Premium
UNINSTRUCTED HUMAN RESPONDING: SENSITIVITY OF LOW‐RATE PERFORMANCE TO SCHEDULE CONTINGENCIES
Author(s) -
Shimoff Eliot,
Catania A. Charles,
Matthews Byron A.
Publication year - 1981
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.1981.36-207
Subject(s) - reinforcement , contingency , psychology , schedule , sensitivity (control systems) , interval (graph theory) , social psychology , statistics , computer science , mathematics , engineering , linguistics , philosophy , electronic engineering , operating system , combinatorics
College students' presses on a telegraph key occasionally turned on a light in the presence of which button presses produced points later exchangeable for money. Initially, responding was maintained by low‐rate contingencies superimposed on either random‐interval or random‐ratio schedules. Later, the low‐rate contingencies were relaxed. Low‐rate key pressing had been established for some students by shaping and for others by demonstration and written instructions. After the low‐rate contingencies were relaxed, higher response rates generally did not increase point earnings with random‐interval scheduling, but did so with random‐ratio scheduling. In both cases, shaped responding usually increased, and instructed responding usually continued at an unchanged low rate. The insensitivity of instructed responding typically occurred despite contact with the contingencies. The differential sensitivity to schedule contingencies of shaped responding relative to instructed responding is consistent with the different properties of contingency‐governed and rule‐governed behavior and is not rate‐dependent.