Premium
REINFORCER VARIATION: IMPLICATIONS FOR MOTIVATING DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED CHILDREN
Author(s) -
Egel Andrew L.
Publication year - 1981
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.1981.14-345
Subject(s) - psychology , reinforcement , developmental psychology , stimulus (psychology) , variation (astronomy) , task (project management) , cognitive psychology , social psychology , physics , management , astrophysics , economics
Motivating developmentally disabled children to participate in educational activities can be very difficult. This is especially true for children diagnosed autistic. Because there is some evidence to suggest that stimulus variation may influence motivation, the present study investigated the effects of constant vs. varied reinforcer presentation on correct responding and on‐task behavior. Results from a reversal design showed declining trends in both correct responding and on‐task behavior when the same reinforcer was consistently presented, whereas, varying the reinforcers produced significantly improved and stable responding. The results are discussed in relation to the literature on stimulus variation and its effects on responsivity.