Effectiveness of reward and punishment as a function of task complexity.

Abstract

Children were trained on a position discrimination, with 1, 2, or 3 irrelevant dimensions of form or color for different groups. Verbal reinforcers including Wrong (Right-Wrong or Nothing-Wrong) produced faster learning than Right-Nothing, but the difference was not significant when there was only one irrelevant dimension. The results are considered to support an informational hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)