Harper Amy M, Dozier Claudia L, Briggs Adam M, de Villegas Sara Diaz, Ackerlund Brandt Julie A, Jowett Hirst Erica S
Department of Applied Behavioral Science, University of Kansas.
Department of Psychology, Eastern Michigan University.
J Appl Behav Anal. 2021 Jun;54(3):882-902. doi: 10.1002/jaba.814. Epub 2021 Feb 10.
It is unknown whether and to what extent common types of attention delivered in early childhood environments are preferred by and function as reinforcers for young children. We assessed children's preference for commonly delivered types of attention across 31 preschool-aged participants (Experiment 1). Next, we conducted a reinforcer assessment (Experiment 2) and a progressive-ratio assessment (Experiment 3) to (a) validate the results of the preference assessment and (b) determine the relative reinforcing efficacy of each type of attention. Results of Experiment 1 showed that most participants preferred conversation or physical interaction. Results of Experiment 2 validated the results of Experiment 1 showing preferred types of attention were more likely to function as reinforcers. Finally, although some types of attention functioned as reinforcers, results of Experiment 3 indicated these reinforcers only maintained responding under relatively dense schedules of reinforcement. Clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed.
尚不清楚幼儿环境中常见的注意力类型是否以及在何种程度上受到幼儿的偏爱并起到强化物的作用。我们评估了31名学龄前儿童对常见注意力类型的偏好（实验1）。接下来，我们进行了强化物评估（实验2）和累进比率评估（实验3），以（a）验证偏好评估的结果，以及（b）确定每种注意力类型的相对强化效果。实验1的结果表明，大多数参与者更喜欢对话或身体互动。实验2的结果验证了实验1的结果，表明偏爱的注意力类型更有可能起到强化物的作用。最后，尽管某些类型的注意力起到了强化物的作用，但实验3的结果表明，这些强化物仅在相对密集的强化时间表下维持反应。本文还讨论了临床意义和未来研究的方向。
