Premium
SOCIAL REINFORCEMENT OF A MANIPULATIVE RESPONSE IN SIX‐ AND NINE‐MONTH‐OLD INFANTS
Author(s) -
Millar W. Stuart
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7610.1976.tb00393.x
Subject(s) - psychology , reinforcement , developmental psychology , contingency , context (archaeology) , contingency management , social environment , social relation , social psychology , psychiatry , paleontology , linguistics , philosophy , political science , law , biology , intervention (counseling)
Summary The acquisition of a manipulative response was examined in six‐ and nine‐month‐old infants under contingent and non‐contingent maternal social stimulation. Reliable response acquisition was observed for the nine‐month‐old infants under contingent feedback, but not in the case of the six‐month‐old infants whose performance was not reliably different from non‐contingent controls. A distinction is drawn between social learning paradigms which involve the social reinforcement of social responses and those which involve the social reinforcement of non‐social responses. The failure of the six‐month‐old infants to learn a non‐social response under contingent social feedback is discussed in the context of differential preparedness to appreciate contingency relations within these paradigms.