The effects of social reinforcement on dominant and dependent mildly intellectually handicapped school-leavers.
The aim of this study was to replicate Exline & Messick's (1967) study of eye-contact interview behaviour with college students on a group of mildly intellectually handicapped students. Twenty subjects (mean CA 14.02 years, SD 0.45 years, mean IQ 72.0, SD 7.6) attending a metropolitan school for the mildly mentally handicapped were classified as dominant or dependent by teacher ratings and sociogram analysis. They were given large or small amounts of reinforcement for eye-contact when interviewed by their teacher. Although the study failed to replicate some of Exline & Messick's findings, results indicated a feedback rather than reward model in explaining the effects of social reinforcement on eye-contact in interviews. Implications for communication training for such intellectually handicapped students is discussed.
D000293:Adolescent; D001521:Behavior Therapy; D003858:Dependency, Psychological; D004495:Education of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities; D006801:Humans; D010551:Personality; D012056:Reinforcement, Social; D012919:Social Behavior; D012930:Social Dominance; D013332:Student Dropouts / Q000523:psychology*