title: Fixed-interval performance and self-control in children.
abstract: Operant responses of 16 children (mean age 6 years and 1 month) were reinforced according to different fixed-interval schedules (with interreinforcer intervals of 20, 30, or 40 s) in which the reinforcers were either 20-s or 40-s presentations of a cartoon. In another procedure, they received training on a self-control paradigm in which both reinforcer delay (0.5 s or 40 s) and reinforcer duration (20 s or 40 s of cartoons) varied, and subjects were offered a choice between various combinations of delay and duration. Individual differences in behavior under the self-control procedure were precisely mirrored by individual differences under the fixed-interval schedule. Children who chose the smaller immediate reinforcer on the self-control procedure (impulsive) produced short postreinforcement pauses and high response rates in the fixed-interval conditions, and both measures changed little with changes in fixed-interval value. Conversely, children who chose the larger delayed reinforcer in the self-control condition (the self-controlled subjects) exhibited lower response rates and long postreinforcement pauses, which changed systematically with changes in the interval, in their fixed-interval performances.
authors.affiliation: Université Charles de Gaulle, Lille.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Darcheville
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rivière
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Wearden
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003216:Conditioning, Operant; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D007206:Individuality; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule