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REDUCING TIME LIMITS: A MEANS TO INCREASE BEHAVIOR OF RETARDATES 1
Author(s) -
Ayllon Teodoro,
Garber Stephen,
Pisor Kim
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
journal of applied behavior analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1938-3703
pISSN - 0021-8855
DOI - 10.1901/jaba.1976.9-247
Subject(s) - reinforcement , psychology , task (project management) , security token , contrast (vision) , token economy , developmental psychology , audiology , cognitive psychology , social psychology , computer science , artificial intelligence , medicine , computer security , management , economics
A common assumption in special education is that temporal limits for a task should be expanded so that ample time is provided for completing the work. This study describes the opposite strategy of restricting temporal limits to augment academic performance. Three educable retarded children received token reinforcement contingent on the number of correct math problems answered during daily sessions. A reversal design was used to assess the effects of an abrupt reduction in time limits (20‐5‐20 min) and a graduated sequence of reductions (20‐15‐10‐5‐20 min). The graduated sequence resulted in rate increases of correct responding ranging from 125% to 266% and these gains endured when temporal limits were again expanded. In contrast, the abrupt shift produced interfering emotional behaviors and rate decreases in academic performance of 25% to 80%. The findings indicate that systematically restricting temporal limits for an academic task can further enhance the performance of slow learners already maintained by a token system.