The Effects of Constant versus Varied Reinforcers on Preference and Resistance to Change

Author(s)

Jessie-Sue Milo, University of Southern Maine
Floyd C. Mace, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
John A. Nevin, University of New Hampshire - Main Campus

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-2010

Publication Title

Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Volume

93

Issue/Number

3

First Page

385

ISSN

0022-5002

Last Page

394

Abstract/Excerpt

Previous research has demonstrated that factors such as reinforcer frequency, amount, and delay have similar effects on resistance to change and preference. In the present study, 4 boys with autism made choices between a constant reinforcer (one that was the same food item every trial) and a varied food reinforcer (one that varied randomly between three possible food items). For all 4 boys, varied reinforcers were preferred over constant reinforcers, and they maintained higher response rates than constant reinforcers. In addition, when a distraction (a video clip) was introduced, responding maintained by varied reinforcers was more resistant to distraction than responding maintained by constant reinforcers. Thus, the present experiment extended the generality of the relation between preference and resistance to change to variation in reinforcer quality.

DOI

10.1901/jeab.2010.93-385

NSUWorks Citation

Milo, J., Mace, F. C., Nevin, J. A. (2010). The Effects of Constant versus Varied Reinforcers on Preference and Resistance to Change. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 93(3), 385-394.
Available at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cps_facarticles/448