The Effect of Partial Reinforcement and Length of Acquisition-Series upon Resistance to Extinction of a Motor and a Verbal Response

Abstract

In a kind of poker game, 180 S''s guessed whether the four cards they dealt themselves was a winner." If they guessed correctly they were given a nickel, the reward was given on a randomized basis to give 50% reinforcement to some S''s, 100% was given to others. After 4, 8, or 16 hands no further reward was given and the S''s were allowed to play "as long as they wanted." This was the extinction series in which the motor response, continuing the play, was extinguished the more quickly the longer the training series, % reinforcement was ineffective. The verbal response "win" was extinguished more slowly under 100% reinforcement but unaffected by length of training series. Differences between these and the more usual findings on partial reinforcement are pointed out.