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| Examining Negative Reinforcement and Its Alternatives in Social Contexts |
| Sunday, May 30, 2004 |
| 2:30 PM–3:20 PM |
| Beacon B |
| Area: CSE |
| Chair: Charles P. Butler (Behavior Analysis, Inc.) |
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| Effects of Negative and Positive Reward on Volunteer Research Participant Performance |
| Domain: Applied Research |
| GARY L. CATES (Eastern Illinois University), Abby E. Dalenberg (Eastern Illinois University) |
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| Abstract: Investigates the effects of negative and positive reward on student performance in volunteer research participation sessions. Specifically, undergraduate research participants were either a) asked to participate in research for extra credit or b) told to participate in research as a requirement in class. Students were then exposed to task interspersal procedures consistent with numerous published research studies on the topic. Data suggest that the students in the negative reward group did not perform as expected based on previous research findings. However, those students who were provided with a positive reward in the form of extra credit did perform as expected. In addition, the data suggested that students who were told to participate or have their grade reduced did not perform as well as students who were asked to participate and provided extra credit. Discussion focuses on the implications for protection of human research participants, current and past research on interspersing, and directions for future research in both interspersing and human research participation. |
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| Correct Prompt Use and Abuse: When Do Prompts Become Coercion? |
| Domain: Applied Research |
| CHARLES P. BUTLER (Behavior Analysis, Inc.) |
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| Abstract: Prompts are often misused, especially by nonprofessionals, and very little information is available on correct prompt use. Many examples of correct and incorrect prompt use will be provided. One of the frequent and incorrect uses of prompts is when they are used to motivate, especially through negative reinforcement and coercion. Many examples of this will be presented with an attempt to distinguish between prompts as supplementary stimuli that reduce errors and prompts designed to motivate through some form of negative reinforcement. This distinction is not always clear and this will be pointed out along with recommendations for when to (or not to) recommendprompts to others, especially nonprofessionals, since it is often nonprofessionals who use and misuse prompts the most. |
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