Effects of preliminary positive and negative interaction and delay conditions on children's responsiveness to social reinforcement.

Abstract

The satiation and valence positions concerning reinforcer effectiveness were outlined and certain hypotheses derived from them were tested. 80 2nd graders were administered a socially reinforced task following exposure to 1 of 3 experimental treatments: positive social contact (P), negative social contact (N), and no social contact. Of the Ss in the P and N treatments, ½ were given the criterion task immediately after preliminary contact, and ½ after a delay of 1 wk. The significant interaction between the delay and treatment variables (p < .005) indicated that the delay variable was 1 source of inconsistency in earlier findings. The significant ordering of treatments in the delay condition (p < .005) lent support to the valence position. The study indicated that children's positive and negative reaction tendencies towards E were important factors in determining his effectiveness as a reinforcing agent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)