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ERIC Number: EJ696122
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004-Mar-22
Pages: 13
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0021-8855
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Effects of Task Difficulty and Type of Contingency on Students' Allocation of Responding to Math Worksheets
Lannie, Amanda L.; Martens, Brian K.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, v37 n1 p53 Spr 2004
This study investigated students' allocation of responding as a function of task difficulty and type of reinforcement contingency (i.e., accuracy based or time based). Four regular education fourth-grade students were presented with two identical stacks of easy and then difficult math worksheets using a reversal design. Regardless of condition, completing problems from each stack of worksheets was reinforced according to a different contingency; one required correct completion of math problems (accuracy based) and one required on-task behavior (time based). Results suggested that 3 of the 4 students preferred the accuracy-based contingency when given easy material and the time-based contingency when given difficult material. One student allocated more responding to the accuracy-based contingency when given easy problems but did not show a clear preference for either contingency with difficult problems. The implications of these findings for designing reinforcement-based programs for tasks of varying difficulty are discussed.
Department of Applied Behavioral Science, 1000 Sunnyside Ave., KU, Lawrence, KS 66045-2133. Web site: http://seab.envmed.rochester.edu
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A