A parametric variation of delayed reinforcement in infants.
This study is an exploration of the parameters of delayed reinforcement with 6 infants (2 to 6 months old) in two experiments using single-subject repeated-reversal designs. In Experiment 1, unsignaled 3-s delayed reinforcement was used to increase infant vocalization rate when compared to a differential-reinforcement-of-other-than-vocalization condition and a yoked, no-contingency comparison condition. In Experiment 2, unsignaled 5-s delayed reinforcement was used to increase infant vocalization rate when compared to an alternating-treatments comparison condition. The alternating-treatments comparison consisted of 3-min components of differential reinforcement of other behavior and 3-min components of a nontreatment baseline. Successful conditioning was obtained in both experiments. These results contrast with those of previous infancy researchers who did not obtained conditioning with delays of 3 s and who attributed their findings to the limitations of the infant's memory capacity. We present an alternative conceptual framework and methodology for the analysis of delayed reinforcement in infants.
Reeve
L
L
Queens College, City University of New York, Flushing 11367-1597.
Reeve
K F
KF
Poulson
C L
CL
D001519:Behavior; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological; D003448:Crying; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D002666:Psychology, Child; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule; D012056:Reinforcement, Social