University of Kansas, USA.
J Appl Behav Anal. 2009 Fall;42(3):511-25. doi: 10.1901/jaba.2009.42-511.
Discovering whether children prefer reinforcement via a contingency or independent of their behavior is important considering the ubiquity of these programmed schedules of reinforcement. The current study evaluated the efficacy of and preference for social interaction within differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) and noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) schedules with typically developing children. Results showed that 7 of the 8 children preferred the DRA schedule; 1 child was indifferent. We also demonstrated a high degree of procedural fidelity, which suggested that preference is influenced by the presence of a contingency under which reinforcement can be obtained. These findings are discussed in terms of (a) the selection of reinforcement schedules in practice, (b) variables that influence children's preferences for contexts, and (c) the selection of experimental control procedures when evaluating the effects of reinforcement.
考虑到这些有计划的强化安排的普遍性，了解儿童是否更喜欢通过偶然事件或独立于他们的行为得到强化是很重要的。本研究评估了在替代行为差别强化（DRA）和非关联强化（NCR）安排中社会互动的有效性和偏好与正常发育的儿童。结果表明，8 个孩子中有 7 个更喜欢 DRA 计划；1 个孩子漠不关心。我们还展示了高度的程序保真度，这表明偏好受到强化可以获得的条件的影响。这些发现从以下几个方面进行了讨论：（a）实践中强化计划的选择，（b）影响儿童对环境偏好的变量，以及（c）评估强化效果时实验控制程序的选择。
