| Abstract: | This investigation was to study the effects of preconditioning instructions and type of reinforcer on level of awareness and extent of conditioning. Prior to a conditioning task, Ss in different experimental groups were given varying degrees of information concerning the nature of the reinforcement and the reinforcement contingency. In some groups of Ss the reinforcement consisted of E saying "good" while in other experimental groups the Ss received points as reinforcement. The results indicated that the degree of conditioning and level of awareness were partially dependent upon the amount of information in the preconditioning instruction. However, in experimental groups where only partial information was given, Ss who received points conditioned better than Ss who received "good" even though there were no differences in the level of awareness. The nature of the response class was also found to be an important variable that affected the level of conditioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
