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Gaming simulation to pretest operant‐based community interventions: An urban transportation example
Author(s) -
Everett Peter B.,
Studer Raymond G.,
Douglas Thomas J.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
american journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.113
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1573-2770
pISSN - 0091-0562
DOI - 10.1007/bf00885524
Subject(s) - state (computer science) , sociology , library science , memphis , psychological intervention , gerontology , psychology , medicine , computer science , psychiatry , botany , algorithm , biology
The application of operant techniques to large-scale social settings often involves considerable social, economic, political, and/or physical risk. Among the tools required for behavioral interventions in complex systems are those to pretest alternative environmental (e.g., social, economic, political, physical) structures. In this study an urban transportation game was developed for this purpose. During the simulation experiment subjects were rein forced for bus-riding responses on various schedules. Results were consistent with previous laboratory experiments. That is, low levels of bus riding occurredunder conditions of nonreinforcement, intermediate levels emerged under both continuous and variable ratio 36 schedules, and higher levels of bus riding emerged during a variable ratio 6 schedule of reinforcement.