| Abstract: | THE RELATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF VERBAL REINFORCEMENT AND INSTRUCTIONS IN CHANGING BEHAVIOR WAS INVESTIGATED IN THE CONTEXT OF A SIZE JUDGMENT TASK IN WHICH REDUCED CUES NORMALLY LED TO RETINAL RATHER THAN OBJECTIVE SIZE JUDGMENTS. SS RATED THE DEGREE OF MATCH IN PHYSICAL SIZE BETWEEN A STANDARD AND SET OF COMPARISON STIMULI IN 60 TRAINING TRIALS. EACH GROUP RECEIVED EITHER (1) POSITIVE VERBAL REINFORCEMENT FOR CORRECT RATINGS, (2) INSTRUCTIONS EMPHASIZING THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE ACTUAL AND APPARENT PHYSICAL SIZES OF OBJECTS, (3) BOTH REINFORCEMENT AND INSTRUCTIONS, OR (4) NEITHER REINFORCEMENT NOR INSTRUCTIONS. SS WERE THEN TESTED FOR ATTAINMENT OF SIZE CONSTANCY IN THE SAME VIEWING SITUATION FOR BOTH SIZE AND DISTANCE JUDGMENTS USING A METHOD OF ADJUSTMENT. IN BOTH TRAINING AND THE TESTS FOR SIZE CONSTANCY, THE GROUP RECEIVING BOTH INSTRUCTION AND REINFORCEMENT WAS SUPERIOR; REINFORCEMENT ALONE APPEARED TO HAVE NO EFFECT UPON JUDGMENTS WHILE INSTRUCTION ALONE DID. THE RESULTS SUPPORT A COGNITIVE VIEW OF THE FUNCTION OF REINFORCEMENT IN COMPLEX HUMAN LEARNING AND DEMONSTRATE THE NEED FOR FURTHER CONCEPTUALIZATION AND INVESTIGATION OF THE ROLE OF INSTRUCTION IN THE MODIFICATION OF BEHAVIOR. (FRENCH SUMMARY) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
