Can response force be shaped by reinforcement?
Frick in 1986, writing in this journal, suggested that experiments purporting to demonstrate the shaping of response force by reinforcement lacked critical controls. He argued instead that such procedures create a mental schema concerning the response topography which influences force indirectly. Although Frick's methodological criticisms are well taken, there is additional evidence suggesting that response force can be strengthened by reinforcement and that such learning generalizes across behaviors.
Eisenberger
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Department of Psychology, University of Delaware, Newark 19716.
D000818:Animals; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D006801:Humans; D009042:Motivation; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology