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Impulsivity/sociability and reinforcement in verbal operant conditioning
Author(s) -
Gupta B. S.,
Nagpal Mohanjeet
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
british journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.536
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8295
pISSN - 0007-1269
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8295.1978.tb01648.x
Subject(s) - impulsivity , psychology , reinforcement , conditioning , developmental psychology , social psychology , statistics , mathematics
The present investigation was designed to study the relationship between impulsivity/sociability and modes of reinforcement in verbal operant conditioning. Two 2times3 randomized block designs, one each for impulsivity and sociability, were replicated ten times. One hundred and twenty undergraduate female students (60 for impulsivity and 60 for sociability) were individually subjected to Taffel's verbal conditioning procedure. When the conditioning scores of high and low scorers on the impulsivity and sociability scales were compared, it was found that under rewarding conditions (‘good’ and ‘buzzer’ in respect of sociability and ‘good’ in respect of impulsivity) the high scorers' score and under punishing conditions (‘electric shock’) the low scorers' score was the higher of the two. The study also revealed that the high scorers (on the impulsivity scale) conditioned more under rewarding conditions while the low scorers (both on the impulsivity and sociability scales) conditioned more under punishing ones.