Pouthas V, Jacquet A Y
J Exp Child Psychol. 1987 Apr;43(2):282-99. doi: 10.1016/0022-0965(87)90064-6.
The present study investigated effects of age and instructions on temporal regulations of behavior in children. In the first experiment 4 1/2-year-old and 7-year-old subjects were trained with a DRL (differential reinforcement of low rates) 5-s and a DRL 10-s schedule. Results demonstrate that age and timing performance are related. Seven-year-olds are more efficient than the 4 1/2-year-olds. A striking decline in the 4 1/2-year-old children's capacity to space responses was observed in the DRL 10-s schedule as compared to the DRL 5-s schedule. Analysis of individual performances suggests that the evolution of DRL performance between 4 and 7 years of age depends not only on the development of the capacity to delay responding but also on the acquisition of the ability to represent the reinforcement contingencies, that is, the temporal parameters of the task to oneself. In order to test this hypothesis a second experiment was conducted where instructions to wait between operant responses were given to a group of 4 1/2-year-old subjects at the beginning of a DRL 5-s and a DRL 10-s schedule. The results show that these instructions enhance DRL performance. By directing the 4 1/2-year-old subjects' attention to the temporal requirements of the task, instructions led to efficient performance and accurate timing of responses to the DRL schedule.
本研究调查了年龄和指导对儿童行为时间调节的影响。在第一个实验中，对4.5岁和7岁的受试者进行了5秒和10秒的低速率差异强化（DRL）训练。结果表明，年龄与计时表现相关。7岁的儿童比4.5岁的儿童效率更高。与5秒的DRL训练相比，在10秒的DRL训练中，观察到4.5岁儿童间隔反应能力显著下降。对个体表现的分析表明，4至7岁儿童DRL表现的发展不仅取决于延迟反应能力的发展，还取决于对强化偶联的表征能力的获得，即对任务时间参数的自我表征能力。为了验证这一假设，进行了第二个实验，在5秒和10秒的DRL训练开始时，对一组4.5岁的受试者给出了在操作性反应之间等待的指导。结果表明，这些指导提高了DRL表现。通过引导4.5岁受试者关注任务的时间要求，指导导致了对DRL训练的高效表现和准确计时。
