| Abstract: | Applied operant conditioning procedures to 160 male undergraduates performing a routine, repetitive task to investigate the effectiveness of these procedures in obtaining changes in performance quality (and quantity) over time. Results indicate that (a) when the response-reinforcement contingency was shifted from emphasis on quantity to quality, behavior was not changed significantly by either verbal or monetary reinforcers. (b) During contingency shifts from quality to quantity, overt performance changed significantly using either reinforcer quality falling from high to low levels and quantity mounting from low to high levels. (c) As an effective behavioral change agent, the verbal reinforcer was either equal to or greater than the monetary reinforcer. (d) Shifting the contingency from quality to quantity yielded greater performance changes than shifting from quantity to quality. (e) Conditioning procedures, when compared to an absence of conditioning, facilitated higher levels of performance and maintenance of these higher levels over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
