Nevin, J. A. (1996).
The momentum of compliance.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,
29, 535-547.
Compliance with demanding requests that are normally ineffective
may be increased by presenting a series of easy or high-
probability (high-p) requests before the more demanding
requests. Mace and his colleagues have discussed the
effectiveness of the high-p procedure in relation to
behavioral momentum - the tendency for behavior, once initiated
and reinforced, to persist in the face of a challenge. The
high-p procedure differs in several ways from that
employed in laboratory research on momentum, and the methods and
findings of basic research may not be relevant to applied work on
compliance. This article reviews some laboratory procedures used
in research on behavioral momentum, summarizes the major findings
of that research, and discusses its relevance to the
high-p procedure and its outcomes. Increased compliance
with demanding requests following the high-p procedure can
be understood in relation to the procedures and findings of basic
research, but some questions arise in the process of translating
research into application via the metaphor of momentum. These
questions suggest some new directions for both experimental and
applied behavior analysis.
DESCRIPTORS: behavioral momentum, response rate, resistance to
change, compliance, high-p procedure