Vibration as positive reinforcement for retarded children.

Contends that previous studies investigating vibration as a positive reinforcer did not provide: adequate controls for touch and noise; a sufficient number of Ss; or comparisons of vibration with other reinforcers. In the present study, 4 groups of 40 trainable, institutionalized, retarded 8-12 yr. olds were exposed to an operant button-pressing paradigm. Results indicate that vibration compared favorably with a food reinforcer and that vibration was significantly more effective as a reward than the touch or the noise emitted by the vibrator. It is suggested that vibration may be used as an effective reinforcer to train retarded children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)