Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Negative Reinforcement In Infant Care Simulation: Alternative Caregiver Responses To Prevent Child Abuse, Miriam Tye

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to replicate and extend previous research on infant caregiver behavior by demonstrating negative reinforcement of infant caregiver behavior in response to crying and teaching appropriate care responses under conditions of inconsolable crying. A computerized infant simulator was used to create a laboratory simulation of infant caregiving. In Study 1, participants were exposed to negative reinforcement conditions and an extinction condition. In the negative reinforcement condition, participants engaged in caregiving responses to escape from the cry. In the extinction condition, the cry was inescapable and two of three participants stopped engaging in the previously reinforced caregiving response. …