A COMPARISON OF TWO PAIRING PROCEDURES TO ESTABLISH PRAISE AS A REINFORCER |
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| Authors: | Claudia L Dozier Brian A Iwata Jessica Thomason‐Sassi April S Worsdell David M Wilson |
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| Institution: | 1. University of Kansas;2. University of Florida;3. New England Center for Children;4. Paul Coyne & Associates;5. Georgian Court University |
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| Abstract: | Some individuals with intellectual disabilities do not respond to praise as a reinforcer, which may limit their ability to learn. We evaluated 2 procedures (stimulus pairing and response—stimulus pairing), both of which involved pairing previously neutral praise statements with preferred edible items, to determine their usefulness in establishing praise as a reinforcer. Results of Study 1 indicated that stimulus pairing was not effective in conditioning praise as a reinforcer for 3 of 4 subjects; results were inconclusive for the 4th subject. Results of Study 2 indicated that response—stimulus pairing was effective in conditioning praise as a reinforcer for 4 of 8 subjects. After conditioning, praise also increased the occurrence of additional target responses for these 4 subjects. |
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| Keywords: | conditioned reinforcement praise social reinforcement |
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