Prior research has demonstrated the establishment of reinforcers for learning and maintenance with young children as a function of social learning where a peer and an adult experimenter were present. The presence of an adult experimenter was eliminated in the present study to test if the effect produced in the prior studies would occur with only…

In three experiments, human participants pressed the space bar on a computer keyboard to earn points on random-ratio (RR) and random-interval (RI) schedules of reinforcement. Verbalized contingency awareness (CA) for each schedule was measured after the entire task (Experiments 1 and 2), or after each RR-RI trial (Experiment 3). In all three…

The present research focuses on the possible relation between observing responses and language acquisition. In the first of three experiments, preschool aged participants with and without disabilities were presented with the opportunity to observe multiple aspects of a stimulus. A Naming experience was created in which the stimulus was presented…

Although intelligence has traditionally been identified as "the ability to learn" (Peterson, 1925), this relationship has been questioned in simple operant learning tasks (Spielberger, 1962). Nevertheless, recent pieces of research have demonstrated a strong and significant correlation between associative learning measures and intelligence…

I tested the effects of the absence of an adult on the observational conditioning effect (Greer & Singer-Dudek, 2008). Neutral stimuli (metal washers) did not function to reinforce performance or learning tasks for three preschool age children as determined by a counterbalanced reversal design for the pre-intervention performance tasks and…

Five experiments were conducted to determine whether properties inherent in some training procedures may subtly influence the adaptability of skilled performance of complex tasks. The first two experiments assessed the insensitivity of low-rate performances. Examined in the third experiment was the issue of whether instructions that focus…

THE PROCESS OF INSTRUCTION WOULD BENEFIT FROM BEING ORGANIZED IN TERMS OF BEHAVIORAL PSYCHOLOGY. FIRST, THE PROCESS OF TASK ANALYSIS SHOULD DIVIDE THE FINAL OBJECTIVE INTO A SERIES OF SUBTOPICS OR RELATED TASKS. PERHAPS DIFFERENT TEACHING PROCEDURES WILL BE NEEDED TO MASTER DIFFERENT SUBTOPICS OF THE FINAL OBJECTIVE. SECOND, AN ASSESSMENT SHOULD…

Designed for both parents and teachers, the handbook presents methods for educating the moderately and severely retarded child. Those methods include measuring progress, rewarding and punishing, ways of using rewards and punishers, ways of giving positive reinforcers and punishers, withholding reinforcers (extinction), letting the child reward…