Few studies have investigated methods for establishing neutral stimuli as conditioned reinforcers in human subjects. Conditioned reinforcers, however, can alleviate some of the problems encountered in applied behavior analytic (ABA) therapy for children with autism, such as satiation and suitability of reinforcers for specific environments. A series of reversals evaluated the effects of a conditioning procedure involving pairing a neutral stimulus, the remote control stimulus (RCT), with an identified reinforcer. Phase 1 demonstrated that the RCT was neutral. In Phase 2, alternating pairing and testing conditions were run. During testing the effects of pairing were evaluated by the effectiveness of the RCT in maintaining a response in the absence of a previously available reinforcer (extinction test) and in increasing a new response over a baseline level (learning test). Results from the extinction test suggest that under some pairing conditions the RCT can acquire properties of a reinforcer.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc2550 |
| Date | 08 1900 |
| Creators | Wheat, Leigh Ann Stiles |
| Contributors | Ala'i-Rosales, Shahla, Rosales-Ruiz, Jesus, Hyten, Cloyd |
| Publisher | University of North Texas |
| Source Sets | University of North Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | Text |
| Rights | Use restricted to UNT Community, Copyright, Wheat, Leigh Ann Stiles, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. |
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