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RESPONSE DEPRIVATION AND REINFORCEMENT IN APPLIED SETTINGS: A PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS
Author(s) -
Konarski Edward A.,
Johnson Moses R.,
Crowell Charles R.,
Whitman Thomas L.
Publication year - 1980
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.1980.13-595
Subject(s) - reinforcement , psychology , differential reinforcement , task (project management) , developmental psychology , schedule , operant conditioning , control (management) , instrumental variable , cognitive psychology , social psychology , statistics , artificial intelligence , management , computer science , economics , operating system , mathematics
First‐grade children engaged in seatwork behaviors under reinforcement schedules established according to the Premack Principle and the Response Deprivation Hypothesis. Across two experiments, schedules were presented to the children in a counterbalanced fashion which fulfilled the conditions of one, both, or neither of the hypotheses. Duration of on‐task math and coloring in Experiment 1 and on‐task math and reading in Experiment 2 were the dependent variables. A modified ABA‐type withdrawal design, including a condition to control for the noncontingent effects of a schedule, indicated an increase of on‐task instrumental responding only in those schedules where the condition of response deprivation was present but not where it was absent, regardless of the probability differential between the instrumental and contingent responses. These results were consistent with laboratory findings supporting the necessity of response deprivation for producing the reinforcement effect in single response, instrumental schedules. However, the results of the control procedure were equivocal so the contribution of the contingent relationship between the responses to the increases in instrumental behavior could not be determined. Nevertheless, these results provided tentative support for the Response Deprivation Hypothesis as a new approach to establishing reinforcement schedules while indicating the need for further research in this area. The possible advantages of this technique for applied use were identified and discussed.