| Abstract: | In an attempt to adapt the conversational procedure initiated by Verplanck to the conditioning of verbal operants under laboratory conditions, an experiment was performed with each of 49 Ss who were unaware of the true nature of the experiment. While supposedly merely waiting with another S, who was in reality the investigator's assistant, their responses during their conversations with the assistant were subjected to a variety of reinforcing and deterring stimuli. The attempt was made to condition opinion, information, and question operants, with positive results being achieved for the opinion and information responses, while negative results were obtained for question operants. Under extinction conditions there was a decrease of all these operants. The results are interpreted as supporting the hypothesis that verbal operants can be conditioned in conversations which are contrived in laboratory settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
