Martens, B. K., Bradley, T. A., & Eckert, T. L. (1997).
Effects of reinforcement history and instructions on the persistence of student engagement.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,
30, 569-572.
We examined the effects of three reinforcement histories on the
persistence of task engagement by 2 fourth-grade students using a
partially counterbalanced ABCDBCD design. In each condition, an
experimenter made four student contacts during the first 2 min of
each session (reinforcement baseline), followed by an 8-min
extinction period. The reinforcement history that contained an
instructional control component produced the greatest persistence
in student engagement. The applied relevance of instructional
control is discussed.
DESCRIPTORS: instructional control, reinforcement history,
resistance to extinction, task engagement