Date of Award
8-2022
Culminating Project Type
Thesis
Styleguide
apa
Degree Name
Applied Behavior Analysis: M.S.
Department
Community Psychology, Counseling and Family Therapy
College
School of Health and Human Services
First Advisor
Odessa Luna
Second Advisor
Ben Witts
Third Advisor
Michelle Traub
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Keywords and Subject Headings
Celeration, Percentile Schedules of Reinforcement, Reinforcement Dimensions
Abstract
This study used percentile schedules of reinforcement – percentile schedule (K), percentile schedule with a dimension (K+) and a yoked control condition (C) – to examine the effects of giving extra reinforcement on the rate of tacting. Six undergraduate students participated in three schedules of reinforcement for fluency of correct tacting answers; they received reinforcement for meeting or exceeding criteria (K), received reinforcement for meeting and exceeding criteria and earned extra reinforcement when closer to the goal then the previous five answers (K+), and earned predetermined reinforcement through yoking for control (C). Celeration values were analyzed for three participants after participants engaged in low levels of errors. One participant had greater average celeration within timing values for the dimension of reinforcement schedule and yoked control and less celeration values for the reinforcement schedule without a dimension. One participant had similar celeration lines for the dimension of reinforcement schedule and the yoked condition than the reinforcement schedule without a dimension. One participant had greater celeration lines for the yoked condition, then the dimension of reinforcement condition, and lowest celeration value for the reinforcement schedule without a dimension. The remaining participants' celeration values were not analyzed due to continued errors or low levels of tacting. Implications of the results and suggestions for further research are discussed.
Recommended Citation
Eldred, Linnea, "Comparing Reinforcement Systems with Percentile Schedules" (2022). Culminating Projects in Community Psychology, Counseling and Family Therapy. 91.
https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/cpcf_etds/91
Comments/Acknowledgements
I would first like to thank Dr. Odessa Luna for spending time editing and providing never ending patience and support while teaching me how to develop this research project and to write scientifically in APA format. My writing and confidence in research have grown immensely under her coaching. I would also like to thank Dr. Ben Witts who encouraged me to submit this as a thesis idea. Without his encouragement this project would have remained merely an idea. I would also like to thank Michael and Kelly for their support in teaching me more advanced uses of the Standard Celeration Chart and giving me resources and connections to other researchers for further questions. I appreciate my friends Tessa, Chris, Isaac, and Shana who volunteered to spend time as test pilots so I could ensure the research project ran. Thank you to Mary for letting me practice my presentations even though she did not understand most of it. Last, but not least, I want to give a shout out to May, my research assistant and cheer squad. She was a sounding board for ideas, spent hours in training, completing treatment integrity, and collecting interobserver agreement data.