title: The effects of differential outcomes and different types of consequential stimuli on 7-year-old children's discriminative learning and memory.
abstract: Researchers have demonstrated that discriminative learning is facilitated when a particular outcome is associated with each relation to be learned. Our primary purpose in the two experiments reported here was to assess whether the differential outcomes procedure (DOP) would enhance 7-year-old children's learning of symbolic discriminations using three different forms of consequences in which (1) reinforcers are given when correct choices are made ("+"), (2) reinforcers are withdrawn when errors are made ("-"), or (3) children receive a reinforcer following a correct choice and lose one following an incorrect choice ("+/-"), as well as different types of reinforcers (secondary and primary reinforcers, Experiment 1; primary reinforcers alone, Experiment 2). Participants learned the task faster and showed significantly better performance whenever differential outcomes were arranged independently of (1) the way of providing consequences (+, -, or +/-) and (2) the type of reinforcers being used. Interestingly, as in a previous study with 5-year-old children (Martínez, Estévez, Fuentes, & Overmier, The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 62(8):1617-1630, 2009), the use of the DOP also enhanced long-term persistence of learning.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Psicología, Universidad de Almería, 04120, Almería, Spain.
authors.forename: Lourdes
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Flores
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: González-Salinas
authors.forename: Luis J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Fuentes
authors.forename: Angeles F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Estévez
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology