Reassessing the Power of One Reinforcer with an Evaluation of Learning Histories
Best practices for shaping procedures have yet to be established. Previous research has evaluated the impact of a single conditioned reinforcer delivered for a non-target behavior during shaping following a period of time without reinforcement (Hunter & Rosales-Ruiz, 2019). Findings suggested that the non-target behavior consequated with the conditioned reinforcer persisted into a 1-min extinction phase at similar or greater levels than behaviors that had been repeatedly reinforced. Persistence of a non-target response may be due to the acquired learning history of participants. This study sought to replicate the findings of Hunter and Rosales-Ruiz and further evaluate the role of the experimental learning history in the persistence of the non-target behavior. Major findings of the initial study were replicated. The present research also found evidence that the conditioned reinforcers may have acquired discriminative properties as a result of the experimental history such that they induced continued responding after a single delivery.
Behavioral sciences, history effects, reinforcer, shaping
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