The stimulus-familiarization-effect (SFE) paradigm, a reaction-time (RT) task based on a response to novelty procedure, was modified to assess response for novelty, ie., a response-reinforcement sequence. The potential implications of attention for reinforcement theory and learning in general are discussed. (Author/CS)

IN A REPRODUCTION TASK WHICH INCLUDED INSTANCES OF SEVERAL SCHEMATA MIXED TOGETHER, SUBJECTS LEARNED TO DISTINGUISH AMONG THE SCHEMATA WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE OF RESULTS. A BEST FITTING EQUATION DESCRIBING PERFORMANCE AS A FUNCTION OF NUMBER OF REPRODUCTION TRIALS ACCURATELY PREDICTED LEARNING WITH NEW SUBJECTS AND PATTERNS RANDOMLY SAMPLED FROM A…

The free play of 5 black preschool Head Start children was observed. The variables manipulated in the study were delayed instructions and reinforcement for play with selected toys, and specific versus general instructions; the correspondence between the adult's instructions and reinforcement to the children's play was assessed. The data indicated…

The purpose of these 2 experiments was to determine whether sequential response pattern behavior is affected by partial reinforcement in the same way as other behavior systems. The first experiment investigated the partial reinforcement extinction effects (PREE) in a sequential concept learning task where subjects were required to learn a…

Research based upon a Ph.D. dissertation submitted to the Graduate School, University of Pittsburgh, and supported in part by U.S. Public Health Service grant MH-1290 and by the New York State Research Foundation.

The results of three experiments involving 6 young children suggest that the generalized imitation effect may not be entirely due to the child's inability to discriminate reinforced fron nonreinforced occasions. Instructional and social variables may strongly influence the generalized imitation effect. (WY)

Article based on a doctoral dissertation submitted to Syracuse University. Reprints from D.L. Streiner, Department of Psychiatry, Hamilton Psychiatric Hospital, P.O. Box 585, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Procedures were used to assess capacity to sustain adaptive responding and discrimination learning ability in 18 psychotic nonverbal children. It was concluded that the measures had good face validity with respect to assessment of discrimination, learning ability, and tolerance for intermittent reinforcement. (SB)

Results indicated the level of correct responding was higher under the "specific reinforcement" condition than under either "nonspecific" or "variable reinforcement" conditions, suggesting that a strategy of reinforcement which includes cue values of the discriminative stimulus may strengthen the learning process. (Author/CL)

The study was designed to examine and clarify systematically the reinforcement parameters that underlie 96 adolescent male delinquents' responses to verbal and token reward and/or punishment. (Author)