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HANDWRITING AS AN OPERANT 1
Author(s) -
Gonzalez Fernando A.,
Waller Marcus B.
Publication year - 1974
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.1974.21-165
Subject(s) - handwriting , reinforcement , operant conditioning , schedule , lever , reading (process) , computer science , interval (graph theory) , psychology , speech recognition , cognitive psychology , artificial intelligence , social psychology , mathematics , physics , quantum mechanics , operating system , combinatorics , political science , law
An apparatus was designed to monitor handwriting behavior. Two subjects were studied under various schedules of monetary reinforcement for handwriting. The different schedules engendered and maintained distinctive response patterns but the rates of sustained responding did not vary across schedules. The development of fixed‐interval performance following continuous reinforcement resembled the same transition in lower animals. In one subject, availability of reading material interacted with the schedule to determine response pattern. It was suggested that handwriting may be a more appropriate response for the experimental analysis of human behavior than the more frequently used button‐pushing or lever‐pulling responses.