutoring, noncontingent college tutoring, and contingent college tutoring. No significant difference was found in the level of disruptive behavior of those children tutored by fifth-grade peers or college students, but contingent tutoring was significantly effective in reducing disruptive classroom behavior.     

Preference for mixed versus constant delay of reinforcement

Preference for constant and mixed delay of reinforcement was studied using concurrent equal variable-interval schedules. For four pigeons, pecking one key was reinforced following constant delays of 8 sec and mixed delays of 6 or 10 and 2 or 14 sec. Pecking a second key was reinforced following constant delays of 0, 8, 16, and 32 sec. For two additional pigeons, pecking one key was reinforced following delays of 30, 15 or 45, 5 or 55, and 0 or 60 sec. Reinforcements on the other key were delayed 30 sec. It was found that (a) pigeons preferred mixed relative to constant delay of reinforcement, and (b) preference for mixed delay of reinforcement increased as the range of delay interval variability increased.     

A test of the reinforcing properties of stimuli correlated with nonreinforcement

The information hypothesis of conditioned reinforcement predicts that a stimulus that “reduces uncertainty” about the outcome of a trial will acquire reinforcing properties, even when the stimulus reliably predicts nonreinforcement. Four pigeons' key pecks produced one of two 5-sec stimuli with 0.50 probability according to a discriminated variable-interval schedule. One stimulus was followed by reinforcement; a second stimulus was followed by blackout. To the same extent, therefore, both stimuli reduced uncertainty about the possibility that food would arrive at the termination of the schedule interval. When a second key in the chamber was lighted, each peck on it could produce the stimulus preceding reinforcement, the stimulus preceding nonreinforcement, a novel stimulus, or no stimulus, across separate conditions. The stimulus preceding food maintained responding at substantial levels on the second, stimulus-producing, key. Such responding was not maintained by other stimuli. These data, replicated when the stimuli were reversed on the variable-interval schedule, do not support the prediction that uncertainty-reducing stimuli are necessarily conditioned reinforcers.     

Behavior of humans in variable-interval schedules of reinforcement

During Phase I, human subjects pressed a button for monetary reinforcement in five variable-interval schedules, each of which specified a different frequency of reinforcement. The rate of responding was an increasing, negatively accelerated function of reinforcement frequency; the data conformed closely to Herrnstein's equation. During Phase II, the same five schedules were in operation, but in addition a concurrent variable-interval schedule (B) was introduced, responses on which were always reinforced at the same frequency. Response rate in component A increased while the response rate in B decreased, as a function of the reinforcement frequency in component A. Relative response rates in the two component schedules matched the relative frequencies of reinforcement. Comparing the absolute response rates in component A during Phase I and Phase II it was found that introduction of the concurrent schedule did not affect the value of the theoretical maximum response rate, but did increase the value of the reinforcement frequency needed to obtain any particular submaximal response rate.     

Matching in a network

Pigeons were given practice choosing between pairs of alternatives yielding different frequencies of reinforcement. Four individual alternatives were set into four pairwise choices. Averaged over subjects, the distribution of responses in each choice approximated matching. The four individual alternatives were then presented, two by two, in two pairwise choices for which there had been no initial practice. No further reinforcement was given during the tests with the new pairs. Transfer to the two test pairs deviated systematically from matching in most cases by exaggerating the preference for the alternative that had had the higher frequency of reinforcement.     

Effects of a delay-reinforcement procedure on performance under IRT>t schedules

Water-deprived rats were studied under a compound schedule that prescribed that responses terminating interresponse times (IRTs) greater than a fixed value t₁ (IRT > t₁ component schedule) initiated a delay of reinforcement interval t₂, at the end of which water was presented if the subject did not respond ( > t₂ component schedule). If the subject responded before the t₂ interval elapsed, the IRT > t₁ component schedule was re-initiated and water was not presented. The IRT > t₁ and > t₂ component schedules were not differentially correlated with distinctive stimuli. Rate of responding during the IRT > t₁ component decreased as a function of the value of t₂. The magnitude of the decreases in response rate appeared to be proportional to the subject's rate under the IRT > t schedule with no delay of reinforcement (t₂ = 0 sec). The effects were independent of the parameter value of the IRT > t₁ component schedule and of the rate of reinforcement. The results suggested that “efficiency” of performance under IRT > t schedules can be increased by appropriately arranging brief delays of reinforcement.     

Natural rates of teacher approval and disapproval in grade-7 classrooms

The natural rates of teacher verbal approval and disapproval in ten grade-seven classrooms were determined and compared with those described by White (1975). Although there were differences in the observation techniques used and the behavioral, cultural, and ethnic groups sampled, the results were similar. The majority of the teachers displayed individual rates of disapproval that were higher than their individual approval rates. The correlations between levels of on-task behavior and approval and disapproval rates were low. The issues raised by these findings are discussed in terms of directions for further research.     

Natural rates of teacher approval and disapproval in the classroom

Sixteen classroom observational studies were conducted to determine natural rates of teacher verbal approval and disapproval in the classroom. Rates of teacher verbal approval and disapproval were measured by the Teacher Approval and Disapproval Observation Record (TAD) over Grades 1 through 12. Teacher verbal approval rates dropped over grade, with a marked drop after second grade. In every grade after second, the rate of teacher verbal disapproval exceeded the rate of teacher verbal approval. These rates are interpreted in terms of reinforcement theory.     

THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT REINFORCEMENT CONDITIONS ON THE TEST PERFORMANCE OF MULTIHANDICAPPED DEAF CHILDREN1

The present study explored the effects of different reinforcement conditions on the number of correct responses on the Raven Progressive Matrices. Four groups of 11- to 18-year-old multihandicapped deaf children matched on the basis of mean age and pretest scores were used. The groups were randomly assigned to any of four posttest conditions: end-of-session reinforcement, noncontingent reinforcement, delayed reinforcement, and immediate reinforcement. The mean posttest score of subjects tested under the immediate-reinforcement condition was significantly higher than that of any other group. No significant differences were observed between the mean posttest scores of the three other groups. The practical implications of using reinforcement procedures for testing purposes are discussed.