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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
The Roles Of Set Size And Nonexample Type On Concept Formation, Catherine L. Williams, Claire C. St. Peter, Madeleine J. Murphy
The Roles Of Set Size And Nonexample Type On Concept Formation, Catherine L. Williams, Claire C. St. Peter, Madeleine J. Murphy
Graduate Student Scholarship
Concept formation is demonstrated when a learner responds when new examples are presented (i.e., generalization) but not when new nonexamples are presented (i.e., discrimination). Gradually increasing the number of examples and nonexamples taught together (i.e., set-size expansion) promotes concept formation with nonhumans. Although set size impacts speed of acquisition with humans, concept formation has not been evaluated. Therefore, the primary purpose of the current study was to compare acquisition and concept formation during two procedures: set-size expansion and single set-size. College students were taught two biological concepts, one using set-size expansion and the other with the full …
Negative Punishment During Alternative Reinforcement Does Not Reduce Subsequent Resurgence, Alexander Houchins, Catherine L. Williams, Claire C. St. Peter
Negative Punishment During Alternative Reinforcement Does Not Reduce Subsequent Resurgence, Alexander Houchins, Catherine L. Williams, Claire C. St. Peter
Faculty & Staff Scholarship
Resurgence of previously suppressed behavior can occur when differential reinforcement is discontinued. Recent research has investigated strategies to mitigate resurgence, such as punishing the target response during alternative reinforcement. Loss of reinforcers contingent on the target response (response cost) does not appear to attenuate resurgence, but these effects had not been replicated with other negative-punishment procedures, such as timeout. This study investigated effects of timeout on subsequent resurgence when adults responded to earn points during a computer task. Timeout did not affect subsequent resurgence. These findings, in combination with previous research, suggest that negative punishment may not reduce the likelihood …