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SEQUENTIAL CONTRAST EFFECTS WITH HUMAN SUBJECTS 1
Author(s) -
O'Brien Floyd
Publication year - 1968
Publication title -
journal of the experimental analysis of behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.75
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1938-3711
pISSN - 0022-5002
DOI - 10.1901/jeab.1968.11-537
Subject(s) - extinction (optical mineralogy) , reinforcement , interval (graph theory) , contrast (vision) , variable (mathematics) , schedule , period (music) , statistics , mathematics , psychology , computer science , optics , social psychology , artificial intelligence , physics , combinatorics , mathematical analysis , acoustics , operating system
Institutionalized retardates were exposed to a multiple variable‐interval: extinction schedule of reinforcement in which 5‐min periods of variable‐interval reinforcement and 5‐min periods of extinction were presented in a random order. This schedule was found to generate sequential contrast effects: response rates during variable‐interval reinforcement were higher when a variable‐interval period followed an extinction period than when it followed another variable‐interval period. The rate of responding within a variable‐interval period also was affected by the number of extinction periods preceding a variable‐interval period. As the number of successive extinction periods that preceded a variable‐interval period increased, the rate of responding during that variable‐interval period increased. The sequential contrast effects were transient, being most evident during the early sessions and generally disappearing by the tenth session.