EFFECTS OF LOOSING REINFORCERS ON RULE FOLLOWING IN FLEXIBLE AND INFLEXIBLE PARTICIPANTS

Abstract

This study invetsigated whether inflexible participants have a higher probability of rule-following than flexible participants, when rule-following produces reinforcer loss. Eleven undergraduate students, previously classified as flexible (N=6) and inflexible (N=5) were exposed to a computerized matching to sample procedure; the task was to point out each of three comparison stimuli in a given sequence. The correct sequences would avoid reinforcer loss and the incorrect ones would produce it. The experiment had three phases. Phase 1 began with minimal instructions, Phase 2 included instructions that corresponded to the contingencies applied, and Phase 3 provided instructions discrepant from contingencies. In Phase 1 (baseline), no sequence was punished. Instruction-following avoided reinforcer loss in Phase 2 and produced reinforcer loss in Phase 3. All eleven participants followed the instructions in Phase 2 and ten (five flexible and five inflexible) stopped following the instruction in Phase 3. The results suggest that instruction-following tends to be abandoned when it produces reinforcer loss, independently of whether the participant is classified as flexible or inflexible.Keywords: Rules and contingencies, reinforcement loss, participants flexible and inflexible; pre-experimentalhistory