title: Evaluating the reinforcing effects of choice in comparison to reinforcement rate.
abstract: A concurrent-operants arrangement was used to evaluate a boy's preference for a choice condition (in which he chose the reinforcement) over a no-choice condition (in which the therapist selected the reinforcement for him) when (a) these conditions produced equal rates of reinforcement and (b) lower rates of reinforcement were associated with the choice condition. The boy preferred the choice condition even when it resulted in a much less favorable rate of reinforcement than the no-choice condition (up to 4000% less).
authors.affiliation: Neurobehavioral Unit, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. Fisher@KennedyKrieger.org
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: W W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Contrucci
mesh_terms: D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D010343:Patient Admission; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule; D014040:Token Economy