Efeitos de conseqüências programadas sobre o comportamento de seguir regras

In an investigation of variables responsible for rule-following, 16 children were exposed to a matching-to-sample procedure. The task involved touching the comparison stimuli when a light came on. In Phase 1, the behavior was established by a rule. In Phase 2, the contingencies in Phase 1 were reversed, re-established in Phase 3 and repeated again in Phase 4. The conditions differed with regard to the nature of the programmed consequences. Rule-following tended to cease in the presence of a tone or the word “Wrong”, and was maintained when candy or praise (“Correct”) ceased. These results extend the suggested generality that the probability of ceasing rule-following increases when it produces aversive consequences rather than others, and indicates that the maintenance of the behavior depends, in part, on the type of consequence encountered.Keywords: rule-following; type of consequences; nature of consequences