Effects of reinforcement magnitude on adults' do-say correspondence in a cards game

• Grant number: 16/20041-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 01, 2017
• End date: December 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Experimental Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Mariéle de Cássia Diniz Cortez
• Grantee: Isabelle Nyara Motta
• Host Institution: Centro de Educação e Ciências Humanas (CECH). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

According to Skinner (1957), verbal behavior is understood as an operant behavior, this is, a behavior that affects the environment and is affected by its consequences. The research area that has been addressing the relation between verbal and non-verbal behaviors is labeled verbal correspondence. The present study aims at investigating the effect of different magnitudes of reinforcement upon the accuracy of adults' reports in a playful experimental setting (cards game). Twenty undergraduate students will participate in the study. A cards game will be used as the experimental task. Doing will consist in picking two cards from the top of the cards pile and summing the numbers displayed in each card, whereas saying will consist in reporting on the sum of those numbers. In each round of the match, both players will pick two cards from the top of their cards piles, sum their values, and then they will report on the sum of the cards. The participant who reports (corresponding or non-corresponding) the highest value will win the round. The winner of the round will receive a token corresponding to R$0,05 or R$5,00, depending on the experimental condition. The participant who earns more tokens will win the game and will be allowed to exchange the amount of tokens for the correspondent money value. Participants will be exposed to three experimental conditions: baseline (with no specific consequences for victorious rounds); high reinforcement magnitude condition, in which the participant will receive R$5,00 for every win in the match; and low reinforcement magnitude condition, in which the participant will receive R$0,05 every time s/he wins the round. Participants will be assigned in two groups. For one group the sequence of matches will be as follows: baseline, low reinforcement magnitude and high reinforcement magnitude. The other group will be given to baseline, high reinforcement magnitude, and low reinforcement magnitude sessions. Comparisons of the correspondence levels between the groups as a function of the different experimental conditions will be verified by means of an intergroup design. Also, a within-subject analysis will permit a comparison of participants' correspondence rates across the experimental phases that follows the baseline. (AU)