title: The negative reinforcing functions of nonconformity.
abstract: Employing the general approach which Neal Miller called "extension of liberalized S-R theory," two experiments (N = 108) found that Ss would learn an instrumental response, the reinforcement for which was the opportunity to escape from a situation in which they were a nonconformist. When the nonconformity situations were presented on an intermittent basis, speed of the response was found to be a function of the percentage of nonconformity trials (p <.001). When the opportunity to escape was delayed (0, 1.5, or 3 sec), response acquisition was found to be an inverse function of the length of the delay (p <.001). The results of both experiments correspond to data collected in instrumental escape conditioning experiments on delay of reinforcement and intermittent shock using similar procedures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Oklahoma, 73069, Norman, Oklahoma.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Seybert
authors.forename: R F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Weiss