Semester

Summer

Date of Graduation

2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Psychology

Committee Chair

Kathryn Kestner

Committee Co-Chair

Claire St Peter

Committee Member

Claire St Peter

Committee Member

Shari Steinman

Committee Member

Jane Ruseski

Committee Member

Ray Joslyn

Abstract

The relative effort of target and alternative responses during treatments using differential reinforcement of alternative behavior may impact the likelihood that a previously reduced target response will reemerge following a context change (i.e., “renewal”). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of an effort disparity between target and alternative responses in a human-operant arrangement. Eighteen college students clicked on one (Experiment 1) or two (Experiment 2) circles moving on a computer screen for points. In Experiment 1, the speed of the circle was manipulated as an index of effort such that three circle speeds (i.e., 50, 100, 200 mm/s) were used across conditions. Nearly all participants engaged in differential response rates, depending on the speed of the available circle. Criterion response rates (clicks on the target circle) were highest when the speed was slow. Subcriterion response rates (clicks on the background of the computer screen) were inversely related to the speed of the circle. In Experiment 2, a three-phase renewal arrangement was executed across three experimental conditions in which the target response was either the same, easier, or more difficult than the alternative response. The effects of the relative effort of the target response to the alternative response on the occurrence and magnitude of renewal were mixed across participants. The clinical and conceptual relevance regarding the relative effort of target and alternative responses will be discussed.

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