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| Rules and Behavior |
| Tuesday, June 1, 2010 |
| 1:00 PM–1:50 PM |
| Bonham B (Grand Hyatt) |
| Area: EAB |
| Chair: Genevieve M. DeBernardis (University of Nevada, Reno) |
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| Monitoring Instruction Following: The Effects Upon Behavioral Sensitivity |
| Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| JOSELE ABREU-RODRIGUES (Universidade de Brasília), Andréia Kroger (Universidade do Minho) |
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| Abstract: The present study investigated the effect of the presence of the experimenter (monitoring) upon behavioral sensitivity to contingency change. In the Training Phase, college students were exposed to two schedules (DRL and FR), and in the Testing Phase, to an FI schedule. For the Control Group, no instructions were provided across phases; for the No-Observer and With-Observer groups, inaccurate instructions about the schedules were given (“VR”, “FT”, and “DRH”, respectively). For the With-Observer group, the experimenter remained in the experimental room during the Testing Phase. In the Training Phase, all participants showed lower rates during the DRL, and higher rates during the FR, in spite of the presence or absence of instructions. In the Testing Phase, the Control and No-Observer groups showed lower response rates and a more efficient behavioral patterning than the With-Observer Group. These results indicate that behavior was affected by the presence of the experimenter despite of an experimental history of no reinforcement for instruction following, and suggest that instructional control may be strengthened by social contingencies. |
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| The Role of Contact Duration and Relational Intimacy in the Acquisition of Perspective-Taking in Typically Developed Children |
| Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| GENEVIEVE M. DEBERNARDIS (University of Nevada, Reno), Linda J. Parrott Hayes (University of Nevada, Reno) |
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| Abstract: Perspective-taking has been defined as the capacity to infer another’s thoughts, feelings, or internal states of knowledge. This is a particularly complex phenomenon, as the perceiver must take into consideration his or her own past behavior and how another’s behavior may be the same, but also notably different in various circumstances. The demonstration of the most complex form of perspective-taking is when the perceiver accurately predicts another’s behavior in novel situations. This study examines the factors involved in the initial acquisition of this repertoire with young children. It aims to determine if contact duration and relational intimacy are critical factors in the initial acquisition of perspective-taking, as had been seen to be important in the demonstration of this skill in adults. |
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